Operating an effective board
May 2015 | SPECIAL REPORT: OPERATING AN EFFECTIVE BOARD
Financier Worldwide Magazine
May 2015 Issue
The board is a company’s governing body – its ultimate decision-making authority. The board is responsible for determining strategic objectives, monitoring company policies, appointing senior management, and accounting for company activities to stakeholders. Furthermore, in an era of increasing regulatory scrutiny, the performance and effectiveness of the board is under the microscope like never before. To achieve an above reproach level of competency and integrity, the board needs to possess an appropriate balance of innovation, experience, independence and challenge to ensure that operational effectiveness is secured. Failure by a board to strike such a balance allied with shortcomings in statutory and ethical governance can carry with it significant penalties for the individual and the collective.
FORUM: Preparing for and tackling shareholder activism
FW moderates a discussion on preparing for and tackling shareholder activism between Ethan A. Klingsberg at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Chris Young at Credit Suisse, Arthur Crozier at Innisfree M&A Incorporated, and Michael Schwartz at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Unleashing valuable new perspectives in the boardroom
Deloitte LLP It is not uncommon for the topic of diversity to enter into boardroom and management discussions these days, and that is good news. Yet, there remains a gap between talking about diversity in its many facets and embedding diversity into...
Black Diamond Associates Any business plan emphasises an understanding of strengths, limitations, opportunities and threats. A vision and mission are standard fare. And any strategic planning process that is worth its salt includes identifying the foundational core values. But even...
Boards to the rescue – preventing dysfunctional teams at the top
Hay Group A number of top executives at globally renowned firms have lost their jobs in the past year. These sudden and often unexpected departures highlight a growing need in the boardroom, namely that of boards of directors taking a closer look at the executive...
Brahams Dutt Badrick French LLP A company’s senior personnel are invariably one of its most important resources – and certainly one of its most costly. Yet all too often, companies fail to properly address the necessary issues on negotiating the entrance of its most senior personnel...
Barbarians at the gate: responding to unsolicited indicative takeover offers
Minter Ellison Reaffirming that unsolicited takeover approaches are an integral part of the Australian M&A landscape, a recent report has identified that around half of the transactions valued over A$1bn in the first six months of 2014 were announced without approval...
Fieldfisher The threat of a cyber attack is more immediate now than ever. This past year alone has seen high profile attacks on numerous organisations, ranging from blue chip companies to government departments, often with devastating consequences such as...
Coping with the increasing risks of directors’ & officers’ personal liability
Reed Smith Richards Butler Directors and officers need to be alive to the risk of personal liability and must take active steps to manage those risks. In Hong Kong, such personal risks have greatly increased in recent years, as D&Os have been made subject to new regulatory obligations...
How an effective audit committee can keep you out of the headlines
McGladrey LLP The complexity of business transactions, globalisation and continuous changes in technology mean that today’s companies must invest more than ever in compliance activities. Even as companies boost their compliance investments, corporate...
FW moderates a discussion on board composition between Sarah K. Stewart at Boyden, Deborah DeHaas at Deloitte LLP, Steven R. Walker at the National Association of Corporate Directors, and Margaret Pederson at Women Corporate Directors.
CONTRIBUTORS
Black Diamond Associates
Boyden
Brahams Dutt Badrick French LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Credit Suisse
Deloitte LLP
Fieldfisher
Hay Group
Innisfree M&A Incorporated
McGladrey LLP
Minter Ellison
National Association of Corporate Directors
Reed Smith Richards Butler
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Women Corporate Directors