Conference on Corporate Governance, Copenhagen, 12 – 13 November 2004

See the programme in full.

Corporate governance has been on the agenda for a while and plays an increasingly important role in the day-to-day life of many companies. Voluntary codes of conduct as well as other initiatives supplement traditional means of regulation and pose new challenges and opportunities for companies and their advisors. The purpose of this conference is to equip companies and advisors from the Nordic countries, including outside counsel and internal legal staff, to meet these challenges and benefit from the opportunities.

To put things in perspective and shed light on what to expect in the future, the conference will include speeches by US specialists and experts in European corporate governance and company law. Ron Gilson, Professor at the Columbia and Stanford law schools, will focus on the US experience and, in particular, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its implications.

Corporate governance from a EU perspective, including the initiatives in the Commission's action plan of May 2003, will be discussed by Jaap Winter, Professor of the University of Rotterdam, chairman of the High Level Group of Company Law Experts, and partner of de Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the Netherlands.

United Kingdom and Germany have worked extensively within the field of corporate governance and persons actively involved in the process in those two countries will present and comment on the development there. Professor Paul Davies of the London School of Economics and Political Science and a member of the UK Company Law Review Steering Group will discuss the UK experience while Professor Ulrich Noack of the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, one of the leading German scholars in the field of corporate governance, will discuss the choices made in Germany.

The Nordic experience will be presented by one of the key players in the Swedish debate, Rolf Skog, former secretary to the Swedish Company Law Committee and Honorary Professor at the Aarhus Business School.

Mads Øvlisen, Chairman of the board and former CEO of Novo Nordisk A/S, one of the leading Danish companies applying corporate governance as part of its day-to-day operations, will speak of his experiences from a company's viewpoint.   

An investor's perspective on corporate governance is presented by Dorrit Vanglo, Vice President of LD Pension, one of the largest institutional investors in Denmark and active within the field.

One aspect that may be of particular interest to Nordic companies is the question of social responsibility. This will be addressed by Juha Kurkinen, Chairman of the consulting firm Oy Rastor AB and former general counsel to Cultor Oy.

From an advisor's viewpoint one of the areas of interest is legal risk management. Jon Iversen who practices law with Bech-Bruun Dragsted´s Brussels office will analyze this topic.

Finally, Professor Jan Schans Christensen of the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law, a member of the High Level Group of Company Law Experts and former practicing attorney, will discuss corporate governance from a legal advisor's perspective.

See the programme.