Yale Governance Forum to Address the Capital Market's Capacity to Act Long Term

New Haven, Conn., June 8, 2011 - More than 200 leaders from the global corporate governance community will gather for the sixth annual Yale Governance Forum, June 16-17, 2011. 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, academics, and practitioners from around the world to discuss current issues in the field. Follow the conference on Twitter at #YaleGovForum.

"Corporate governance has long been thought to promote long-term behavior by corporations," said Ira Millstein, Theodore Nierenberg Adjunct Professor of Corporate Governance at the Yale School of Management. "This conference tests whether, in the real world, that assumption is right, or whether the market's seemingly inexorable drive toward short-term gain requires still another upgrade of governance practices."

Investor T. Boone Pickens will outline steps that board directors should take to oversee energy risk. Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times will review market practices that promote long-term behavior. Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer and former Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler will discuss how corporate leaders cope with pressures to act short term. Regulators from the U.S. SEC, the European Commission, and the UK's Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills will outline fresh measures that governments are taking to promote long-term market thinking.

Conference sessions will probe questions such as: Can investors behave long term? What are governance lessons from the crisis? How might social media promote long-term thinking? How does corporate governance affect jobs and the environment, as well as wealth? And what are the next frontiers in board effectiveness?

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. Panelists and speakers include: Richard Davies, Economist, Bank of England; Jim Millstein, former Chief Restructuring Officer, U.S. Treasury; Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager, CalPERS; Marty Whitman, Chair, Third Avenue Management; Mahmood Ahmad, Vice President, Emirates Integrated Communications; David Jackson, Company Secretary, BP; Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance, CalSTRS; Jules Kroll, Chair, K2 Global Consulting; and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management, Yale School of Management.

The Millstein Center will announce the recipients of its fourth annual Rising Stars of Corporate Governance Award at a pre-forum reception on June 15. The award recognizes outstanding young analysts, experts, directors, managers, and advocates from around the world who are making their mark in the field of corporate governance.

For a full conference program, list of presenters, and registration, please visit millstein.som.yale.edu/Forum2011.

The conference is sponsored by Deloitte, the CFA Institute, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Broadridge.

The Yale Governance Forum is open to members of the media. To obtain a press pass, please contact Renée Anastasio, Communications Coordinator, at +1 203.432.9904 or renee.anastasio@yale.edu.

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 millstein.som.yale.edu.