Enforcement of Shareholders’ Duties – Introduction

Abstract

The discussion on shareholders’ duties has increasingly gained momentum in the EU and has given rise to the adoption of duties in both company law and capital markets law. However, this discussion must be extended further if the duties that are increasingly imposed on shareholders are to have a genuine effect on the viability of the recent regulatory developments in this area. Enforcement mechanisms are crucial to this discussion as they are vital to preserving the credibility of markets, to ensuring compliance with regulatory objectives and with sound corporate governance practices, as well as to holding accountable persons who are supposed to fulfil the vast range of shareholders’ duties. This volume presents a series of contributions touching on enforcement mechanisms that are already in place, as well as emerging or hypothetical mechanisms that will be at the centre of debate for the years to come. The overall objective of this volume is to provide a reliable overview of enforcement frameworks and to reflect on their efficiency, adaptability to market developments and suitability to the current challenges we face in company and capital markets law. This introductory chapter gives a concise presentation of the various arguments raised and focuses on the numerous rationales for enforcement and the various types of enforcement (legal and social) in the area of shareholders’ duties.

Keywords: shareholders' duties

JEL Classification: K22