Corporate Governance in Transition Dealing with Financial Distress and Insolvency in UK Companies

This book presents an account of legal, economic and managerial perspectives on governance in situations of financial distress and insolvency. It uses detailed real-life case studies of executive decision making to explore and illustrate the discussion. The book deals with the emergence of corporate governance as a framework of checks and balances on executive decision-making, before moving to the core issues of governance during financial distress and insolvency and alternative informal and formal rescue. Identifying and reviewing turnaround strategies and formal rescue processes available to management, the book also examines the increasing importance of creditors and their impact on business decision-making. The book provides a detailed interpretation of governance in five mega insolvencies in retail and construction following the financial crisis in 2008. It also sets out a methodology which is designed to inform and help those readers seeking to analyse and interpret director behaviour in such circumstances.

Part I

1 Governance in Distress

2 Corporate Governance in Public Companies

3 Financial Distress, Insolvency and Business Rescue

4 Corporate Governance in Financial Distress

5 Corporate Governance in Insolvency

Part II

6 Case Study 1: Stylo plc

8 Case Study 3: Waterford Wedgwood plc

9 Case Study 4: Woolworths Group plc

11 Insights from the Case Studies

Part III

12 Building Legal Case Studies

13 Conclusions

Marjan Marandi Parkinson is a freelance consultant and Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Governance, Leadership and Global Responsibility, Leeds Business School, UK. Her research interests focus on director responsibilities and corporate governance in financially distressed and insolvent companies.