María Isabel Sáez Lacave

Deconstructing Independent Directors

In this paper we argue that boards of directors lack the mandate, the incentives and the ability to control insiders, especially in jurisdictions where the main agency problem arises between controlling and minority shareholders. We analyze the problems that render independents an inefficient monitoring device for companies with concentrated ownership structures and conclude that the current focus of the regulators and codes of best practice on empowering independents is ineffective and companies would be better off choosing their board members at liberty. Nevertheless, we also present two different proposals for reform: independents as gatekeepers for the regulator and independents as surrogates of the minority. Both proposals are based on the idea that if independent directors are expected to monitor controlling shareholders their most important characteristic should be accountability rather than mere independence.

Say-on-Dividend

Most listed firms have concentrated ownership structures. However this ownership type is problematic. A clinical analysis reveals that the corporate governance in these firms in terms of liability, voice and exit faces important design problems. Our analysis shows that the corporate governance of these firms is mainly aimed at checking the shareholders manager agency problem leaving the controlling shareholder-minority agency problem unresolved. Therefore it is crucial to provide growing companies with commitment tools that allow them to access capital markets and to raise funds from outside investors in better terms without having to give up the benefits of control. This leads us to a proposal that could improve the protection of outside investors while maintaining the informational benefits of concentrated ownership structures: a “Say-on-Dividend�? policy. This proposal is centered in empowering independent directors and activist and institutional investors in the design of dividend policy as informed intermediaries that can represent the voice of the outside investors in the control of the funds that they invest in the firm.