This important book provides a comprehensive analysis of governance issues that exist in relation to the management of insolvent companies, both while an insolvent company is still controlled by the directors and when it passes into the hands of an insolvency practitioner in a formal insolvency regime. Throughout, the authors argue that the two most important features of corporate governance are transparency and accountability and offer a detailed analysis of the relevant law and practice.
This book presents an account of legal, economic and managerial perspectives on governance in situations of financial distress and insolvency. It uses detailed real-life case studies of executive decision making to explore and illustrate the discussion. The book deals with the emergence of corporate governance as a framework of checks and balances on executive decision-making, before moving to the core issues of governance during financial distress and insolvency and alternative informal and formal rescue. Identifying and reviewing turnaround strategies and formal rescue processes available to management, the book also examines the increasing importance of creditors and their impact on business decision-making. The book provides a detailed interpretation of governance in five mega insolvencies in retail and construction following the financial crisis in 2008. It also sets out a methodology which is designed to inform and help those readers seeking to analyse and interpret director behaviour in such circumstances.
Corporate law and corporate governance have been at the forefront of regulatory activities across the world for several decades now, and are subject to increasing public attention following the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Law and Governance provides the global framework necessary to understand the aims and methods of legal research in this field. Written by leading scholars from around the world, the Handbook contains a rich variety of chapters that provide a comparative and functional overview of corporate governance. It opens with the central theoretical approaches and methodologies in corporate law scholarship in Part I, before examining core substantive topics in corporate law, including shareholder rights, takeovers and restructuring, and minority rights in Part II. Part III focuses on new challenges in the field, including conflicts between Western and Asian corporate governance environments, the rise of foreign ownership, and emerging markets. Enforcement issues are covered in Part IV, and Part V takes a broader approach, examining those areas of law and finance that are interwoven with corporate governance, including insolvency, taxation, and securities law as well as financial regulation. The Handbook is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary resource placing corporate law and governance in its wider context, and is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in the field.
Vanessa Finch provides an interesting look at corporate insolvency laws and processes. She adopts an interdisciplinary approach to place two questions at the centre of her discussion. Are current UK laws and procedures efficient, expert, accountable and fair? Are fundamentally different conceptions of insolvency law needed for it to develop in a way that serves corporate and broader social ends? Topics considered in this wide-ranging book include different ways of financing companies, causes of corporate failure and prospects for designing rescue-friendly processes. Also examined are alternative asset distribution of failed companies, allocations of insolvency risks and effects of insolvency on a company's directors and employees. Finch argues that changes of approach are needed if insolvency law is to develop with coherence and purpose. This book will appeal to academics and students at advanced undergraduate and graduate level, and to legal practitioners throughout the common law world.
Examining the role of shareholders in modern companies, this timely book argues that more should be expected of shareholders, both morally and legally. It explores the privileged position of shareholders within the corporate law system and the unique rights and duties awarded to them in contrast to other corporate actors. Introducing the concept of shareholders as responsible agents whose actions and inactions should be judged on that basis, Stephen Bottomley unites a number of distinct corporate governance discussions including stewardship, activism and shareholder liability.
Comparative Insolvency Law argues that the most important development in contemporary insolvency law and practice is the shift towards a rescue culture rather than full creditor satisfaction. This book is the first to specifically examine the rise of the pre-pack approach, which permits debtor companies to formulate a clear pre-arranged exit before entering into formal insolvency proceedings.
The years from 2000 to 2010 were bookended by two major economic crises. The bursting of the dotcom bubble and the extended bear market of 2000 to 2002 prompted Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was directed at core aspects of corporate governance. At the end of the decade came the bursting of the housing bubble, followed by a severe credit crunch, and the worst economic downturn in decades. In response, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, which changed vast swathes of financial regulation. Among these changes were a number of significant corporate governance reforms. Corporate Governance after the Financial Crisis asks two questions about these changes. First, are they a good idea that will improve corporate governance? Second, what do they tell us about the relative merits of the federal government and the states as sources of corporate governance regulation? Traditionally, corporate law was the province of the states. Today, however, the federal government is increasingly engaged in corporate governance regulation. The changes examined in this work provide a series of case studies in which to explore the question of whether federalization will lead to better outcomes. The author analyzes these changes in the context of corporate governance, executive compensation, corporate fraud and disclosure, shareholder activism, corporate democracy, and declining US capital market competitiveness.
