Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of German corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach – The history of the German Corporate Governance Code is highlighted. Then a short overview of the acceptance of the code by companies in practice is given which is based...

Purpose – The passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 followed hard on the collapses of Enron and WorldCom. Waste makes haste. Official reports for US government agencies worried that the legislation may have impaired New York's competitiveness as a venue for international capital...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the potential for disclosure recommendations given by authoritative supervisory bodies to reduce information asymmetry between the management and shareholders. Design/methodology/approach – There is only meagre existing evidence concerning firms'...

Purpose – Where there has been little in‐depth understanding of sovereign wealth funds, the purpose of this paper is to describe the complex nature of one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings (“Temasek”), whose “active” investment strategy has been emulated...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX) on a number of governance and governance‐related characteristics, such as board structure and committee composition, as well as the effect of those changes (if any) on both...

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a model to assess the effectiveness and compliance of bank boards, taking into account their unique characteristics, financial industry standards and regulations. Design/methodology/approach – The literature on the roles and effectiveness of boards and...

Purpose – Legislators legislate, but how feasible and effective the implementation and enforcement of these laws are and how congruent with the countries characteristics, is under doubt. The paper seeks to argue that the Greek law on corporate governance (CG) had no effect on the fundamental...

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate governance (CG) and socially responsible investment (SRI) are now established terms among most large corporations, particularly in the field of investment. The aim of this paper is to explore the issue of social responsibility (SR) in...

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has taken on increased stature and importance in recent years, as property investors have given an increased priority to environmental, social and corporate governance issues in their property investment decision‐making. The purpose of this...

Purpose – This is the first paper which aims to investigate factors that might influence the gender composition of boards of directors of Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A‐REITs). Design/methodology/approach – This study follows Mateos de Cabo, Gimeno and Nieto and the gender...