Corporate Governance Commentary

We encourage readers to contribute thought provoking essays to our Commentary section, as well as critiques of our existing essays. Opinions expressed on these pages are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Corporate Governance or its sponsors.

Daniel Boxer, Co-Chair of a University of Maine School of Law Governance and Ethics Symposium Series, generously provided a write-up of the first event in their series held on March 19th in Portland, Maine. Their program handout includes an excellent general resource guide.

The Global Financial Tsunami brought a wake up call to many boards. The good ones are able to admit they failed to recognize the dynamics of risks, that they have been too complacent and assumed what were fatal risks. The bad ones are still at a loss. Boards must do a stress test on themselves. They must quickly find ways to relink and extend their information network to their customers, suppliers, and staff if they are to survive this storm. Download Corporate governance insights from the global financial crisis by Dr. Gregg Li, the Principal of Corporate Governance at Aon Global .

Corporate Governance: History of Management Thought Series, Edited by R. I. Tricker. We have reproduced the introduction here with permission of the author. Corporate Governance - a subject whose time has come

Running business like government. Bryane Michael and Randy Gross argue that listed companies could learn plenty about transparency and accountability from the reform of public sector institutions, like local government.

The First Principles of Corporate Governance for Public Enterprise (Dr. Y.R.K. Reddy — Chairman, Yaga Consulting Pvt. Ltd., India. Posted 12/11/01) This report presents Mr. Reddy's approach and first principles for improving the conditions for good corporate governance in public enterprises in India.

Mutual Funds Should Disclose Votes (McRitchie, 12/2001) On December 19, 2000 the AFL-CIO petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to require mutual funds to disclose how they are voting their shares.

Tribute to Bob Tricker (McRitchie, 12/2001) Bob Tricker, editor of Corporate Governance: An International Review since its 1993 debut, has passed the markup pen and role of editor to Christine Mallin.

Vote Reform (McRitchie, 2/2001) Ever since George W. Bush won Florida by one vote cast by a Supreme Court judge, many have come to believe that reforms are needed to ensure election winners reflect the wishes of the voters.

Innovation Often Unwelcome (McRitchie, 11/2000) Critics call outside advice for shareholders "radical" and "self-serving."

SEC Should Allow Cure (McRitchie, 11/2000) Shareholder activist John Chevedden detects a trend this year (2000) for the SEC to uphold company exclusions of shareholder resolutions on corporate governance matters on narrow grounds.

Fair Disclosure (McRitchie, 10/2000) The Security and Exchange Commission’s fair disclosure rule, which take effect October 23, 2000 and mandates material information disclosed to analysts but be disclosed to the public as well, is still coming under fire from trade associations.

Legal Foundation of Ethical Investments (McRitchie, 9/2000) In Look Who Demands Profits Above All (Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2000) former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, argues that CalPERS and TIAA-CREF are only doing their job, maximizing the value of their investors' portfolios, when they refuse to consider ethics in their investments.

Good Governance Should't Depend on Health (McRitchie, 9/2000) Governance concerns take a backseat at healthy firms.

Lawndale Board Independence Proposal (Andrew E. Shapiro) Presentation to the Council of Institutional Investors’ Fall Conference, Tuesday, September 26, 2000. I believe it is the most groundbreaking and comprehensive shareholder proposal that has met with repeated success. (Please excuse the lack of formatting in uploading Mr. Shapiro's letter to the site. J. McRitchie)

Corporate Governance in the Internet Age (McRitchie, 5/19/00) Part of a program to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI), sponsored by the State Department at the Tokyo American Center