Research Interests

My research interests encompass different dimensions of corporate governance, capital markets, and policy/regulatory reforms in developed and emerging markets. Current areas of exploration include:

• Agency issues within the capital markets and impact on incentives, behavior, and accountability

• Effectiveness of institutional shareholders as monitors/stewards

• Optimal balance of incentives and liability for corporate managers and financial market intermediaries

• Impact of relative performance measures on corporate performance and financial system stability

• Effective approaches to improve corporate governance standards and practices in emerging markets

As a practitioner with an academic bent, I am interested in helping to strengthen the bridge between academic thinking and real-world practice in the areas of corporate governance and capital market regulation, with a view to improving corporate and capital market practices, policymaking, and academic research and teaching.

External Activities

• Build Africa – member of Board of Trustees (2010 - present)

• OECD – member of Latin American Task Force on Related Party Transactions (2012 – present)

• Aspen Institute – member of Strategic Advisory Council for Prize Competition Design (2012 – present)

• National Association of Pension Funds (UK) – member of Shareholders Affairs Committee (2010 – present)

• Global Corporate Governance Forum of the World Bank Group – member of Private Sector Advisory Group (2008 – present)

• Eumedion (Netherlands) – member of Investment Committee (2007 – 2013)

• International Corporate Governance Network – Chairman of Shareholder Responsibilities Committee (2008 – 2010)

•  Association of British Insurers – member of Investment Committee (2007 – 2009)

• House of Commons testimony on The Kay Review of UK Equity Markets and Long-Term Decision Making, February 2013
  (available online here)

Teaching

• Corporate Governance LL435 (guest teacher)

• Northwestern University, School of Law: International Corporate Governance (2007 – present)

• University of Cambridge, Programme for Sustainability Leadership: Economics of Climate Change (2010)

• Keio University, Graduate School of Economics: Lecture Series on European and Asian Economics (2011)(guest lecturer)

Selected articles / chapters in books

'Is institutional investor stewardship still elusive?,' Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, September 2015

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2654229
[an update to http://ssrn.com/abstract=1635662]

'The Problem of Underweight Shareholders', The New York Times, 5 August, 2014

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2478888

'Tesco board must take blame for errors which forced CEO out', The Conversation, 22 July 2014

http://theconversation.com/tesco-board-must-take-blame-for-errors-which-forced-ceo-out-29517

'People Have Evolved Past Homo Economicus,' Financial Times, 7 July 2014

 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2463708

'Governance hazards abound' (embedded within "Aim’s Red Army on the run" article on Chinese companies), Investors Chronicle, 30 May 2014

 http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2014/05/30/shares/sectors/aim-s-red-army-on-the-run-ar1pF3T37AbOQAn3TiAlcM/article.html

'Do you agree with giving long-term shareholders extra voting influence?' Capital Aberto, January 2014

 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2385677

'Why managers hug benchmark,' Financial Times, 12 October 2013

 http://t.co/LHoWfxJAUb

'How CEOs Can Fix Capitalism,' Harvard Business Review Press, July 2013

[contributed three articles: 1) Seven Ways CEOs and Investors Can Promote the Long Term; 2) A Remedy for Soaring Executive Pay: Focus Less on It; and 3) Aligning CEO Incentives with a Company's Long-Term Agenda]

 http://www.amazon.com/How-CEOs-Can-Capitalism-ebook/dp/B00DKMUZ2S

‘It's OK to Give Shareholders Access to Outside Directors,’ Harvard Business Review Online, July 2013

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2290063

'Rethinking One Share, One Vote,' Harvard Business Review Online, January 2013 (reprinted in Financial News, February 2013)

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2211449

'The missing reform in the Kay Review,' Reuters, 26 July 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2119415

'Essential steps to close the stewardship deficit' (with Peter Butler), Financial Times, 4 June 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2111602

‘Google’s Stock-Split Plan Would Replace Stewardship with Dictatorship,’ Harvard Business Review Online, April 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2043499

‘Dim the Spotlight,’ The Conference Board Review, April 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2040868

