The Handbook of International Corporate Governance

Published at the end of 2004, this handbook provides a comprehensive and definitive outline of the corporate governance requirements in countries around the world.  Individual countries are categorised by their status as developed, developing, transitional and lesser developed countries, and the book describes the frameworks in place together with an indication of the current maturity of ocal governance activity.  The editors, both established corporate governance professionals, have drawn contributions from country experts around the world - this gives the UK reader some confidence that the country information is meaningful and appropriately nuanced to reflect each country.  A detailed "further reading" list attached to each country chapter points the reader at the sources that will provide the detailed knowledge and information necessary to translate an initial understanding of governance requirements into a practical implementation plan and management framework.

This is the globalisation century; while the second half of the 20th century saw an explosion in international trade, the 21st century will see global businesses become the rule, rather than the exception.  Global businesses will continue to be subject to the governance requirements of each jurisdiction in which they are registered and, therefore, a handbook that provides enough information to enable company directors, shareholders, investors and professional advisers to make informed decisions about the corporate governance regimes that will govern their activities, can only be welcomed.