Corporate governance: A review of the fundamental practices worldwide

This paper focused on the concept of corporate governance based on shareholders’ and stakeholders’ perspectives and the development of corporate governance around the world, including the UK, the US, and Australia. The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance were presented, including shareholders’ rights, the equitable treatment of shareholders, disclosure and stakeholders’ rights and transparency practices, and the responsibilities of board of directors. Numerous corporate collapses have highlighted the call for the management and directors of companies to be more accountable, and they have led governments and international organisations such as the OECD to be more active in establishing principles of corporate governance. It was concluded that the system of corporate governance has increased in different countries in relation to the nature of the economy, legal systems, and cultural norms

Determinants of audit fees in quoted financial and non-financial firms

Regulators have ensured the compulsory disclosure of audit fees in the financial statement to overcome abnormal fees and instill credibility in the financial report since audit pricing is contingent upon audit quality. However, discrepancies between audit fee dimensions are evidenced in the abnormal audit fees, resulting in accounting scandals. Hence, this study assessed the determinants of audit fees in quoted financial and non-financial firms by building a model underpinned by agency theory (Mitnick, 2006) and economic theory of product differentiation (Beath & Katsoulacos, 1991). Secondary data were utilized from companies’ annual reports between 2009 and 2018 using the purposive sampling technique. Furthermore, Breusch-Pagan Lagrangian multiplier (LM) test and the Hausman test indicated the consistency of the models. The static panel regression estimations showed that auditee size, risk, auditor size, reputation, engagement lag, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation significantly affect audit fees in both sectors. This study concluded that the three dimensions largely determine audit fees. This study instructively proposed that assurance clients should devise an outline of guidelines and practices to guide activities in the sectors by monitoring the variables that impact audit fees

The managers’ decisions submitted to the approval of the general meeting: Review of Turkish Commercial Code regulations

Article 625/2 of the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC), adapted from the Swiss Code of Obligations (Obligationenrecht 811, hereinafter referred as OR 811), allows managers to submit certain decisions and individual matters to the approval of the general meeting. This paper purports to reveal how this article could be interpreted and the regulations to be made in the agreements of limited liability companies in Turkish law. To do that, an interpretation of article 625/2 of TCC is developed. In addition, the effect of this article on the liability of the managers and the references made to articles 51 and 52 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) are explained. With a regulation added in the agreement of the company, the managers would either be required to submit or they would be free to choose to submit certain decisions and individual matters to the approval of the general meeting. Considering that the submission slows down the decision-making process and causes additional costs, granting the managers the right to choose becomes an important issue. However, the approval of the general meeting does not remove the liability of the managers. So when a lawsuit for liability is filed against managers, the approval of the general meeting may decrease the payment for compensation (articles 51 and 52 of TCO)

The responsibility of a limited liability company with authorized fictitious capital: Evidence from the emerging market

The phenomenon of law related to the capital subscribed and fully paid up company is limited liability companies in Indonesia, many of which are not real. The aim of this research is to answer the question: "What is the legality and legal consequences of an establishment with a fictitious authorized capital?". The research was conducted via the study of literature with this type of normative legal research supported by an empirical approach. The results of the research contribute to knowledge that the responsibility of a limited liability company with a capital payment basis is fictitious when the establishment does not essentially meet the validity of the establishment of the limited liability company itself, whether based on terms “materially” or “formally”. The terms formilnya (“formally”) depositing of the authorized capital must be issued and paid-up in full. Although the capital is fictitious or not real, if it has been approved by a legal entity, then it remains as a legitimate legal entity, but the substance of it is a limited liability company. Depositing the authorized capital which is not real contradicts the nature of the limited liability company as a legal entity

Editorial: New horizons in corporate law and governance research

Corporate governance and corporate law cover a wide range of eminent topics for the effective governance system. The articles published in this issue have focused particularly on the board configuration, commercial code regulations about the managers’ decision and compensation, the comparative perspective of the common law rule on pre incorporation contracts, and the responsibility of the company with the authorized fictitious capital from the evidence of emerging markets. Moreover, this issue includes a book review of the theoretical, essential, and international practices of corporate governance, which consists of various timely and interesting concepts, such as the role of institutional investors in corporate governance, the board of directors’ impact on performance and the role of non-executive directors, the audit function and the role of regulation international corporate governance, and socially responsible investment, etc.

