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xv | |
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xvi | |
Acknowledgements |
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xvii | |
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xviii | |
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1 Introduction and Overview |
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1 | (54) |
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2 | (9) |
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4 | (3) |
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B Why Companies Should Pursue Sustainability |
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7 | (1) |
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7 | (3) |
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10 | (1) |
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II Rationales and Motivations |
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11 | (14) |
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A Significant, Recent Legal Developments in Common Law Asia |
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12 | (1) |
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1 Sustainability Reporting |
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12 | (2) |
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2 Gender Diversity on the Board of Directors |
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14 | (1) |
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15 | (1) |
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16 | (1) |
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5 Directors' Duty to Act in the Best Interests of the Company |
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17 | (1) |
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B Common Law Asia Calls into Question Two Influential Theories |
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18 | (1) |
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18 | (4) |
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22 | (3) |
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III Factors that Drive Sustainability in Common Law Asia |
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25 | (14) |
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A Socio-economic Development Agendas of Governments |
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25 | (1) |
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25 | (2) |
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27 | (2) |
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29 | (3) |
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32 | (1) |
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B Rules of Stock Exchanges |
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33 | (2) |
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C Internationalisation of Companies |
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35 | (1) |
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36 | (3) |
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39 | (11) |
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A Conflicts of Interest between the Government's Roles as Both Shareholder and Regulator |
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41 | (2) |
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B Political Interference and Extractions of Private Benefits of Control |
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43 | (2) |
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45 | (1) |
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1 First Qualification: Public but Not Private Benefits of Control |
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46 | (1) |
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2 Second Qualification: Protect and Promote the State's Legitimacy |
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46 | (4) |
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50 | (5) |
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2 Sustainability Reporting |
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55 | (48) |
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I Structure and Contents of Reporting Requirements |
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57 | (26) |
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57 | (1) |
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58 | (9) |
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67 | (2) |
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69 | (1) |
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1 Materiality of ESG Factors |
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69 | (4) |
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73 | (4) |
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3 India: BRRs and the CSR 2 Per Cent Spending Requirement |
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77 | (6) |
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II Qualitative Evaluation of Sustainability Reports |
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83 | (14) |
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A Effect of Corporate Characteristics |
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83 | (1) |
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83 | (1) |
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84 | (1) |
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85 | (1) |
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B Extent and Quality of Disclosures |
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86 | (1) |
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86 | (1) |
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87 | (1) |
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88 | (1) |
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C Qualitative Evaluation of the Sustainability Reports in Common Law Asia |
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89 | (3) |
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92 | (2) |
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94 | (2) |
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96 | (1) |
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96 | (1) |
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97 | (6) |
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97 | (2) |
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99 | (4) |
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103 | (39) |
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I Rationales for Female Directors |
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104 | (11) |
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A Enhances Corporate Governance |
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105 | (1) |
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106 | (2) |
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C Equality Justifications |
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108 | (2) |
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110 | (1) |
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2 Equality of Resources and Opportunity |
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111 | (4) |
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II Mechanisms to Promote Female Directors |
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115 | (18) |
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115 | (5) |
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B Apply or Explain an Alternative |
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120 | (4) |
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C A Combined Approach: Monitoring Disclosure and `Name and Shame' |
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124 | (6) |
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130 | (3) |
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III State-Owned Enterprises |
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133 | (7) |
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134 | (1) |
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135 | (1) |
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136 | (1) |
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136 | (1) |
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E SOEs with No Female Directors |
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137 | (1) |
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F Connected to the Government |
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137 | (2) |
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139 | (1) |
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140 | (2) |
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142 | (28) |
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I German Co-determination |
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143 | (19) |
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145 | (1) |
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145 | (4) |
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149 | (3) |
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B Adoption by Other Jurisdictions |
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152 | (1) |
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153 | (3) |
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156 | (3) |
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159 | (2) |
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161 | (1) |
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II Indian CSR Board Committee |
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162 | (6) |
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168 | (2) |
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170 | (36) |
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I Emergence of Stewardship Codes |
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172 | (3) |
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II Stewardship Codes and Sustainability |
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175 | (13) |
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175 | (1) |
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175 | (1) |
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176 | (4) |
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180 | (1) |
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180 | (3) |
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183 | (2) |
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185 | (3) |
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III Controlling Shareholders |
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188 | (8) |
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A How the Code Reinforces the Power of Controlling Shareholders |
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188 | (1) |
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B How Controlling Shareholders' Presence and Power Are Likely to Disincentivise Institutional Shareholders from Actively Engaging with the Company |
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189 | (1) |
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189 | (4) |
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193 | (1) |
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C Conflicts of Interest between the Controlling Shareholder (or Its Company) and the Institutional Shareholders |
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194 | (2) |
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IV Fiduciary Duties of Institutional Shareholders |
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196 | (8) |
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196 | (3) |
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199 | (1) |
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199 | (3) |
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202 | (1) |
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202 | (2) |
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204 | (2) |
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6 Directors' Duty to Act in the Best Interests of the Company |
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206 | (29) |
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I Shareholder Primacy, Stakeholder Value, and Long-Term Value and Viability |
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208 | (9) |
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208 | (4) |
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212 | (3) |
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C Long-Term Value and Viability |
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215 | (2) |
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II Evaluation of the Law in the Four Asian Jurisdictions |
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217 | (11) |
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217 | (3) |
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220 | (3) |
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223 | (2) |
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225 | (1) |
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226 | (2) |
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III Implications of Directors' Best Interest Duty for Corporate Governance Mechanisms |
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228 | (4) |
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A Sustainability Reporting |
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228 | (1) |
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229 | (2) |
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231 | (1) |
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232 | (3) |
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7 Liability of Companies, Shareholders and Directors |
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235 | (49) |
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I Rationales for Limited Liability |
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237 | (5) |
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II Existing Exceptions to Limited Liability |
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242 | (19) |
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A Distinguishing Limited Liability and Separate Legal Personality |
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243 | (3) |
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B Piercing the Corporate Veil |
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246 | (1) |
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1 Singapore and Hong Kong |
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247 | (2) |
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249 | (1) |
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250 | (2) |
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C Breach of Duty of Care by Parent Companies |
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252 | (9) |
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III Proposed Exceptions to Limited Liability |
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261 | (6) |
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261 | (3) |
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B Liability on Shareholders of the Wrongdoing Company |
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264 | (3) |
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267 | (10) |
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A Imposing Liability on the Controlling Shareholder |
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267 | (7) |
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274 | (3) |
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V Breach of Public Interest Legislations |
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277 | (5) |
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282 | (2) |
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284 | (5) |
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Appendix 1 External Assurance |
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289 | (13) |
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Appendix 2 Top Fifty Listed Companies in Each of the Four Jurisdictions |
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302 | (8) |
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Appendix 3 Qualitative Assessment of Sustainability Reports |
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310 | (50) |
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Appendix 4 Good Examples of Diversity Policy Disclosure |
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360 | (5) |
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Appendix 5 Proportion of Female Directors |
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365 | (6) |
Bibliography |
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371 | (23) |
Index |
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394 | |