From a global overview of governance and why have boards in the first place to the critical leadership skills of the Chairman, this book offers a unique collection of original contributions that are intellectually riveting and distinctly useful for board directors. This is no mean feat, bearing in mind the scandals that have bedeviled corporations and governments. How to Make Boards Work captures latest governance thinking and research whilst simultaneously addressing the theory and practice of board directors relations. The role and contribution of boards is scrutinized within the broader framework of global, social and political complexity. Clearly arguing for the need to reinvent boards, the book's groundbreaking contribution offers latest thinking and global research on the skills, knowledge and qualities necessary for the high performing board and board director. The integration of monitoring through governance codes with the necessary leadership of the directors, capture the nature of the high performing global board. From why have boards, to what to do on boards, this unusual collection is the board directors' guide to sustainable value creation.

Creating the Future with All Finance and Financial Conglomerates comprises an academic search for an understanding of all finance and financial conglomerates. It presents a strategic and economic analysis of diversification strategies and the growing interface between different types of financial firms. On the basis of a solid analysis of theoretical foundations and practical value, the book develops basic concepts of creating the future: especially solutions in managing risks and fresh ideas for the development of integrated financial services. The structure of the book is logical: starting on theoretical foundations (section 1, part A) and examining the economic value of All Finance and Financial Conglomerates (part B), leads to creating a concept for the future (part C). Case studies add additional practical value to this research. The review of the subject is completed by aspects of risk management in this sector and by political guidelines for the EU single market (section 2). The book builds further on Professor Van den Berghe's first publication, entitled Financial Conglomerates - New Rules for New Players (published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in October 1995) and broadens the scope in the direction of strategic and managerial aspects. The following five aspects underline the innovativeness of the material: The volume is not only focused on the diversification of banks via `bancassurance', but also analyses in depth the parallel developments in the insurance market, whereby insurers and insurance intermediaries launch themselves in the direction of `assurfinance'; The material analyses not only the cross-selling of each other's products and the blurring of the market boundaries, but also the diversification, collaboration, and integration on all other levels and functions; New conceptual tools (the financial conglomerates control board) are developed to provide a more in-depth comparison of the many cases of this international trend; The book goes far beyond the categorisation of the mode of diversification, by looking at all managerial aspects of such a growth strategy; and The work looks at the economic and legal aspects involved as well as at the more strategic and managerial aspects. This research has been made possible thanks to the financial support of The LEVOB Foundation.

Corporate Governance In A Globalising World: Convergence Or Divergence? presents a broad and multi-disciplinary debate on corporate governance systems by integrating academic viewpoints, statistical evidence, as well as field surveys. Based on a large number of publications and studies, the opinions of researchers are grouped into three categories: those that believe in a convergence into the direction of the market-oriented model (with the Anglo-American model as the reference base), those that opt for another type of convergence, namely in the direction of a hybrid corporate governance model (based on cross-reference between different leading governance models), and those that do not believe in global convergence but adhere to diversity of governance models.
To test the validity of these three possible routes for the development of corporate governance systems, the authors approached this question from an objective perspective based on statistical evidence. The governance characteristics examined herein include the role of capital markets, shareholding structures and influence, shareholder rights, the market for corporate control and anti-takeover mechanisms, the board system, disclosure rules and accountability issues.
To complete this statistical analysis the authors include a field survey based on an inquiry with experts from business, academic and public institutions. Questions focus on the future outlook of corporate governance within the European Union, as well as on the role and format of corporate governance codes and recommendations.

In recent years financial conglomerates have been established throughout Europe. This horizontal diversification has attracted a great deal of attention in the banking and insurance sector, and has alarmed the supervisory authorities and the European Commission. Financial Conglomerates: New Rules for New Players? gives a broad, innovative survey of the following aspects: it analyzes different sets of definitions of financial conglomerates, groups, consolidation criteria, etc., testing the practical effects of these definitions on the basis of a detailed relational database; although the benefits of financial conglomerates are straightforward, it is clear that quite a number of potential risks cannot be ignored; moreover, the differences in regulation of the solvency requirements for banks, insurance companies and investment firms are analyzed in order to look for a possible approach for calculating the necessary level of solvency for financial conglomerates. Audience: Required reading for practitioners as well as academic researchers in both the financial and the insurance markets. Strategic as well as regulatory perspectives are relevant disciplines.