‘A Remedy for Soaring Executive Pay: Focus Less on It,’ Harvard Business Review Online, March 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2040858

'Elevating board performance: The significance of director mindset, operating context, and other behavioral and functional considerations,' World Financial Review, January-February 2012

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1997489

 

'Mismatch in the Boardroom,' The Conference Board Review, Winter 2012

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1997481

 

'Barriers to Effective Investor Engagement,' Financial Times, 15 January 2012

 http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1989455

'Are Kodak's Outside Directors Wrong to Desert a Sinking Ship?,' Harvard Business Review Online, January 2012

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1980590

 

'Olympus turmoil shows independent oversight is critical at Japanese firms,' Harvard Business Review Online, October 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1947766

'The all powerful CEO bad for boardroom,' Financial Times, 14 November 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1960356

'Aligning CEO Incentives with a Company's Long-Term Agenda,' Harvard Business Review Online, October 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1947638

'Seven Ways CEOs and Investors Can Promote the Long Term,' Harvard Business Review Online, September 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1947636

'How conflicts of interest thwart institutional investor stewardship,' Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, September 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1925485

'Boards: When best practice isn’t enough,' McKinsey Quarterly, June 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1872324

'Recent trends in institutional investor responsibilities and stewardship' (with Peter Butler), Pensions: An International Journal, May 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1925468

'Promising steps on bank pay reforms,' Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, April 2011

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1806795

'Some banks' pay reform may show the way,' Financial Times, 14 March 2011
 

'Who's Really in Charge? Why non-executive chairmen keep running into trouble,' The Conference Board Review, Fall 2010

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1686563

'How institutional investors should step up as owners,' McKinsey Quarterly, September 2010 (reprinted in McKinsey on Finance, Autumn 2010)

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675443

'Takeover rules debate misses the point,' Financial Times, 23 August 2010

'The UK Stewardship Code: A missed opportunity for higher standards,' Responsible Investor, 13 July 2010

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1640897

'Why stewardship is proving elusive for institutional investors,' Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, July/August 2010

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1635662

'Index-based investing mars stewardship,' Financial Times, 14 June 2010

'Failings of US disclosure-based regulation,' Financial Times, 1 March 2010

A call to reform US disclosure-based regulation,' Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, February 2010

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1556542

'Investor reforms must tackle root causes,' Financial Times, 14 December 2009

'Effective board engagement with shareholders,' Brunswick Review, Issue Two, Winter 2009

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1495846

'Uses and limits of conventional corporate governance instruments: Analysis and guidance for reform (Integrated version),' Global Corporate Governance Forum Private Sector Opinion, Issues 14-15, June/August 2009

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1409370

'Government ownership: Why this time it should work,' McKinsey Quarterly, June 2009

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1426443

'Developing and implementing corporate governance codes,' Global Corporate Governance Forum Private Sector Opinion, Issue 10, December 2008

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1321127

'Activism and mainstream institutional investors,' International Corporate Governance Network 2008 Yearbook

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1158592

'Improving board performance in emerging markets' (with Dominic Barton), McKinsey Quarterly, 2006, Q1

http://ssrn.com/abstract=899920

'Policymakers struggle to balance laws and codes,' International Financial Law Review, Fall 2005

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1321110

'How to separate the roles of chairman and CEO' (with Robert Felton), McKinsey Quarterly, 2004, Q4

http://ssrn.com/abstract=898859

US sets global trends behind governance shake-up,' International Financial Law Review, Fall 2004

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1321109

'Improving corporate governance in SOEs: An integrated approach,' Corporate Governance International, June 2004

http://ssrn.com/abstract=897121

'Asia's corporate governance challenge' (with Dominic Barton and Paul Coombes), McKinsey Quarterly, 2004, Q2

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1435766

'Chairman and CEO – One job or two?' (with Paul Coombes), McKinsey Quarterly, 2004, Q2

http://ssrn.com/abstract=897485

'Why codes of governance work' (with Paul Coombes), McKinsey Quarterly, 2004, Q2

http://ssrn.com/abstract=897422