On 20 March 2006 the OECD together with the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law organised the Exploratory Meeting on Resolution of Corporate Governance Related Disputes.

Dispute resolution in corporate governance is an element of corporate governance enforcement and thus fits in the 2004 OECD Principles. The exploratory meeting focused on corporate governance related disputes between shareholders on the one side and other corporate bodies (e.g. boards) and stakeholders (including creditors) on the other side. Issues discussed included the spectrum of judicial redress possibilities, the categories of disputes as well as the qualities of the dispute resolution mechanism sought for in case of corporate governance related disputes.
Further issues discussed included the costs versus benefits consideration, the problem of lawmakers also being law enforcers and the fact that a corporate governance problem is not the same as a corporate governance dispute.
In order to assess the wide variety on possible alternatives, the presenters and discussants came from different legal traditions (anglo-saxon versus civil law), different professions (e.g. judges, lawyers, academics, policymakers, international organisations), as well as from different international institutions.

• Agenda
• Synthesis Note

Welcoming remarks

• Mr Mats Isaksson, Head Corporate Affairs Division, OECD
• Professor Jan Kleineman, Director Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law

Session I: Setting the scope of the topic

• The Public Policy Perspective - Mr Louis Bouchez, Senior Corporate Governance Specialist, OECD
  Floor discussion

Session II: Corporate Governance and Dispute Resolution - the role of specialised courts in settling corporate governance disputes

• Justice Jack B. Jacobs, Supreme Court of Delaware, U.S.A.
• Professor Maarten Kroeze, Professor Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
  Floor discussion

Session III: Corporate Governance and Dispute Resolution – the role of arbitration in settling corporate governance disputes

• The UNCITRAL Perspective on Arbitration and Corporate Governance - Mr. Renaud Sorieul, Principal Legal Officer at the International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
• The ICC Experience with Arbitration and Corporate Governance - Mr. Emmanuel Jolivet, General Counsel, ICC International Court of Arbitration
  Floor discussion

Session IV: Specialised Courts or Arbitration? Trade-offs for the Resolution of Corporate Governance Related Disputes

• Introduction by Professor Doug Jones, Partner Clayton Utz, Sydney, Australia, on the "Categories and Qualities Questionnaire"
• Introduction by Mr. Alum Bati, Partner Salans, Baku, Azerbaijan, on the "Categories and Qualities Questionnaire"
• Tour de Table on the Categories and Qualities
  Floor discussion on the question what would be the most effective way to resolve corporate governance related disputes

Closing Session: Summary of sessions; recommendations for next steps

• Moderator: Mr. Mats Isaksson, Head, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD