Who Can You Trust?: Dating Games in the U.S. Executive Suite

Friday 14 March, 2008

Venue: Clayfield Room, Building A, Room 1.34, Monash University, Caulfield Campus

Guest speaker
Professor Cindy A. Schipani, University of Michigan

Cindy A. Schipani is the Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Business Law at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Professor Schipani’s primary research interests are in the area of corporate governance, with a focus on directors’ and officers’duties. She has published articles in leading law journals, and a book with Cambridge University Press. Professor Schipani has received numerous awards for her research, including the Academy of Legal Studies in Business National Award for Excellence and its Holmes-Cardozo Research Award.

Topic: ‘Who Can You Trust?: Dating Games in the U.S. Executive Suite”
View Presentation (ppt, 225kb)

One of the latest scandals to take its toll in the corporate executive suite in the U.S. is the options backdating scandal. Backdating is the term given to the clandestine practice of changing the grant date of options which were given to executives as part of their compensation package to a date more favorable to the executives. In effect, backdating has been used to convert at-the-money options into in-the-money options. To date, at least 140 companies have come under scrutiny for their option grant practices including numerous criminal indictments. This presentation seeks to analyze the options backdating scandal from the point of view of the corporation and the shareholder, by focusing on the violation of fiduciary duties that are implicated.  The presentation focuses on the scandals as they have come to light in the U.S.  It is hoped that Australian executives can learn from the mistakes made in the U.S. executive suite.

If this particular educational activity is relevant to your immediate or long term needs in relation to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim one unit for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included.

Group Director

Anthony Forsyth
Email Anthony Forsyth
Tel: + 61 3 9903-2917