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Addressing The Tension Between Directors' Duties And Shareholder Rights - A Tale Of Two Regimes, Sean Vanderpol, Edward J. Waitzer
Addressing The Tension Between Directors' Duties And Shareholder Rights - A Tale Of Two Regimes, Sean Vanderpol, Edward J. Waitzer
Edward J. Waitzer
There is a basic tension inherent in the regulation of corporations between the role to be played by boards and that to be played by shareholders. Boards have the statutory responsibility to manage the business and affairs of the corporation, and owe an express duty to act in the best interests of the corporation. Shareholders, however, are the ultimate ‘owners’ of the corporation, and have the ability to elect and remove directors. Canadian courts and securities regulators have long struggled with this tension in determining the roles to be played by each in transactions that pose the potential for conflicts …
Peoples, Bce, And The Good Corporate "Citizen", Edward J. Waitzer, Johnny Jaswal
Peoples, Bce, And The Good Corporate "Citizen", Edward J. Waitzer, Johnny Jaswal
Edward J. Waitzer
This article considers the use of various legal instruments to advance a more expansive but well-defined view of directors' duties and discretion--a view which focuses on the longer-term interests of the corporation. We begin with an attempt to clarify the nature of directors' statutory duties under Canadian corporate law. We then consider the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in Peoples Department Stores Inc. (Trustee of) v. Wise and BCE v. 1976 Debentureholders, in which the Court took a broad view of corporate purpose, but failed to provide clear logic or operational guidance as to consequential directorial responsibilities. …
Mediating Rights And Responsibilities In Control Transactions, Sean Vanderpol, Edward J. Waitzer
Mediating Rights And Responsibilities In Control Transactions, Sean Vanderpol, Edward J. Waitzer
Edward J. Waitzer
There is a growing debate as to the relative merits and consequences of a shift to a more shareholder-centric corporate governance framework. How much "direct democracy" makes sense in corporate decision making? If power is to be transferred to shareholders, should responsibilities be imposed (and, if so, how)? These issues have long been addressed by courts and regulators in the context of unsolicited control transactions. In its recent Air Products & Chemicals v. Airgas decision, the Delaware Chancery Court canvassed the evolution of its law on this point and concluded that implicit in the power (and responsibility) of the board …