Insights
Boyden: The Board of Directors- Regulation and the Role of Boards
Boards of directors today often face heightened pressures and increased complications amid high profile scandals, regulatory demands, activist investors and media scrutiny, according to a new Executive Monitor report released by Boyden.
The report, titled The Board of Directors: Regulation and the Role of Boards, unpacks the challenges facing directors and explores areas of opportunity. It consists of two editions, U.S. and Global. The U.S. edition examines recent shifts in the landscape, including the CEO and board relationship, effective management of regulation, and changing factors of digitization.
The report features results from a new Boyden survey of 1,200 U.S. adults, completed in May 2018, regarding their views on the state of regulation:
- For the technology sector, 55% of U.S. adults believe that technology and digital companies are under-regulated.
- For financial services, a plurality, or 44%, of U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 indicated that regulation in the industry has become too overcorrected, stifling innovation.
In addition, the report reviews the following key board attributes and concerns:
- The need for independent thought on the part of individual directors
- Consequences of an ineffective relationship between the CEO and board
- Instances of management overextension and lack of board oversight