The Architecture of Corporate Governance in Australia - Corporate Governance - National Report: Australia
COMPARATIVE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: A FUNCTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ANALYSIS, 106-155 (Cambridge University Press, UK: Andreas M. Fleckner and Klaus J. Hopt, eds., 2013).
Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 10/75
Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 10-24
European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) - Law Working Paper No. 164/2010
67 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2010 Last revised: 3 Jun 2020
Date Written: August 12, 2010
Abstract
The paper was prepared as the Australian National Report on Corporate Governance for the International Academy of Comparative Law, 18th International Congress of Comparative Law, which was held in Washington from July 25 - August 1, 2010. The paper provides an overview of the structure of corporate governance in Australia, focusing on a number of recent developments in this area. Many elements of Australian corporate law differ markedly from the U.S. system. Specific corporate governance issues, which are discussed in the paper in an Australian context include: the effect of financial scandals on corporate law reform; composition and structure of the board of directors, including recent developments concerning board diversity; directors’ duties and the operation of the antipodean version of the business judgment rule; trends in the structure and regulation of executive compensation; shareholder rights and minority shareholder protection; shareholder activism; takeover regulation; the continuous disclosure regime; and enforcement by regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Keywords: Australia, corporate governance, comparative corporate governance, corporate law, corporate scandals, board structure, independent directors, directors’ duties, business judgment rule, institutional investors, shareholder rights, continuous disclosure, enforcement
JEL Classification: D70, G01, G30, G32, G34, G38, K20, K22, K33, N20, M14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation