Suchergebnisse für corporate governance

Was heisst «Internationale Standards»?

International standards have become more and more important with and also through the globalisation of the financial markets. In consequence, they are most important in corporate law and in particular in the field of financial reporting, i.e. IFRS or US GAAP. This is not only true for Switzerland, but also for the European Union. International standards are often enacted by a panel of experts…

Global Financial Standards and Regulatory Reforms

The present paper discusses global financial standards and their relevance as part of the regulatory reforms initiated in the aftermath of the financial turmoil. In a first – precursory – part, it provides more clarity on the notion and role of “soft” law instruments, which have become an eminent pillar for the regulation of global finance. The essay likewise highlights the financial sector…

Wettbewerb zwischen internationalen Standards

Competition between different standards can bring about efficiencies but the financial crisis has shown that the coordination and partial harmonization of these standards has advantages that are not to be underestimated. The following contribution analyses the possible competition of standards with a view towards the actors and the recipients of regulation. The theore­tical approach is clarified…

Montesquieu en droit des sociétés anonymes : le principe de la parité constitue-t-il une distribution des pouvoirs bénéfiques ou plutôt un lit de Procuste ?

The current system of distribution of powers is governed by the “parity principle”, which provides that a defined number of powers are vested exclusively with the board of directors. The board is responsible for the accomplishment of these “inalienable” powers, the shareholders may not give any instructions or guidance to the board in this respect. The principle suffers only very few exceptions…

Ist die aktienrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit noch zeitgemäss?

An analysis of the board members’ and directors’ liability law shows that its present form has significant deficits: Confronting board members with a liability excee­ding their individual risk capacity causes risk adversity and a crowding out effect within the pool of potential board members. In the light of these functional deficits, it does not come as a surprise that the track record of…

Rechenschaft und Transparenz als zentraler Teil der Governance oder als Selbstzweck?

The title of the essay is: “Accountability and Transparency as a function of governance or a function which ends in themselves?” Without transparency good corporate governance is not possible, since only informed decisions are dutiful decisions. Both, the general assembly of shareholders and the board must make decisions which are only possible if transparency is given. For example, for most…

Gleichstellung – Ein aktienrechtliches Thema

Article 734e of the Preliminary Draft demands that each gender is represented with at least 30% of the members of the board of directors and the executive committee of large listed companies. Companies that do not comply with this obligation must describe the reasons for such failure and the measures they will take to advance the underrepresented gender in their compensation reports. Although the…

« Comply or explain » : la solution au dilemme des quotas ?

Swiss listed companies are familiar with the “comply or explain” principle imposed by the SIX corporate governance directive, and more recently by economiesuisse’s (private) governance code. In November 2014, the Federal Council proposed to amend the Code of obligations (“CO”) to introduce such a principle in relation with a 30% “women” quota, which would apply to boards of large listed companies…

The squeaky wheel gets (all) the grease: Wie weit soll und darf der Verwaltungsrat auf aktive Aktionäre eingehen?

Over the course of this enquiry, we shall examine whether the squeaky wheel does actually get all the grease and what this means for the modern public company. Art. 717 of the Swiss Code of Obligations states that shareholders are to be treated equally under equal conditions. However, said equality is not to be understood in absolute terms but has to be reasonable and justifiable with regard to…

Proxy Advisors – Fluch oder Segen in der Corporate Governance?

The role of proxy advisors in the governance of listed companies has triggered criticism ranging from “box ticking” to “empty voting” and has sparked an intense debate on how to address these concerns. The author takes the view that – for the time being – proxy advisors are not a topic for the regulator. Many institutional investors owe their beneficiaries a fiduciary duty based on which they are…