Governance and corporate control in the United States

This paper provides an overview of business entities in the United States. We analyze current trends in the ownership structures of U.S. firms, diversity and inclusion, mergers and acquisitions, minority shareholder rights protections, and review the literature related to corporate ownership and financial performance. With the shift in the U.S. from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans and a desire for increased corporate governance, we observe a significant increase in the financial assets under management by large institutional investors. It is believed these large institutional investors can have a significant impact on the governance, decision-making, and performance of the U.S. publicly traded firms. We observe an increasing trend in foreign indirect investment in the U.S. from countries in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Rim, North and South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Additionally, increased compensation of publicly traded firms’ top executives is shown, which has resulted in an increased disparity between the compensation of top management teams and the firms’ hourly employees. Lastly, we expect the suggested bias against women and other minorities, as evidenced here, will be lessened in the future and should result in improved financial performance for firms

Comparative analysis of development paths within the framework of the two-tier corporate governance model in Germany, Italy, and China

This article aims to reveal the three trajectories of establishing the two-tier model and select Germany, Italy, and China to discuss the ontology of the two-tier model, its integration with other local models, and its development variants. This article compares the similarities and differences of the two-tier model in the organizational structures of three countries to show that there is institutional inertia or path dependence in the design of legal systems and rules on corporate governance. In the two-tier model, the management agency performs the corporate business, the supervisory agency supervises the corporate operations, and the relationship between the management agency and the supervisory agency is subtle and complex. Germany is the original user of the two-tier model. Italy introduced the two-tier model as an optional model in addition to the traditional model. China is learning from the world’s experience and establishing its own two-tier corporate structure based on its own conditions. As Buck and Shahrim (2005) mentioned, cultural traditions, historical development paths and models, the overall development level and maturity of the market economy, social legal awareness, and the improvement of the rule of law influence the corporate governance structure that the country chooses to adopt

Book review: “Corporate governance: Theoretical essentials and international practices”

This review covers the textbook titled “Corporate governance: Theoretical essentials and international prectices”, authored by Aws Alhares and Naser Ibrahim Abumustafa (Virtus Interpress, 2021; ISBN: 978-617-7309-17-7). The review focuses particularly on the relationship between corporate governance and financial structure, the role of institutional investors in corporate governance, the board of directors’ impact on performance and the role of non-executive directors, the audit function and the role of regulation international corporate governance, and socially responsible investment. It also highlights the contribution of this textbook to the ongoing discussion on key points relating to corporate governance

Pre-incorporation contract: A comparative analysis of the Canadian and Nigerian corporate law regimes

The question of how best to protect the interests of a promoter, a third party, and a company in pre-incorporation contracts is one that seems to have defied corporate law. Although this problem has its origin in common law, various countries have made efforts to address it through statutory reforms. The paper, therefore, examines the extent to which the Canadian and Nigerian legal regimes for the pre-incorporation contract have provided panaceas to the problem. This paper, through a comparative analysis, argues that although the legal regimes have made efforts to reform the common law rule on pre-incorporation contracts, they suffer patent defects. It also posits that notwithstanding the defects in the laws, the Canadian legal regimes offer more protection to parties to pre-incorporation contracts than Nigerian law. The paper suggests reforms in both regimes that would meet the reasonable expectations of the parties to a pre incorporation contract

Corporate law and governance: A case of Tunisia after the Arab Spring

This paper reviews the corporate governance practices of listed Tunisian companies. Besides that, the paper explores the evolution of corporate governance legislation between 2013 and 2017 in order to identify the changes caused by the revolution to accompany the current context’s needs and the democratic transition in Tunisia. Although the most of companies in Tunisia are dominated by family small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and very small enterprises (VSEs) we have chosen to focus on listed companies. These companies present more advanced practices of corporate governance given the legislation in force. Results of this paper shed light on several important features of the Tunisian corporate governance system, for example, interlocking directorates. It is interesting to notice that a limited number of directors control the majority of the market capitalization in Tunisia. The practice of interlocking directorates reflects the Tunisian way of economic lobbying. As for gender diversity, although there are no laws imposing a minimum quota of women directors, the proportion of female board members has slightly increased during the last years, moving from 7.87% in 2013 to 9.92% in 2017. In contrast to Arab and African countries, it should be noted that the majority of women directors sit on boards as members of the family controlling the company or because they are civil servants representing the state’s interests in state-owned enterprises