The corporate governance set-up in South Africa has undergone fundamental changes during the past decade, with the country today being responsive to most corporate governance issues. South Africa should be complimented for its King Code on Corporate Governance, the Companies Act and Johannesburg Securities Exchange Listing Requirements which have significantly strengthened the country’s corporate governance framework. These legal instruments have been influential in limiting directors’ powers and regulating the way directors are remunerated as a way of achieving good corporate governance. The research discusses the South African corporate governance framework with particular focus on the legal and regulatory framework that seeks to regulate directors’ powers and remuneration. An evaluation of the extent to which the legal and regulatory framework restrains directors’ powers and curbs excessive remuneration is undertaken. Recommendations are then provided on how the existing framework can be improved to adequately and effectively regulate directors’ powers and remuneration so as to achieve good corporate governance. / Mercantile Law / LL.M.

The corporate governance set-up in South Africa has undergone fundamental changes during the past decade, with the country today being responsive to most corporate governance issues. South Africa should be complimented for its King Code on Corporate Governance, the Companies Act and Johannesburg Securities Exchange Listing Requirements which have significantly strengthened the country’s corporate governance framework. These legal instruments have been influential in limiting directors’ powers and regulating the way directors are remunerated as a way of achieving good corporate governance. The research discusses the South African corporate governance framework with particular focus on the legal and regulatory framework that seeks to regulate directors’ powers and remuneration. An evaluation of the extent to which the legal and regulatory framework restrains directors’ powers and curbs excessive remuneration is undertaken. Recommendations are then provided on how the existing framework can be improved to adequately and effectively regulate directors’ powers and remuneration so as to achieve good corporate governance. / Mercantile Law / LL.M.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arthur_Tornatore_Siessere.pdf: 634051 bytes, checksum: ad42417752f395afef534f42d43549d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-27 / In 2008, there was a period of credit uncertainty and lack of confidence in financial markets, still present today though on a smaller scale. This research aims to verify the impacts of the adoption of corporate governance practices and of the liquidity effect on return of share prices of companies listed in BM&FBOVESPA in the pre and post -2008 crisis. In such context, the returns of stock prices that make up the Bovespa Index (Ibovespa), Brazil Index 50 (IBrX-50) and Index of Corporate Governance (IGC) were analyzed. With regard to the methodology used in this study, descriptive, quantitative and documentary researches are evidenced. These researches were made by using secondary data collection and statistical analysis through the techniques of linear regression, multiple linear regression of the section type and data analysis panel for wich, techniques for fixed and random effects were used. To begin with, a review on economic theory literature was performed, as well as a study on the causes and effects of the crisis, on the importance of corporate governance practices and also on the effects of liquidity on financial markets, through the analysis of scientific researches and articles published in congresses. Next, the values of the share prices from June/2007 to December/2009 of 141 selected companies were investigated. Stock prices provided by BM&FBOVESPA were used as data source and these data were analyzed statistically. Through the analysis of the statistical tests results, it was not possible to verify if there is significant relationship between the adoption of good corporate governance practices and better returns in the period pre and post 2008 financial crisis. In the analysis of the effects of liquidity on stock returns of companies analyzed in the pre-crisis period, it was not possible to verify significant relationship. As for the effects of liquidity on stock returns of companies analyzed in the post-crisis period, a strong statistically significant correlation was found / Em 2008 houve um per??odo de incertezas de cr??ditos e car??ncia de confian??a nos mercados financeiros, que ainda est??o presentes nos dias de hoje, embora em menor escala. Esta pesquisa, relacionada ?? conjuntura em evid??ncia, busca verificar os impactos da ado????o de pr??ticas diferenciadas de governan??a corporativa e do efeito da liquidez no retorno sobre o pre??o das a????es das empresas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA no per??odo pr??- e p??s-crise de 2008. Neste contexto, foram analisados os retornos dos pre??os das a????es que comp??em o ??ndice Bovespa (Ibovespa), ??ndice Brasil 50 (IBRX-50) e ??ndice das A????es com Governan??a Corporativa Diferenciada (IGC). Com rela????o ?? metodologia utilizada neste trabalho, evidenciam-se as pesquisas de natureza descritiva, quantitativa, de car??ter documental, realizadas com coleta de dados secund??rios e an??lise estat??stica, que foi feita pelas t??cnicas de regress??o linear simples, regress??o linear m??ltipla do tipo se????o e an??lise de dados em painel, para a qual foram utilizadas t??cnicas de efeitos fixos e aleat??rios. Primeiramente, foi efetuada uma revis??o da literatura sobre teoria econ??mica, bem como um estudo das causas e efeitos da crise e da import??ncia das pr??ticas de governan??a corporativa e tamb??m dos efeitos da liquidez no mercado financeiro. Para isso, fez-se a an??lise de produ????es cient??ficas, normas nacionais e artigos publicados em congressos. Em seguida, foram analisados os valores dos pre??os das a????es do per??odo de junho de 2007 at?? dezembro de 2009 das 141 empresas selecionadas. Como fonte de dados foram utilizados os pre??os das a????es disponibilizados pela BM&FBOVESPA. Por meio da an??lise dos resultados dos testes estat??sticos, n??o foi poss??vel verificar se existe rela????o significativa entre a ado????o de boas pr??ticas de governan??a corporativa e a ocorr??ncia de melhores retornos durante o per??odo considerado pr?? e p??s-crise financeira de 2008. Ao efetuar-se a an??lise do per??odo pr??- crise tamb??m n??o foi poss??vel verificar uma rela????o significativa entre a liquidez das empresas estudadas e o per??odo pr??-crise. Por sua vez, com rela????o aos efeitos da liquidez sobre o retorno das a????es das empresas analisadas no per??odo p??s-crise, foi poss??vel verificar que houve uma forte correla????o negativa bastante significativa estatisticamente