Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments and Dedication
- PERSPECTIVES ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE CEO
- PART TWO THE WHY, WHEN, HOW, AND HOW MUCH OF EXECUTIVE PAY
- PART THREE CONSTRAINING MANAGERS AND DIRECTORS: INVESTORS, SECURITIES REGULATION, AND THE MEDIA
- PART FOUR DELAWARE VERSUS CONGRESS: ON THE FEDERALIZATION OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- PART FIVE COMPARATIVE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- 12 Regulatory Differences in Bank and Capital Market Regulation
- 13 European Corporate Governance after Five Years with Sarbanes-Oxley
- Epilogue: Three Secular Trends of Corporate Law
- Index
- References
13 - European Corporate Governance after Five Years with Sarbanes-Oxley
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments and Dedication
- PERSPECTIVES ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE CEO
- PART TWO THE WHY, WHEN, HOW, AND HOW MUCH OF EXECUTIVE PAY
- PART THREE CONSTRAINING MANAGERS AND DIRECTORS: INVESTORS, SECURITIES REGULATION, AND THE MEDIA
- PART FOUR DELAWARE VERSUS CONGRESS: ON THE FEDERALIZATION OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- PART FIVE COMPARATIVE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
- 12 Regulatory Differences in Bank and Capital Market Regulation
- 13 European Corporate Governance after Five Years with Sarbanes-Oxley
- Epilogue: Three Secular Trends of Corporate Law
- Index
- References
Summary
REGULATORY CHALLENGES FOR THE EUROPEANS
The EU Commission's Action Plan
The May 2003 European Union (EU) Action Plan Modernising Company Law and Enhancing Corporate Governance in the European Union came in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The European Commission (the Commission) acknowledged that, “[i]n many areas, the EU shares the same broad objectives and principles of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and in some areas robust, equivalent regulatory approaches already exist in the EU.” In October 2004, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Taxation and Customs proposed to “converge” U.S. and European thinking in order to narrow the gap between a rules-based, law-enforcement-oriented approach and a comply-or-explain policy based on general principles.
Financial scandals send out different regulatory messages depending on whether they occur in an outsider economy with dispersed ownership or a bank-centered economy with block holdings. Against this background, the Action Plan is a multipurpose response to internal and nondomestic policy challenges. On an international level, it pledges to improve European competitiveness as corporate scandals have changed the world of company law. From an intra–European Community perspective, the Action Plan tacitly acknowledges that supplying efficient and competitive rules for European business has not always been a priority on the regulatory agenda. By offering a combination of mandatory and nonbinding policy measures the EU Commission focuses on improving corporate efficiency and shareholder and third-party rights. Corporate governance problems are to be remedied by harmonizing disclosure, board structure, director liability, and capital requirements.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Perspectives on Corporate Governance , pp. 413 - 458Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010