Global Reach, Global Need
In today’s ever expanding global marketplace, the need for executives to be aware of potential liability exposure is greater than ever. To assist in understanding that exposure, the Global Directors and Officer Handbook, published the ABA (get your copy here) and Edited by Perry Granof and Henry Nichols, will be a tremendous resource. This paperback handbook is truly a great overall global guide to Directors and Officers Liability. As the editors point out, the “book is intended to provide an overview of the directors and officers landscape within and outside the United States, with a particular emphasis on those jurisdiction where the majority of business interests are non-U.S. based.”
The book covers 28 countries, including the U.S. and Canada, in five global regions and is authored by local specialists in every country. Interestingly, unlike in the US and the UK, most countries are statutory law jurisdictions and those differences can have dramatic impacts when trying to understand D&O issues in foreign lands. The editors make an attempt to maintain the framework for each country in each chapter making it easier to conduct comparisons. Each chapter covers the following topics:
- Statutory and Regulatory Framework
- Indemnification
- Regulatory Proceedings
- Shareholder Representative Actions
- Insolvencies
- Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolutions
- Insurance Issues
Interestingly, since English was not the first language of many of the individual authors, certain cultural differences can be gleaned as well as influences those difference have on the substantive law approaches.
The breath of the international coverage, as well as the fact that it has a comprehensive US Chapter makes this book unique. The work succeeds in its intent to be a reference guide and to give the reader a survey of the topic at issue with furhter references as needed.
For a further review, please see the D&O Diary by Kevin LaCroix.
The book is well laid out and easy to manage and will certainly come in handy when needing to address various key D&O issues on a global scale.