1st Edition
Corporate Governance and Statutory Derivative Actions Comparative Approach to Shareholder Litigation
This book is the first comprehensive study of the statutory derivative action in Australia, using the Australian model as a reference point and comparing it with the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and USA counterparts. The book includes an empirical study covering over a 20-year period from the date the statutory framework came into operation, coupled with extensive case law analysis and comparisons with other jurisdictions. It informs the world about the uniqueness of Australia’s statutory derivative action, and what other countries can learn from it as shareholder protection and promotion of good corporate governance. While some countries have statutory derivative action, there are still countries that do not have the statutory framework that are considering introducing it into their corporate law. This book is also useful for countries that already have their local variants of the statutory derivative action that are considering revising their existing provisions. This book provides insights and suggestions for lawmakers, judges, litigation practitioners and corporate law and litigation researchers worldwide in reforming their existing model.
1. Introduction
2. The need for statutory derivative action and its current problems
3. An empirical study of the statutory derivative action in Australia
4. Rethinking the “good faith” requirement in statutory derivative action
5. The “best interests of the company” requirement in statutory derivative action: Is there a need for amendment?
6. Uncertainty in the recovery of costs
7. Inspection of company books and other factors affecting the use of SDA
8. Summary and conclusion
Appendix A: Australia
Appendix B: New Zealand
Appendix C: Singapore
Appendix D: Canada
Appendix E: British Columbia
Appendix F: The United Kingdom
Biography
Dr Lang Thai is an established corporate law academic with over 20 years of university research and teaching experience in Australia and the UK. She has published widely in corporate law, including shareholders remedies, derivative actions, class actions and other forms of corporate litigation. She published her first comparative article on statutory derivative action in 2002 in a well-respected journal and has since been following the developments in this area of law.
