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3 - The failure of corporate governance and the limits of law: British banks and the global financial crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

William Sun
Affiliation:
Leeds Metropolitan University
Jim Stewart
Affiliation:
Leeds Metropolitan University
David Pollard
Affiliation:
Leeds Metropolitan University
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Summary

The global financial crisis demonstrated the fragility of the widely accepted faith in prevailing corporate governance ideas and the adequacy of legal mechanisms that were available to buttress these ideas. This was very evident from the fate of British banks after the failure of Northern Rock plc in late 2007 and the subsequent government action to rescue other leading British banks (Treasury Committee, 2008b). After more than two decades of debate in regard to the improvement of corporate governance mechanisms in Britain, it became evident that many of the ideas that had been advanced during this debate have been found to be wanting and were in need of revision or even replacement; these earlier debates had largely sought to legitimize a self-regulatory approach to corporate governance and a minimal involvement of governments in markets.

Type
Chapter
Information
Corporate Governance and the Global Financial Crisis
International Perspectives
, pp. 50 - 74
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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