In International Standardisation of Good Corporate Governance - Best Practices for the Board of Directors the Academy of Directors (AoD) presents a multidisciplinary approach for the governance of a company. The AoD also aims to use the interaction between the academic and the business world to change the environment in which companies work. This task is realised in different ways: by conducting applied scientific research, creating a large pool of professional experience and networking within the AoD, confronting these research results with the practical experience of the members, publishing these results, and organising training programmes. The AoD therefore collaborates very closely with the academic world. The Vlerick School of Management was the co-founder of the AoD, together with a great number of national and international business partners. The foundation of the AoD goes back to the initiative of its president, Mr. L.H. Verbeke (Loeff Claeys Verbeke). He was convinced that the increasing international interest in corporate governance would also affect Belgian companies, but that there was a need for an indigenous coherent' view of corporate governance. Being at the cross-roads of different cultures and languages and at the same time being a very open economy, Belgium could not simply copy another country's code on good corporate governance. Therefore the initiative was taken to set up a broad international overview of the best practices for the board of directors, which is presented in this volume. This analysis is not only oriented towards the famous' codes but aims to highlight as well the practical applications and problems faced in implementing these suggestions. Consequently special attention is given to the best practices for family businesses and medium-sized companies.

Corporate Governance In A Globalising World: Convergence Or Divergence? presents a broad and multi-disciplinary debate on corporate governance systems by integrating academic viewpoints, statistical evidence, as well as field surveys. Based on a large number of publications and studies, the opinions of researchers are grouped into three categories: those that believe in a convergence into the direction of the market-oriented model (with the Anglo-American model as the reference base), those that opt for another type of convergence, namely in the direction of a hybrid corporate governance model (based on cross-reference between different leading governance models), and those that do not believe in global convergence but adhere to diversity of governance models.

In International Standardisation of Good Corporate Governance - Best Practices for the Board of Directors the Academy of Directors (AoD) presents a multidisciplinary approach for the governance of a company. The AoD also aims to use the interaction between the academic and the business world to change the environment in which companies work. This task is realised in different ways: by conducting applied scientific research, creating a large pool of professional experience and networking within the AoD, confronting these research results with the practical experience of the members, publishing these results, and organising training programmes. The AoD therefore collaborates very closely with the academic world. The Vlerick School of Management was the co-founder of the AoD, together with a great number of national and international business partners. The foundation of the AoD goes back to the initiative of its president, Mr. L.H. Verbeke (Loeff Claeys Verbeke). He was convinced that the increasing international interest in corporate governance would also affect Belgian companies, but that there was a need for an `indigenous coherent' view of corporate governance. Being at the cross-roads of different cultures and languages and at the same time being a very open economy, Belgium could not simply copy another country's code on good corporate governance. Therefore the initiative was taken to set up a broad international overview of the best practices for the board of directors, which is presented in this volume. This analysis is not only oriented towards the `famous' codes but aims to highlight as well the practical applications and problems faced in implementing these suggestions. Consequently special attention is given to the best practices for family businesses and medium-sized companies.

In recent years financial conglomerates have been established throughout Europe. This horizontal diversification has attracted a great deal of attention in the banking and insurance sector, and has alarmed the supervisory authorities and the European Commission. Financial Conglomerates: New Rules for New Players? gives a broad, innovative survey of the following aspects: it analyzes different sets of definitions of financial conglomerates, groups, consolidation criteria, etc., testing the practical effects of these definitions on the basis of a detailed relational database; although the benefits of financial conglomerates are straightforward, it is clear that quite a number of potential risks cannot be ignored; moreover, the differences in regulation of the solvency requirements for banks, insurance companies and investment firms are analyzed in order to look for a possible approach for calculating the necessary level of solvency for financial conglomerates. Audience: Required reading for practitioners as well as academic researchers in both the financial and the insurance markets. Strategic as well as regulatory perspectives are relevant disciplines.

Creating the Future with All Finance and Financial Conglomerates comprises an academic search for an understanding of all finance and financial conglomerates. It presents a strategic and economic analysis of diversification strategies and the growing interface between different types of financial firms. On the basis of a solid analysis of theoretical foundations and practical value, the book develops basic concepts of creating the future: especially solutions in managing risks and fresh ideas for the development of integrated financial services. The structure of the book is logical: starting on theoretical foundations (section 1, part A) and examining the economic value of All Finance and Financial Conglomerates (part B), leads to creating a concept for the future (part C). Case studies add additional practical value to this research. The review of the subject is completed by aspects of risk management in this sector and by political guidelines for the EU single market (section 2). The book builds further on Professor Van den Berghe's first publication, entitled Financial Conglomerates - New Rules for New Players (published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in October 1995) and broadens the scope in the direction of strategic and managerial aspects. The following five aspects underline the innovativeness of the material: The volume is not only focused on the diversification of banks via `bancassurance', but also analyses in depth the parallel developments in the insurance market, whereby insurers and insurance intermediaries launch themselves in the direction of `assurfinance'; The material analyses not only the cross-selling of each other's products and the blurring of the market boundaries, but also the diversification, collaboration, and integration on all other levels and functions; New conceptual tools (the financial conglomerates control board) are developed to provide a more in-depth comparison of the many cases of this international trend; The book goes far beyond the categorisation of the mode of diversification, by looking at all managerial aspects of such a growth strategy; and The work looks at the economic and legal aspects involved as well as at the more strategic and managerial aspects. This research has been made possible thanks to the financial support of The LEVOB Foundation.