INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

When I left the public company I worked for to go into academia several years ago, some of my friends told me I was escaping SOX. They framed it as a good-natured accusation, but were actually jealous. Earlier today, the US Supreme Court ruled on a controversial...

The UK's Financial Reporting Council published The UK Stewardship Code earlier this week. The introductory paragraph contains a statement that "The Stewardship Code aims to enhance the quality of engagemetn between institutional investors and companies...

Sometime this week, President Obama should sign the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It's an act that cries out for a catchy name. My proposal? WSR (pronounced "whizzer").
As SEC Chair Mary Schapiro said recently, "the SEC's job is not to define for the market what constitutes 'good' or 'bad' governance . . . . Rather, the SEC's job is to ensure that its rules support effective communication and accountability." In other...

There's a Bloomberg/Businessweek article out that discusses the risk premium that must be paid to finance infrastructure projects in countries viewed as having poor corporate governance practices. The article
VTB-Led Group Pays Twice Emerging-Market Rate on Loan notes that the cost to expand St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport is nearly twice that for similar projects elsewhere. The authors, Jason Corcoran and Karen Eeuwens, looked at the syndicated financing...