Sergakis, Konstantinos --- "Legal vs social enforcement of shareholder duties" [2019] ELECD 283; in Birkmose, S. Hanne; Sergakis, Konstantinos (eds), "Enforcing Shareholders’ Duties" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 128

Book Title: Enforcing Shareholders’ Duties

Editor(s): Birkmose, S. Hanne; Sergakis, Konstantinos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781788114868

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: Legal vs social enforcement of shareholder duties

Author(s): Sergakis, Konstantinos

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

Enforcement mechanisms are crucial to the viability of businesses and capital markets at large, as they purport to hold accountable legal and natural persons who violate applicable rules, as well as to inculcate a sound compliance culture and sensible market practices into such persons. On the one hand, legal (public and private) enforcement constitutes the core element of a wider EU and inter national trend towards deterrence, dissuasion and compensation. Academic literature has not conclusively determined which enforcement means are preferable. On the other hand, social enforcement (for example, ‘name and shame’) is based on softer tools that inform interested parties of a violation so as to trigger cascading effects on investors, third parties and stakeholders at large.