Leading international academics meet in Stockholm to debate corporate governance research

Jun. 15, 2016

International academics from the world’s leading universities arrived in Stockholm on June 10 to take part in the 2016 Global Corporate Governance Colloquia (GCGC) conference.

The event, hosted by the Swedish House of Finance and organised by the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), took place at Westmanska Palatset and was attended by more than 75 senior academics from a range of disciplines including Finance, Law, and Management with the aim of sharing corporate governance knowledge on important topics such as Executive Remuneration, Shareholder Value, Bankruptcy, Majority Voting, Debt Markets and many more. In addition to the sharing of knowledge and current research, the GCGC conference series inspires new thought and important avenues of future research.

The two-day conference programme also included panel discussions with invited business professionals to share their first-hand experience of corporate governance issues. Taking part in a panel discussion on the ‘Corporate Governance of Infrastructure’ were Dr. Rajiv B. Lall, Founder, MD and CEO of Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) Bank, India, and also Mr. Gordon Bajnai, former Prime Minister of Hungary, now Group Chief Operating Officer of Meridiam.

Speaking on the second day panel on ‘The Governance of Business Groups’ were Ms. Petra Hedengran, General Counsel and Managing Director, Investor AB, Ms. Claudia Biedermann, Attorney at Law, Zurich Insurance Group AG, and Ms. Daniela Weber-Rey, Attorney at Law, Deutsche Bank AG.

The GCGC conference series, which facilitates this best-in-class discussion forum, is an initiative supported by twelve universities (Harvard, Oxford, Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, Swedish House of Finance, London Business School, Columbia, Yale, Peking, Seoul, Stanford) together with a select group of corporate entities (Zurich AG, the European Investment Bank, Japan Exchange). The inaugural conference for the series took place in Stanford University in 2015.

Speaking at the event in Stockholm, Professor Mike Burkart, GCGC Conference Chair, and Professor of Finance at Swedish House of Finance said, “It is an honour to host such an important conference with such distinguished guests in Stockholm this year. It is also a wonderful opportunity to show international scholars from Asia, the United States and Europe just how well Stockholm can facilitate high-level international gatherings of this nature”.

The Global Corporate Governance Colloquia will continue next year at the University of Tokyo and highlights from this year’s event will be made available on www.GCGColloquia.org. 

Hosts in initial 6 years:

2015 – Stanford University, USA

2016 – Swedish House of Finance, Sweden

2017 – Tokyo University, Japan

2018 – Frankfurt University, Germany

2019 – Seoul University, Korea

2020 – Harvard University, USA

In the picture: Claudia Biedermann, Attorney at Law, Zurich Insurance Group AG, Petra Hedengran, General Counsel and Managing Director, Investor AB and Daniela Weber-Rey, Attorney at Law, Deutsche Bank AG