| Unit name | Corporate Governance in the United Kingdom and United States |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0069 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Villiers |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit aims to give students a fundamental understanding of the legal rules that determine the balance of decision-making power within Anglo-American public companies. It assesses the main theoretical models of the business corporation as developed within English and American jurisprudence and scholarship, in order to provide a basic conceptual structure to the course material. It then proceeds to examine and compare the key features of UK and US (Delaware & federal) company and securities law in relation to issues such as: the distribution of authority between directors and shareholders; the structure & composition of the corporate board; directors&� duties and financial risk management; and takeovers & the market for corporate control. The emphasis is on studying how the legal rules and institutions interact with wider market pressures in establishing effective managerial incentives and disciplinary mechanisms.
