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[No. 32] Flex BV Nadere Memorie van Antwoord and Letter Committee Company Law

Today, on the website of the Senate the 'nadere memorie van antwoord' together with an impressive letter from the Committee Company Law was published. Most attention gets, again, the new clauses regarding payment of dividends. Recently, some academics said the clauses were seriously flawed. The letter from the Committee Company Law, however, takes a firm stand against the opinion of these academics. I advise you to read and judge it yourself.

Importantly, June 5th, 2012, (yes next week already) the Justice Committee of the Senate will discuss the further procedure regarding the Bill. The big question which will hopefully be answered next week, is, will the Bill still get into force on July 1st, 2012?

[No. 31] Consensus on the comply or explain principle within the EU corporate governance framework: legal and empirical research

On 31 May, 2012, 11.30 hrs sharp, Annika Galle wil defend her PhD thesis on Consensus on the comply or explain principle within the EU corporate governance framework. A business edition of the thesis will be published in the "Instituut voor Ondernemingsrecht" series as nr. 86. Her thesis focuses not only on Dutch corporate governance, but also on corporate governance in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

SAVE THE DATE! --- Symposium 'New Legislation in Director Liability Law'

On Wednesday June 20, 2012, the Institute for Corporate Law will organize a symposium on New Legislation in Director Liability Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

The symposium is the second* in a series of symposia, that will focus in-depth on several issues of director liability law. The aim of the series is to deepen and broaden the discussion between members of academia, the bench and the bar as well as other corporate practitioners.

More information on this second symposium, the program and the registration form are available here. I hope to see you there!

* The first symposium (see here) resulted in a well received book on evolution in director liability law, available here.

[No. 30] Shareholder Wealth Maximizzzzzzzzz...

Ok ok, the 'zzz' part was a lame joke. But it caught your attention right? Here goes.

The fundamental "why are corporations on earth" discussion is still alive and kicking, also in the States where the SWM-norm seems less robust than some over here may expect it to be. Enter this post at the Glom by Haskell Murray (we met during my 2008 stint at the Delaware Chancery Court) that, despite Haskell's caveat's, triggered

1. an interesting discussion in the comments section at the Glom; and
2. a whopping series of posts devoted to the subject by Steve B at his blog (links here).

Does this discussion ring a bell among you TDT readers? I surely hope so; let's travel back in time exactly three years ago, for our two cents...