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Iris H-Y Chiu
European Business Law Review
Volume 35, Issue 3/4 (2024) pp. 305 – 310
https://doi.org/10.54648/eulr2024020
Abstract
This short editorial introduces the collection of papers presented and discussed at the UCL Centre for Ethics and Law-European Corporate Governance Institute Symposium on the Boundaries of Corporate Responsibility, 10 November 2023, UCL, London. The Symposium brought together a collection of perspectives from corporate law, business and human rights enforcement as well as broader thoughts on soft law and the future of ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ expectations for companies.
Keywords
Corporate due diligence, vicarious liability, duty of care, enterprise liability, extraterritorial liability, corporate ownership, business and human rights, ESG, corporate transparency, stewardship, sustainability, EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
Extract
In the age of digital transformation, the boundaries of companies are beginning to blur. In the information society, the network economy is emerging as a new, paradigmatic economic order. With the ability to share information quickly and cheaply on a global scale, the importance of centralised decision-making and costly corporate structures is diminishing. Companies are giving way to interconnected networks, and the concept of ownership is gradually being replaced by the concept of access rights. From a company law perspective, this shift to the network economy leads to the emergence of new forms of governance. As access rights replace ownership, the governance of these rights becomes paramount for economic actors, but it transcends company boundaries and is instead rooted in contractual relationships. As a result, contract governance is gradually replacing corporate governance. With governance frameworks extending beyond the firm to contractual networks, directors’ duties are likely to extend beyond firm-specific boundaries to bridge the responsibility gap created by the increasing use of data technologies.