On the heels of a momentous reevaluating of free market principles, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has released a paper detailing the risk attitudes that upper executives should adopt in the face of the recession. The paper details ten significant areas in which directors and executives should focus their energies in an effort to mitigate risk in the new economy.
The credit crisis, according to authors and Weil counselors Ira M. Millstein, Holly J. Gregory and Rebecca C. Grapsas, “has heightened focus on the importance of risk management at all corporations and has encouraged a fresh look at the role of the board in risk oversight. Although the manner in which a board fulfills its risk oversight responsibilities is a matter of business judgment, directors should bear in mind that conduct will be judged by investors, regulators, the media and others with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight.”
Included in the ten advisory points: tailoring individual corporate governance structures to the specific needs of the company in question; the possible advantages of independent directors; disclosure process review; and healthy shareholder communication.
The report is entitled “Ten Area for Enhanced Board Focus in 2009—Spotlight on Risk Oversight.” It can be found here.