...BUT CHANGES IN THE BOARDROOM COULD REBUILD TRUST

摘要

Nearly 50 years ago, a Harvard Business School professor observed that too many boards of directors were mere "ornaments on a corporate Christmas tree"―largely decorative, in other words, and serving little real business purpose. The recent spate of accounting scandals, ethical lapses, and outrageous CEO payouts is proof that not much has changed. Now, in the post-Enron Corp. world, there is no shortage of new ideas for making boards more responsible to shareholders and less beholden to management. But the most reasoned and intelligent response to the governance crisis is coming from, of all places, the New York Stock Exchange, that bedrock of free-market power. On June 6, the NYSE unveiled proposals that, if accepted, would force some of the most dramatic changes ever in corporate governance.