Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:12:00.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

28 - Can a Global Legal Misfit Be Fixed?

Shareholder Stewardship in a Controlling Shareholder and ESG World

from Part III - Comparisons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2022

Dionysia Katelouzou
Affiliation:
King's College London
Dan W. Puchniak
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Get access

Summary

UK-style shareholder stewardship is a global legal misfit because it was designed for a jurisdiction with dispersed shareholding where institutional investors collectively control a majority of the shares but has been transplanted into jurisdictions where controlling shareholders predominate. What ought to be the role of shareholder stewardship in a world dominated by controlling shareholders? This chapter analyzes the effectiveness of shareholder stewardship in advancing ESG in controlled jurisdictions then evaluates the effectiveness of the only stewardship code – the Singapore Family Code – to have attempted to reorient UK-style stewardship to a controlling shareholder environment. It concludes that prospects for shareholder stewardship in jurisdictions where controlling shareholders predominate are likely limited. Although a reoriented approach may help nudge controlling shareholders towards ESG, hard law will likely be needed to bring about real change. This suggests that shareholder stewardship may be used as a smokescreen by controlling shareholders and governments, sending a formal signal that they are addressing ESG when functional change is limited in practice.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×