REFLECTIONS ON THE REFORM OF CORPORATE
DISCLOSURE AND ACCOUNTING RULES
The Anton Philips Fund
Center for Company Law
Thursday, 1 April 2004
TILBURG UNIVERSITY, THE NETHERLANDS
SPEAKERS
William W. Bratton is Professor of Law, Georgetown Law School.
Jim Cox is Brainerd Currie Professor of Law, Duke Law School.
Sjoerd Eisma is partner of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.
Peter Essers is Professor of Tax Law, Tilburg University and former Dean of the Law
Faculty.
Judith Freedman is KPMG Professor of Taxation Law, University of Oxford.
Reinier Kraakman is Professor of Corporate Law at Harvard University. He has been
appointed Anton Philips Professor for the academic year 2003/2004 at Tilburg University.
Paul Koster is Member of the Executive Board, Netherlands Authority for the Financial
Markets.
Dr. Rainer Kulms is Privatdozent and Wissenschaftlicher Referent, Max-Planck-Institut,
Hamburg.
Joseph A. McCahery is Professor of International Business Law at Tilburg University,
Board Member of Tilburg University’s Center for Company Law, Research Fellow of the
Tilburg Institute of Law and Economics and the European Corporate Governance Institute
(Brussels).
Theo Raaijmakers is Professor of Corporate Law and Director of Tilburg University’s
Center for Company Law.
Peter Sampers is Manager Policies and Directives, Corporate Control, Royal Philips
Electronics.
Peter van der Zanden is Partner Ernst & Young, Professor at Tilburg and Nyenrode
University, Member of Expert Committees of FEE, Capital Markets Advisory Group and
NIVRA.
Reflections on
the Reform of Corporate Disclosure and Accounting Rules
The recent US corporate governance crisis prompted legislators to design measures to
protect a corporation’s shareholders from fraud, poor board performance and auditor
failure. These most notably include CEO and CFO certification of accounts,
imposition of internal controls, the prohibition of corporate loans to managers and the
requiring firms to establish an independent audit committee. It is worth noting that the
reform of accounting standards was not the primary concern of legislators. In Europe,
the EC has also launched a number of corporate governance reforms announced in its
May 2003 Action Program. The proposed reforms are intended to strengthen
mandatory disclosure obligations for listed companies, grant special investigation
rights to minority shareholders and the introduce a director’s disqualification regime
for misleading disclosures. At the same time, EU regulators have focused on the
implementation and enforcement of the IAS standards. Regulators are, moreover,
faced with the task of harmonizing the FRS accounting standards. This symposium
will explore both the recent EU and US corporate governance and auditing reforms,
changes introduced under the 2005 Federal Reporting Standards, and the impact of the
public oversight and board reform legislation on the performance of publicly listed
firms.
Thursday 1 April 2004
10.00-10.05
Introduction
Theo Raaijmakers
10.05-11.15
Reform of corporate disclosure and auditor supervision rules in
the US
Roberta Romano
Jim Cox
11.15-11.30
Tea/Coffee
11.30-12.30
Changes in disclosure and accounting under the 2005 Federal
Reporting Standards
Peter van der Zanden
Peter Sampers
12.30-13.45
Lunch
13.45– 15.00 FRS 2005 and their influence on tax accounts
Peter Essers
Judith Freedman
15.00-15.15
Tea/coffee
15.15-17.00
Disclosure, gate keeping, public oversight & board accountability
Reinier Kraakman
Paul Koster
Theo Raaijmakers
17.00
Reception
Organization:
Center for Company Law & Anton Philips Fund
(Tilburg University)
Prof. Joseph McCahery and Prof. Theo Raaijmakers
Place: Campus Tilburg University
Building E Room Z2 and Z4
Center for Company Law
The Tilburg Center for Company Law combines research in the fields of corporate,
securities, tax, and property and insolvency law. Its current research programme is
concentrated around national, international and European aspects of the ‘firm’, its
various legal forms, financing, governance, reorganization and accounting.
The Anton Philips Fund
The Anton Philips Fund was created on 15 September 2000 by agreement between
Royal Philips Electronics (Netherlands) and Tilburg University. The aim of the Fund
is to support academic research of Tilburg Law School’s Center for Company Law in
the broad areas of comparative corporate governances, tax policy and general
commercial law. At the same time, the Fund supports efforts to build on and
strengthen collaborative relationships between American and European institutions
and scholars. In moving toward this goal, the Fund has created the ‘Anton Philips
Fund’. Holders of the Chair will be appointed from scholars of the highest calibre for
the University’s academic year.
The first Anton Philips Professor was Professor Lucian Bebchuk of Harvard Law
School. Professor Klaus Hopt (Hamburg, Director Max Planck Institute) was
appointed the second Anton Philips Professor. In September 2003 Professor Reinier
Kraakman was named Anton Philips Professor for the academic year 2003/2004.
Since its inception the Fund has sponsored several international conferences.
The Fund is administered by an independent Board, the majority of which is
appointed by Tilburg Law School and the remainder by Philips Electronics. The
Board consists of the following members: Ad Geelhoed (Chairman), Sjoerd Eisma,
Jan Hommen, Ad der Kinderen, Theo Raaijmakers, Theo Schmit, Frans Vanistendael,
Reinout Vriesendorp, Jan de Waard, Arie Westerlaken and Eddy Wymeersch.
Enquiries:
Enquiries about registration should be made to Debbie van Gils
telephone:
+31 13 466 2837
fax: +31 13 466 2323
email:
D.A.vanGils@uvt.nl
website:
http://tilburguniversity.nl/ccl
Fee:
Participation fee is € 175,= (Academic rate: € 100,=)
There is a special rate for (PhD) students
Prices include conference documentation, lunches and refreshments.
Cancellation:
If you are unable to attend, you are welcome to transfer registration to a colleague.
Please notify the conference organization of this change. Cancellation is possible up
to two weeks prior to the conference. Cancellation received after that time will be
charged as 50% of the participation fee. Only written cancellations are accepted.
Registration
Please return this form before 16 March to: Debbie van Gils, Tilburg University,
Faculty of Law (Y 424), P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Fax: +31 13 466 2323
Full name (incl. titles) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------Affiliation -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Address --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Town + postcode ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Country --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Phone --------------------------------------- Fax -------------------------------------------------Email -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------wishes to participate in the international conference on “Reflections on the Reform of
Corporate Disclosure and Accounting Rules”
Credit points:
NovA: 4
yes
no
KNB: 4
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