Climate change has garnered significant attention given that it poses a serious challenge to sustainable development. No longer is it merely within the domain of voluntary conduct on the part of corporations. Instead, it is a material financial risk that corporations encounter, thereby imposing duties on the boards of directors of corporations to recognise and address climate risk. In “Directors’...
Case-Study Evidence of Shareholder Activism
We have previously highlighted the rise of shareholder activism in India (here and here). Activism has been aided by regulatory reforms that have enlarged shareholder participation. In addition, market changes have resulted in previously passive institutional investors becoming more active in recent times. They have further been supported by the emergence of a growing and vibrant proxy advisory...
Derivative Action for Patent Infringement Disallowed
Spicy IP has a post discussing a judgment of the Bombay High Court in Darius Rutton Kavasmaneck v. Gharda Chemicals Limited, which involves a derivative claim by a shareholder of a company that traverses issues of company law and patent law. In disallowing the claim, the Bombay High Court dealt with issues pertaining to derivative actions and clarified circumstances where they would be allowed to...
OECD on Public Enforcement of Corporate Governance in Asia
The principles and norms of corporate governance tend to operate through layers. On the one hand, there is the basic legislation, i.e. the Companies Act, SEBI Act and the like. Then there are specific norms in the form of clause 49 of the listing agreement that are mandatory for listed companies. Finally, there could be voluntary guidelines that exhort companies towards higher standards. That...
Class Actions in the Companies Act, 2013: a Recipe for Confusion?
The Companies Act, 2013 introduces some important changes to the company law regime in India. In this post, we shall discuss one such new feature: the class action. The provisions governing class actions are introduced through s. 245 of the Act. These provisions are included under ‘Chapter XVI – Prevention of Oppression and Mismanagement’: however, class actions are evidently not the same as...
Companies Bill, 2011: Class Actions
Background In developed markets, one of the key mechanisms used for enforcement of corporate law is shareholder actions against the company or its management for breach of duties and obligations owed under law. Such shareholder actions can be either direct actions for breaches of duties owed to the shareholders directly in which case the remedies will flow to the shareholders, or they can be...
The United States Supreme Court on the ‘Principal Place of Business’
Two earlier posts had discussed the issue and the oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court in Hertz Corp. v. Friend. Earlier this year, the Court delivered a unanimous verdict, holding that the ‘principal place of business’ of a corporation is its ‘nerve centre’, i.e. the headquarters of the corporation. As discussed earlier, the issue came before the Court as part of a class action...
‘Principal place of business’ – Oral Arguments in Hertz v. Friend
An earlier post had discussed the issue in Hertz v. Friend, which calls upon the United States Supreme Court to determine what is the ‘principal place of business’ of a corporation having operations in more than one State. The Court heard the matter on 10th November, and the transcript is available here. Unfortunately, while it makes interesting read, the potential the case seemed to have for a...
United States Supreme Court considers a corporation’s ‘principal place of business’
An important question, with significant implications for contemporary corporate law theory will be heard by the United States Supreme Court on November 10. The matter in question is Hertz Corp. V. Friend (08-1107), which poses the question of which State can be considered to be a corporation’s ‘principal place of business’. The issue has arisen against the backdrop of a class action against the...
Shareholder Activism and Class Action Lawsuits
Recent developments in the Indian corporate sphere – Satyam being the prime example – have raised several calls for instilling the culture of shareholder activism in India. One key form of such activism that keeps companies under check is the availability of class action lawsuits for securities law violations by companies, their promoters or managers. The threat of a lawsuit, the loss of...
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