Corporate Governance and the Global Financial Crisis

Review of the hardback: 'There is no doubt about the timeliness and relevance of this book. Practitioners, supervisors, regulators and those teaching or studying corporate governance would all gain from reading it. I am particularly impressed by the breadth of the analysis and the choice of contributors. It is essential that potential reforms should be based on as clear an understanding as possible of the nature of the relationship between corporate governance and the financial crisis. The introduction to the book alone should be compulsory reading for those concerned with shaping the future of corporate governance in a world-wide context.' Sir Adrian Cadbury, Honorary Professor, Aston Business School Review of the hardback: 'Did poor corporate governance contribute to the global financial crisis? The OECD and the UK regulators felt that existing corporate governance codes were adequate: the problem was a failure to implement them. In this book, twenty-two leading scholars and leaders of corporate governance thinking take a different view. Deregulation prompted high risk taking; boards failed to understand their exposure to strategic risk; and rating agencies, paid by those they rated, were outpaced by financial innovation. Over-incentivized bank executives pursued vast securitization, high leverage and excessive risk to the ultimate detriment of everyone else. The theme emerges that the Anglo-American corporate governance paradigm, particularly as adopted in the US, gives CEOs excessive power and wealth to the shareholders' detriment. New directions are needed. This work offers some new thoughts and options.' Bob Tricker, author of Corporate Governance: Principles, Polices and Procedures, 2nd edition