Millstein Center to Host Capital Markets and Corporate Governance Conference in Shanghai

New Haven, Conn., April 6, 2010—The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management (SOM) will convene nearly 200 corporate executives and directors, regulators, investors and academics for a landmark conference titled “Capital Markets and Corporate Governance: What Role Should Corporate Governance Play in a Global Financial Center?” to be held in Shanghai on April 16.

The conference is part of the Millstein Center’s ongoing efforts to promote high-level international dialogue on corporate governance and convenes as Shanghai surges to financial prominence. The event is also designed to kick-off a program of on-going exchanges on corporate governance between Yale SOM and China.

Conference co-chairs are Laura Cha, Deputy Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and member of the Millstein Center Advisory Board; and Stephen Davis, Executive Director of the Millstein Center. Sponsors of the conference are the Bank of Communications, Bao Steel, the CFA Institute, Deloitte, HSBC, Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP. A Millstein Center roundtable twinned with the conference is being convened in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has joined with the Center for a sequence of other capital market roundtables in Berlin, Dubai, London, New York and São Paulo.

“Good corporate governance, while having many similarities around the world, also depends on the characteristics of the home capital market,” said Ira Millstein, Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance at Yale SOM. “No one has a patent on one best way to govern a corporation, especially where ownership structures vary. Meetings such as this will give us all the opportunity to discuss differences and similarities, and what adjustments might work in different contexts.”

“Corporate governance is an important tool companies use in achieving performance and managing risk,” said conference co-chair Laura Cha. “It is also critical for any market seeking to draw domestic and global capital.”

Confirmed and invited panelists include: Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor, People’s Bank of China; Shang Fulin, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission; Han Zheng, the Mayor of Shanghai; Zhang Yujun, President, Shanghai Stock Exchange; Brian Ho, Executive Director, Corporate Finance Division, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; Vincent Cheng, Chairman, HSBC Bank (China) Limited; Hu Huaibang, Chairman, Bank of Communications; Xu Lejiang, Chairman, Boasteel Group Corporate and Boashan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.; Yukihiro Kitano, Managing Executive Officer, Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. Ltd.; Zhu Xiaoming, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; and Zhiwu Chen, Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management. The Center has also confirmed speakers from Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Four panel discussions will address the challenges for Chinese corporate directors within a global context; what international investors look for in a company and in regulatory frameworks; the factors that differentiate corporate governance in China; and the elements that are necessary to create a global financial center. 

The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management is a leading global resource for testing, challenging and advancing the premise that corporations should and can serve society. The Center pursues its mission by convening events; sponsoring empirical research; generating policy briefings; building market capacity by developing training, databases and institutions; and teaching and student interaction. For more information about the Millstein Center, please visit: http://millstein.som.yale.edu/.

Contact:
Tabitha Wilde, tabitha.wilde@yale.edu; +1 203-432-6010 (USA)
Carol Li Rafferty, cyli2006@gmail.com, tel. +852 9308-6270 (China)