The repeated corporate crises of the last decade (Tyco, Enron, Worldcom and most recently the various crises that have engulfed the global financial sector) have caused significant economic harm to the public, investors and TIAA-CREF participants. In their aftermath, there has been a vigorous debate among market participants about the root causes of these various crises, the lessons learned and the way forward. Organizations, both within the United States and abroad, have issued white papers and policy statements that address these failures and offer suggestions for rebuilding confidence and trust in the markets. TIAA-CREF has surveyed the commentary, which provides a range of thoughtful and constructive views on the potential causes of the crises and the suggested steps that should be taken to reform the corporate governance system. This paper will review these solutions and offer our own observations and lessons learned in promoting good corporate governance for more than 90 years. More…

Source: TIAA-CREF