This time the other way around? Is the US Business Roundtable copying corporate governance principles from good old Europe?

19.11.2020 | Business Roundtable Webinar

In its recent corporate governance proposal the Business Roundtable called for a commitment to long-term sustainable economic value creation. This has prompted a vigorous debate on the optimal corporate governance model. While some are insisting that changes in corporate governance are constrained by an imperative to maximize shareholder value, others believe that effective reform requires prescriptive regulation. There are also alternative solutions being proposed, reimagining corporate governance as a cooperative exercise among the corporate stakeholders.

During this Business Roundtable Webinar we discussed the state of play of this exciting debate and its impact on cross-border deal-making.

This webinar was held in English.

Maria Ghazal, is Senior Vice President & Counsel for Business Roundtable in Washington DC, where she directs strategic initiatives across the organization and oversees policy development and advocacy for the Business Roundtable Corporate Governance and Smart Regulation Committees. She is the organization’s chief advocate on these issues before Congress and federal agencies. Read more

Holly Gregory, Partner, Sidley Austin, New York, co-chair of Sidley’s global Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation practice, counsels publicly held, private and not-for-profit corporations on the full range of governance issues, including governance structure and culture, fiduciary duties, risk oversight, conflicts of interest, board and committee structure, board leadership, special committee investigations, CEO transitions, board audits and self-evaluation processes, shareholder activism and initiatives, proxy contests, relationships with shareholders and proxy advisory firms, compliance with legislative, regulatory and listing rule requirements and governance “best practices.” She is frequently called on to advise boards regarding sensitive and unusual matters. While most of the matters she works on are highly confidential, high-profile matters that are in the public record include advising on governance and accountability mechanisms of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to replace U.S. government oversight, and advising the Board of The Pennsylvania State University on governance reforms. Read more

Hans Christoph Grigoleit is a Professor of Civil Law, Commercial and Corporate Law and Private Law Theory at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. The focus of his research is on stock corporation law, fundamental principles of contract and tort liability and methods of legal reasoning. He is the editor and author of a standard commentary on stock corporation law. He has also published several monographs and numerous articles in the fields of corporate and civil law. He delivers lectures on the international academic level on a regular basis. Read more

Dr. Markus Nauheim, LL.M. (Duke), is a partner in the Munich office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He is dual-qualified and admitted both as Rechtsanwalt in Germany and as Attorney at Law in New York. Mr. Nauheim focuses his practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, as well as cross-border joint ventures. He also advises on general corporate and capital markets law, corporate governance issues as well as in connection with crisis management and crisis communication. In addition, Mr. Nauheim has extensive experience in providing compliance advice, especially in connection with governmental, regulatory and internal investigations, as well as in the areas of post-closing and other types of dispute resolution and arbitration.

Mr. Nauheim is a member of the Central Board, and Co-Head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Working Group, of the German-American Lawyers Association (DAJV). He holds an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law and is the Chair of Duke Germany. Read more.