1st Edition

Shareholder Protection Reconsidered Derivative Action in the UK, Germany and Greece

By Georgios Zouridakis Copyright 2020
    274 Pages
    by Routledge

    274 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book examines the role and potential of derivative actions in shareholder protection in public limited companies. Derivative actions have been a focal point of legislators’ agendas on shareholder protection, in the past few decades, throughout Europe and beyond. Nevertheless, there remain jurisdictions, such as Greece, which are still devoid of this remedy. Against this backdrop, this book examines whether and how the derivative action may improve shareholder protection, constituting thus a mechanism that justifies legislative attention. It does so in three parts. First, it analyses the desirable role derivative actions assume in protecting shareholder property, monitoring corporate management and mitigating agency costs, alongside their economic implications, introducing the reader to the contemporary international debate on the topic. Having set the desiderata, the second part proceeds with the comparative analysis of Greek, German and UK law – jurisdictions that have recently reformed their provisions on shareholder protection – examining not only the law on derivative actions and their Greek counterpart remedy but also mechanisms of shareholder protection that do, or could, assume functions similar to those of the derivative action. By critically assessing the merits and failures of the respective UK, German and Greek shareholder protection laws, the book then proceeds to offer (in Part III) a model framework of shareholders’ derivative litigation for jurisdictions considering reform. Written in an accessible format, it will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this important aspect of company law and corporate governance.

    Contents

    PART 1: Derivative actions in abstracto: the theoretical framework of this study

    CHAPTER 1. Introduction

    CHAPTER 2. The importance of an effective shareholder remedy for wrongs against the company

    PART 2: Derivative actions de lege lata: a comparative and functional analysis

    CHAPTER 3: Comparison of Functionally Equivalent Rules on Shareholders’ enforcement of corporate claims

    CHAPTER 4: The Greek framework for shareholder protection in a comparative context and the (in)existence of alternatives to derivative actions

    PART 3. Derivative actions de lege ferenda: suggestions based on comparative considerations

    CHAPTER 5: Proposals for a functioning and truly protective derivative action

    CHAPTER 6. Conclusion

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    TABLE OF CASES

    ANNEXES

    Biography

    Georgios Zouridakis, PhD (Essex), is a qualified attorney at law and member of the Athens Bar Association, Greece, Lecturer at the University of Essex School of Law, UK and research fellow at the Athens Institute for Education and Research, Greece.