ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Anglo-American approach to corporate governance in the context of the business development, institutional change and crises that have occurred. The regulation of corporate governance in the United States has occurred when a crisis has caused potential breakdown in the financial and industrial system, resulting in a raft of legislative interventions in the banking and securities industries. The Securities Act was concerned with distributions of securities. It specifies the information companies must provide when issuing securities in the public markets. The Greenbury Report proposed new guidelines for director remuneration. The Hampel Report focused on disclosure and best practice and represented something of a corporate reaction to the enthusiasm Cadbury had generated for reform. Australia and New Zealand's approach to corporate governance follows the Anglo-Saxon model. They are shareholder economies in which private enterprise is about maximizing returns for investors.
