Yale Governance Forum to Address the Post-Crisis Era of Corporate Governance

New Haven, Conn., June 3, 2010 – More than 200 leaders from the global corporate governance community will gather for the fifth annual Yale Governance Forum June 17-18, 2010. The two-day event, hosted by the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management, convenes leading institutional investors, corporate directors and executives, regulators, ratings agencies, and other practitioners from around the world to discuss current issues in the field.

"In the wake of the financial crisis and recession, the market is seeing the most profound remaking of corporate governance worldwide in decades," said Ira Millstein, Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance at the Yale School of Management. "Policymakers are invigorating regulation and enforcement, stimulating corporate board oversight, and prompting investors with new rights to act as a ‘neighborhood watch' over markets. This year's event will focus on how public and private sector players are having to reset their thinking in a new era of corporate governance."

Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employee Benefits Security of the U.S. Department of Labor, is expected to deliver first public remarks on responsibilities of pension funds in corporate governance. Lord Paul Myners, CBE, former Financial Services Secretary to HM Treasury, will present the conference keynote address. Stephen Haddrill, CEO of the UK Financial Reporting Council, will be addressing his agency’s new code prompting investor engagement with corporate boards.

The conference agenda includes five plenary sessions and four focus panels that allow smaller groups of participants to delve more deeply into current key topics. The sessions will address issues such as how boards can adjust to post-crisis expectations; lessons and exit strategies for the state shareowner; how social media is changing corporate governance; how investors can tell if boards are overseeing risk; the changing strategies of value funds, hedge funds, and private equity; the need for a U.S. corporate governance code; and what it takes for CEOs to be great communicators to active boards and engaged investors.

Conference sessions will be led by a distinguished group of current and former CEOs, board chairmen, directors, corporate governance officers, regulators, members of the investment and legal communities, and academics. Participants include: Ann Byrne, CEO, Australian Counsel of Super Investor (ACSI); Bill Donaldson, Chairman, Donaldson Enterprises and former Chairman, SEC; Stephen Girsky, Vice Chairman, General Motors; Anurag Goel, Member, Competition Commission of India; Richard Laxer, President and CEO, GE Capital, EMEA; Shelly Lazarus, Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather; James Millstein, Senior Restructuring Officer, U.S. Treasury Department; Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance, CalSTRS; and Mette Wikborg, Director General, Ownership Dept., Ministry of Trade and Industry, Norway.

The Millstein Center will announce the recipients of its third annual Rising Star of Corporate Governance Award at a pre-forum reception on June 16. The award recognizes outstanding young analysts, experts, activists, and managers who are making their mark in the field of corporate governance.

For a full conference program, list of presenters, and registration, please visit: http://millstein.som.yale.edu/Forum2010/index.html.

The conference is sponsored by Deloitte, the CFA Institute, and Broadridge.

The Yale Governance Forum is open to members of the media. To obtain a press pass, please contact Tabitha Wilde, Director of Media Relations, at +1-203-432-6010 or tabitha.wilde@yale.edu. The conference will be run under The Chatham House Rule.

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 focuses on the inter-relationship of management, the board of directors, shareholders, and stakeholders in creating long-term corporate shareholder value in today’s complex and competitive economy, while at the same time meeting the heightened expectations of 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/.