The New Global Regulatory Landscape

Sabanes-Oxley is a recent development in US law that will affect both US and non-US firms seeking to comply with corporate governance initiatives. There is particular relevance to the financial services industry not just because of the fundamental applicability of corporate governance to the firms themselves, but because the firms act on behalf of many thousands of institutional shareholders who have similar concerns over both the companies they invest in as well as the duty of their custodians. This means that there are issues of compliance, risk management and fiduciary duty applicable to these firms and to the financial institutions involved in their affairs. McGill and Sheppey illustrate the broader context requiring investors and custodians to meet the regulatory needs of specific jurisdiction and how best to structure overall business models to meet multi-layer legal and operational framework.