This book takes us back to the financial crisis and asks: should the directors of the financial institutions that caused the crisis be held responsible to their investors? Loughrey's and her contributors' analysis of that question and the suggestions to implement their proposals are insightful and timely. This is a must-read book for those of us that are still trying to determine how to avoid the next financial crisis.' - Randall Thomas, Vanderbilt Law School, USThe financial crisis revealed failings at board level at many financial institutions. But despite calls for bank boards to be held to account, there has been a remarkable paucity of litigation against bank directors for breach of their duties. This book assesses whether the law relating to directors duties and shareholder litigation has contributed to this, taking into account the changes to both that were introduced by the Companies Act 2006. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book examines the director's duty of care and skill, the s.172 duty, reporting obligations under s.417 of the Companies Act 2006, and shareholder litigation including the derivative action and just and equitable winding up. It concludes that neither the common law nor the statutory duties and derivative action under the Companies Act 2006 function effectively to hold directors to account and analyses why this is so. This detailed book will appeal to academics in company law and corporate governance as well as commercial law practitioners particularly those who specialize in company litigation. Contributors include: F. Akinbami, A. Campbell, R. Hollington, A. Keay, R. Tomasic, C. Villiers

This assessment of the corporate governance role of corporate lawyers in the UK analyses the extent to which lawyers can and should act as gate-keepers, counsellors and reputational intermediaries. Focusing on external and in-house lawyers' roles in both dispersed share-ownership and owner-managed companies, Joan Loughrey highlights the conflicts of interest that are endemic in corporate representation and examines how lawyers should respond when corporate agents provide instructions contrary to the company client's interests. She also considers the legitimacy of 'creative compliance', the ethical arguments for and against lawyers prioritising the public interest over their clients' interests, and their exposure to liability if they fail to perform a corporate governance role. Finally, she considers whether the reforms to the legal profession will promote the lawyer's corporate governance role and advances suggestions for reform.