Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis and subsequent recession that began in 2008 and worsened in 2009 has raised many questions about the effectiveness of corporate governance systems. Swedish researcher Erik Berglof has been looking into this topic, with a special emphasis on Europe. He says scholars are only beginning to unravel the role that boards of directors and other governance components played in the meltdown. He sees two trends emerging, however: national governments are exerting much more control over financial institutions and regulators are moving to establish global harmonization of capital requirements. Mr. Berglof is chief economist and special adviser to the president at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which provides project financing for banks, industries and businesses. Mr. Berglof was a speaker at a Wharton conference on "Corporate Governance and the Global Financial Crisis" in late September. After making his presentation he visited the studios of Knowledge@Wharton for an interview.