First Panel Discussion

Conference Overview: How has the increasing global integration of the capital markets affected corporate governance systems in the EU, the UK and the US? What pressures are there on companies from the operations of the capital markets that promote short-term thinking? What can we say based on empirical data about these questions?

Dr. Gordon Clark, FBA, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, and Head of the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford University. Evidence from the EU on these questions. "The Alchemy of Finance: A Political Economy".

Dr. Simon Deakin, Robert Monks Professor of Corporate Governance in the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Yorke Professorial Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cambridge University. Evidence from the UK on these questions. "False Dawn for CSR? Shifts in Regulatory Policy and the Response of the Corporate and Financial Sectors in Britain" ( paper) and "Corporate Social Responsibility in the UK: A False Dawn?" (presentation)

Dr. Michael Blowfield, Senior Research Associate, Center for Corporate Citizenship, Boston College. Evidence from the Center's recent study of US CEOs and CFOs on these questions."Mr. Magoo at the Wheel: Executives on the Impact of Short-Term Investment on Long-Term Societies"

Commentary:

Bill Page, State Street Global Advisers, which is a participant in the Carbon Disclosure Project, and is developing methods to incorporate more long-term information into their analytic methods.

Antonia Stolper, Esq., Partner, Shearman & Sterling, LLP, NYC. Ms. Stolper advises countries and companies in emerging markets on project finance and securities offerings, and lectures extensively on corporate governance throughout Latin America.

George Dallas, Managing Director, Standard & Poors, London, and Member, Expert Group (2005) consulting on the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative/Global Compact Principles on Responsible Investment.

Discussion: All participants.

Lunch

Robert A. G. Monks, Keynote: Towards a Single Bottom-Line. "Capital Markets & Corporate Governance Towards a Single Bottom-Line"

Synthesis of Themes:

Dr. Gordon Clark, FBA, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, and Head of the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford University.

Discussion: All

Third Panel Discussion - Market Developments: To what extent do mergers and acquisitions contribute to short-term thinking, or to what extent are some mergers or acquisitions a consequence of short-term thinking in the capital markets?  That is, how, if at all, are mergers and acquisitions connected to pressures on firms to meet the quarterly earnings expectations of stock market analysts?  What about hedge funds?  Who are they, what are they doing, are they adding short-term pressures?

Moderator/Chair: Prof. Cynthia Williams, Professor of Law, the University of Illinois College of Law and Member Scholar, Center for Progressive Reform. "An Emerging Third Way? The Erosion of the Anglo-American Shareholder Value Construct" - Williams and Conley

Panel:

Dr. Simon Deakin, Robert Monks Professor of Corporate Governance in the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Yorke Professorial Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cambridge University. Evidence from the UK on these questions.

Prof. William Bratton, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. Prof. Bratton has been studying the legal regulation of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. "The Disappearing Disciplinary Merger"

Prof. Frank Partnoy, San Diego University: Prof. Partnoy has been studying U.S. hedge funds: who are they, what influence are they having, what are the policy implications "Encumbered Shares"

Dr. Sue Konzelmann, Programme Director, MSc Corporate Governance and Ethics, The Clore Management Centre, Birkbeck, University of London and Associate Research Fellow, University of Cambridge Centre for Business Research.  The export of national varieties of capitalism: the cases of Ikea and Wal-Mart. "Varieties of Capitalism in Competition: Wal-Mart and IKEA"

Commentary:  Dr. Dirk Matten, Professor of Business Ethics and Director, Centre for Research into Sustainability, Royal Holloway School of Business, the University of London

Coffee Break

Moderator/Chair:  Prof. Lynn Stout, Professor of Law, University of California at Los Angeles and Principal Investigator, UCLA-Sloan Foundation Research program on Business Organizations. "Share Price as a Poor Criterion for Good Corporate Law" and "Inefficient Markets and the New Finances"
 
Panel:   Dr. Raj Thamotheram, Senior Adviser, Responsible Investment, Universities Superannuation Scheme, UK

Prof. Iman Anabtawi, Professor of Law, University of California at Los Angeles "Some Skepticism About Increasing Shareholder Power"

Mr. Steve Lydenberg, Principal, Domini Social Equity, LLP, Socially-responsible investment firm

Jane Ambachtsheer, Global Head of Responsible Investment and Principal, Mercer Investment Consulting "Perspectives on Responsible Investment" and "2006 Fearless Forecast"

Dr. Andy Crane, Professor of Business Ethics, Nottingham University Business School, International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (confirmed participant):   What is a corporation? Reflections from a citizenship perspective.

Synthesis of Themes:

Prof. John Conley, Anthrolopogist and Professor of Law, the University of North Carolina College of Law.

Discussion of proposed actions: All participants