A unified framework is presented to characterise the capital structure of firms that face borrowing restrictions - which extends the classic theory of capital by incorporating elements from actuarial and agency theory. It is demonstrated that the bankruptcy and agency costs afforded by these...

In this Article we submit that the compensation structures at banks before the financial crisis were not necessarily flawed and that recent reforms in this area largely reflect already existing best practices. In Part I we review recent empirical studies on corporate governance and executive pay...

Key points:• This article considers how the recent market turmoil affected national banking systems, thereby prompting state measures;• It describes the remuneration problems shown by the financial crisis: rewards for failure; short-term behaviour; inappropriate design of performance...

I examine how the debt covenant structure of a firm varies with managerial risk-taking incentives via CEO compensation sensitivities to stock return volatility (Vega). I build a comprehensive firm debt covenant index by including both public and private debt issues. I find a robust negative...

This study examines the recent, significant growth in the appointment of CROs, the role of the CRO, and whether such appointments benefit shareholders. We find that the market is more likely to react positively to an appointment of a CRO the weaker a firm's corporate governance. In particular,...

Prevailing executive pay practices rest on fallacious assumptions about performance attribution, the nature of alignment, and the psychology of incentives, and have numerous unintended consequences that are value-destructive particularly for long term and diversified shareholders. The focus of...