Directors' Duties and Shareholder Litigation in the Wake of the Financial Crisis

Book excerpt: ÔThis book takes us back to the financial crisis and asks: should the directors of the financial institutions that caused the crisis be held responsible to their investors? LoughreyÕs and her contributorsÕ analysis of that question and the suggestions to implement their proposals are insightful and timely. This is a must-read book for those of us who are still trying to determine how to avoid the next financial crisis.Õ Ð Randall Thomas, Vanderbilt Law School, US The financial crisis revealed failings at board level at many financial institutions. But despite calls for bank boards to be held to account, there has been a remarkable paucity of litigation against bank directors for breach of their duties. This book assesses whether the law relating to directorsÕ duties and shareholder litigation has contributed to this, taking into account the changes to both that were introduced by the Companies Act 2006. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners, the book examines the directorÕs duty of care and skill, the s.172 duty, reporting obligations under s.417 of the Companies Act 2006, and shareholder litigation including the derivative action and just and equitable winding up. It concludes that neither the common law nor the statutory duties and derivative action under the Companies Act 2006 function effectively to hold directors to account and analyses why this is so. This detailed book will appeal to academics in company law and corporate governance as well as commercial law practitioners particularly those who specialize in company litigation.