Throwing In A Little Corporate Governance V

Although the media generally has praised the recent trend of requiring corporate governance reforms as part of the settlement of shareholder litigation, the response has not been uniform. Business Week has a column in its Sept. 6 edition that is critical of the real value of these reforms.

Quote of note: “It is just another example of how there’s as much bluster as big bucks behind the recent wave of such therapeutic shareholder deals. Governance experts and the lawyers who push the lawsuits laud them for forcing boards closer to true independence and pressuring executives to be more accountable. But while some financial payouts have been impressive, the governance changes, with few exceptions, have not. Worse, the settlements are taking some of the pressure off companies to make more substantive changes.”