Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:14:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2001-04-10T00:00:00Z / Trata dos problemas ligados ao controle das companhias abertas, e do papel Conselho de Administração. Aborda a questão da concentração de propriedade das ações, da apropriação de benefícios por parte de acionistas controladores, e do funcionamento de sistemas internos e externos de controle da Administração. Estuda o perfil dos conselheiros, apontando fontes de conflito de interesses. / This study addresses the main issues related to the control of Brazilian public companies, and the role of the board of directors. It includes an overview on the literature concerning to concentrated ownership, the private benefits of control and the functioning of internal and external corporate control systems. A description and analysis on the characteristics of Brazilian board of directors is made, besides the identification of possible conflicts of interest. The main conclusion of the empirical research is that the boards are not an effective way of the controlling the executive's activity.