Book contents
- Endorsements
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Foundations
- Part II Jurisdictions
- Part III Comparisons
- 25 Investment Management, Stewardship and Corporate Governance Roles
- 26 Sustainable Finance and Stewardship
- 27 Shareholder Stewardship Enforcement
- 28 Can a Global Legal Misfit Be Fixed?
- 29 Shareholder Stewardship in Asia
- 30 The Global Diffusion of Stewardship Codes
- Index
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
- Endorsements
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Global Shareholder Stewardship
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part I Foundations
- Part II Jurisdictions
- Part III Comparisons
- 25 Investment Management, Stewardship and Corporate Governance Roles
- 26 Sustainable Finance and Stewardship
- 27 Shareholder Stewardship Enforcement
- 28 Can a Global Legal Misfit Be Fixed?
- 29 Shareholder Stewardship in Asia
- 30 The Global Diffusion of Stewardship Codes
- Index
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.
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- Global Shareholder Stewardship , pp. 599 - 612Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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