The insolvency of multinational corporate groups creates a compelling challenge to the commercial world. As many medium and large-sized companies are multinational companies with operations in different countries, it is important to provide appropriate solutions for the insolvency of these key market players. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the cross-border insolvency theories, practical solutions and regulatory solutions for the insolvency of multinational corporate groups. Whilst the book recognises certain merits of these solutions, it also reveals the limitations and uncertainty caused by them. An analysis of the provisions and tools relating to cross-border insolvency of multinational corporate groups in the new EU Regulation on insolvency proceedings 2015, the UNCITRAL Model Law on cross-border insolvency, the Directive on preventive restructuring frameworks and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive 2014, along with a study of directors’ duties, are included in this book. This book focuses on the insolvency and rescue of non-financial corporate groups. However, it is also important to recognise the similarities and differences between corporate insolvency regimes and bank resolution regimes. In particular, lessons learnt from bank resolution practices may be useful for non-financial corporate groups. This book aims to provide an in-depth examination of the existing solutions for the insolvency of multinational corporate groups. It also aims to view cross-border insolvency of corporate groups within a broad context where all relevant regimes and theories interact with each other. Therefore, directors’ duties in the vicinity of insolvency, preventive insolvency proceedings, procedural consolidation, international cooperative frameworks and bank resolution regimes are considered together. This book may appeal to academics, students and practitioners within the areas of corporate law, cross-border insolvency law and financial law.
The ninth edition of Keay's Insolvency has come at a time when major insolvency reforms, foreshadowed in previous editions, have just been announced. While none of these has become law, the authors have introduced readers to the proposed changes and the considerable impact they will have on the operation of the law and the administration of insolvencies. These include the introduction of a safe harbour defence to insolvent trading, allowing more emphasis on informal restructuring, restrictions on counter-parties terminating contracts under "ipso facto" clauses, and allowing small companies to go through a streamlined liquidation process. The timing of these reforms, and their significance, is such that those studying and practicing in insolvency need to have an understanding of what is coming, which Keay will provide, even if by way of brief comment at various points throughout. Those reforms have confirmed the authors' continued and increased focus on corporate restructuring law and practice, including outside the context of formal insolvency, an on-going trend in Australia, and internationally. This edition also has new commentary on the roles and duties of lawyers acting in insolvency. PPS law and practice and further embedded in the commentary, along with cross-border insolvency, tax, banking and other related laws. The text has necessarily been updated with commentary on new and important case law, with an emphasis on decisions from the High Court and Courts of Appeals, or on decisions that add new perspectives on the law and practice. The authors have given greater emphasis to legal and insolvency practice - with references throughout to ASIC and AFSA regulatory guidance, Court rules, the ARITA Code, tax issues and forms. Useful tables have been added to explain the details in the text and each chapter now has a summary table of references to the particular parts of the legislation, regulatory guidance, and court rules. The book also cross-references to cases in the new case book, Insolvency Law - Commentary and Materials. Commentary on the statistical trends available from the October 2015 annual reports of the regulators, and other data, is explained, in particular in as far as they may support the law reform trends. The final chapter in the last edition of the text critically assessed Australia's insolvency regime. The authors stand by that commentary and have necessarily updated and added to it in light of the law reform announcements, remaining of the view that while the laws work well enough, the environment local and international environment in which they operate has significantly changed such that, while the reforms are welcomed, a wholesale review of the regime in Australia is still needed. The authors are pleased to see the recognition given to Australian insolvency law and practice through the election of Mr Mark Robinson of PPB Advisory as President of INSOL International in 2015, and of Professor Rosalind Mason, of Queensland University of Technology (QUT), as Chair of INSOL Academics. Both have contributed enormously to the development of the practice and law of insolvency both in Australia and internationally. We are very pleased to have Mark Robinson contribute a foreword to this edition of the book. Michael Murray remains a visiting fellow at the Queensland University of Technology, and is now a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and continues to work in and contribute to the development and thinking of insolvency and restructuring law, practice and policy. Jason Harris is now an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Technology, Sydney, and continues to teach and write extensively in the area, in particular in corporate law and restructuring. Each brings his respective knowledge, experience and thoughts to this important area of law and practice.
Having gone through an accelerated parliamentary process, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 came into force on 26 June, 2020 having been given Royal Assent on the 25 June, 2020. It introduces the most significant changes in corporate insolvency law for nearly 20 years and has been introduced in response to COVID-19. Its main aim is to assist companies and directors by providing businesses with the flexibility and breathing space they need to continue trading during the difficult time caused by COVID-19. The key insolvency related reforms included in the Act are: - New moratorium outside of a formal insolvency process - New restructuring plan - Prohibition on issuing statutory demands and winding up petitions in connection with Covid-19 related debts - Retrospective suspension of wrongful trading - Protection of supplies of goods and services
