The Duties They Are A’ Changing

Corporate partner Doug Raymond authored an article for Directors & Boards titled “The Duties They Are A’ Changing,” which highlights that although the rules governing corporate boards have not changed much for most of the past 35 years, potentially significant changes are now on the horizon.

The article provides background on boards’ fiduciary duties and how they have recently come under challenge, which may evolve into a new vision of the role of directors.

One change Raymond discusses is the current regulatory, institutional investor and societal focus on issues of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and how corporations’ records on these issues will be important to investors, regulators and the stock exchanges, regardless of the board’s own view of the significance of these concerns or their relevance to the constituencies on which the board had historically focused. Another change Raymond notes that is rapidly impacting corporations is the growing importance of diversity in the boardroom.