The Way we govern

Corporate governance deals with the legal and organizational structures that determine the way that a corporation is managed and how power is exercised within the corporate entity. Although corporate structures have been around for some time, there are few examples of corporations that have exhibited exceptional behavior in this field. As corporations fail, attention often focuses on the absence of sustainable corporate governance structures. To this end, regulators have intervened and imposed reforms on the way that corporations are governed In Australia, the latest in a series of attempts to reform corporate governance is entitled CLERP 9. In this paper, we will exam the historical context of corporate governance, the many factors lie at the root cause of corporate governance issues, the focus of the CLERP 9 regulations, and introduce some other initiatives that may advance self-sustaining and reliable corporate governance.