Legal and Ethical Aspects of Corporate Governance
In light of recent corporate collapses, constitutional conflict, and the push for national uniform regulation, the corporate governance regulatory regime is in a state of flux. This unstable legal environment underscores the need for research that can inform legal debate on these issues. Moreover, almost all of the research discussed above must recognize, either explicitly or implicitly, the role of regulatory frameworks. Hence, a legal perspective is a significant input into a program designed to identify the effects of corporate governance, as well as assessing alternative regulatory regimes. Potential issues include the impact of ethics on corporate governance, the role of governance in takeovers, the impact of the Financial Services Reform Act 2001 on governance in the finance sector, and the shift towards criminal sanctions for commercial misconduct. The future roles of ASIC, APRA and the Reserve Bank as regulators is also timely, as is an examination of the role of the company secretary (now often the corporate counsel) in corporate governance via the "conscience of the board" concept.
