Project to examine corporate governance scandals

A new £200,000 project investigating the global affects of changes to US federal corporate law has been launched at Queen's University.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project will explore the dominant effect the US regulatory regime has on global markets and the regulatory and economic governance regimes of states across the world.

Under the direction of Dr Justin O'Brien, who is a senior lecturer in corporate law at Queen's, 'Regulatory Regime Change in World Financial Markets: The Case of Sarbanes-Oxley', will involve researchers from the University of Nottingham, the University of New Hampshire and Monash University in Melbourne as well as several key academics from across Queen's.

They will examine a range of issues relating to corporate liability including legislative and policy responses to corporate governance, the role of local, cultural, institutional and political factors in mediating responses to states and the current state of global regulatory practices.

Dr O'Brien said the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act on corporate liability had a significant effect on corporate law worldwide.

"What we will be doing is looking at how this act affected different countries (states) that were at different stages of socio-economic development," he explained. "These countries include Australia, China, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

"This project, along with two major conferences held in Belfast during the year confirms the position of Queen's University as a world centre for research into regulation and governance."

The official launch of the project took place at the Institute of Governance in Belfast on Monday.

A website containing details about the project is due to be set up later this month.

(MB/SP)