The European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and the Centre for Law & Business, National University of Singapore (NUS) are pleased to organize the 2nd Conference of the EU Asia Corporate Governance Dialogue 2015. The conference will be held on February 24, 2015 at the University of Singapore.
The Conference aims at engaging academics and practitioners in a constructive dialogue between the European Union and Asia on the role of controlling owners in public companies. While this type of owners is considered best able to monitor managers, the relationship between controlling and minority shareholders has often proved controversial. Recent shareholder activism efforts by hedge funds, pension funds and other non-controlling owners has shown, however, that conflicts of interests among shareholders are due to diverging investment objectives rather than sheer holding size.
The purpose of this conference is to discuss ongoing regulatory developments targeting controlling owners in this new environment. The focus will be on practical issues relating to disclosure, equal treatment of shareholders and the role of the board. However, two other core topics will also be taken into account. One is the evolving role of the State as controlling owner-increasing in some jurisdictions or industries, decreasing in others. The other is the changing private ownership structure in Asia and Europe.