This book examines corporate governance rules in China, and highlights the deficiencies in current company law, with the purpose of arguing for a more effective derivative action mechanism, for the benefit of shareholders and their companies.

Examining derivative action, which enables shareholders to gain redress for wrongs done to their company and deters breaches of directors' fiduciary duties, this book considers the use of such measures in China, which lacks adequate corporate governance tools.

This book considers the derivative action, an important corporate governance tool which is commonly considered to serve two basic functions, i.e., enabling shareholders to gain redress for a wrong done to their company and deterring potential breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties. This book critically examines the derivative action from theoretical, evolutionary, and comparative perspectives. It considers how controversial issues such as locus standi, demand requirements, indemnity cost orders, information asymmetry and res judicata are approached in selected civil law countries as well as throughout the Commonwealth. The book also assesses whether derivative litigation could fulfill a similar role in China, which is one of the most rapidly developing economies in the world, yet lacks adequate corporate governance mechanisms. The ultimate aim discussed in the book is how to establish a remedial mechanism which makes derivative actions more accessible and consistent, while maintaining the balance between corporate efficiency and protecting minority shareholders’ interests. Lastly, based on different approaches in the latest reforming infrastructure, it explores whether there is a general converging trend for derivative actions between the two major legal systems.

Derivative actions, which allow individual shareholders to sue controlling shareholders and managers on behalf of the company, are designed to deter and combat mismanagement. However, the need to balance the interests of minority shareholders and corporate efficiency in a countryè^--s company law demands legal crafting that is both of a high order and responsive to the countryè^--s distinctive character, and solutions in this respect are quite different across jurisdictions. China, the second-largest economy in the world today, therefore merits special consideration.

In this book shareholders' derivative actions in England, The US, Germany and China are being compared. Western countries among themselves take differing approaches towards derivative action in practice, including its very role and the mechanisms for regulating it. As far as the function of derivative action is concerned, The author concludes that (1) derivative actions play different roles in all these countries; (2) their function may vary according To The agency problems to be solved and the type and size of the companies involved; (3) derivative action is only one method in a comprehensive system of corporate governance. Comparative study shows that the issue of how to strike a balance between corporate efficiency and protection For The company and its minority shareholders is key in derivative actions.

This in-depth comparative examination of the derivative action in Asia provides a framework for analysing its function, history and practical application and examines in detail how derivative actions law works in practice in seven important Asian jurisdictions (China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore). These case studies allow an evaluation of a number of the leading Western comparative corporate law and governance theories which have come to define the field over the last decade. By debunking some of these critically important theories, this book lays the foundation for an accurate understanding of the derivative action in Asia and a re-examination of the regulation of the derivative action around the world.

This book assembles the world's most authoritative specialists for a comparative analysis of the enforcement of corporate and securities laws in thirteen national jurisdictions. It examines the enforcement of corporate and securities laws across the globe and across different legal and political systems from an in-depth comparative perspective.