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The eleventh annual GCGC Conference was hosted by Imperial, London on 13 -14 June 2025 in London.

GCGC 2025, hosted by Imperial College London, gathered leading scholars and practitioners to explore frontier issues in corporate governance under conditions of rapid economic, political, and technological change. Across paper sessions, panel discussions, and prize presentations, the event examined governance at the intersections of geopolitics, sustainability, market structure, and corporate law. 

A recurring theme was the interaction between corporate governance and political economy. Several papers considered the influence of political control on state-owned enterprises, the shifting boundaries between antitrust and ESG, and the role of corporate governance in an era of geoeconomics. The Corporate Governance in an Era of Geoeconomics session explored how boards and regulators adapt to geopolitical risks, while The EU’s Sustainability Due Diligence Directive panel debated the practical challenges of implementing wide-reaching regulatory frameworks across diverse jurisdictions. 

Sustainability remained a strong focus, but with increasing emphasis on its operationalisation and limits. The ESG Overperformance and Beyond ESG sessions analysed the efficacy of ESG linked compensation, highlighting how targets are often met without clear evidence of improved ESG outcomes. Sustainable Investing in Practice used survey evidence to examine how E&S factors are incorporated into portfolio decision-making, revealing the constraints and practical realities that shape integration. These discussions reflected a maturing of the ESG debate, with more attention on data, metrics, and investor mandates than in earlier years. 

Another thematic thread running through the conference was the continuing evolution of capital market structures and their implications for governance. Papers such as Share Repurchase Legalization revisited long-running policy debates with new cross-country evidence,  showing how capital reallocation effects challenge simple narratives about buybacks crowding out investment. Corporate Political Disclosure offered a granular look at the mechanics of shareholder proposals on political spending and lobbying, highlighting the role of sustained engagement and the interplay between investor coalitions, proxy advisors, and disclosure indices. These contributions reflected the hallmark approach of the GCGC series: blending doctrinal, empirical, and policy perspectives to reassess assumptions about market functioning.

Another theme concerned the institutional design of governance mechanisms under stress— whether from concentrated ownership, regulatory change, or technological disruption. Defying Western Expectations challenged prevailing assumptions about the absence of shareholder activism in China, while Evidence from Political Control Shift in SOEs examined investor reactions to formalised Party authority in corporate charters. 

Corporate governance fundamentals also remained in focus. Venture Capital Contracting as Bargaining, Committee Decision-making, and Fixing MFW sessions addressed decision-making processes, minority protections, and legal doctrine in transactions with controlling shareholders. The Working Paper Prize session celebrated papers from Katja Langenbucher, and also Mike Burkart, Samuel Lee, and Paul Voss, each highlighting evolving governance structures in AI integration and in control transactions. 

Panels explored the policy and legal dimensions of collective investor action (Are Investor Coalitions Cartels?) and the competitive effects of corporate law reforms. Across sessions, the discussion reflected a shift from broad ESG debates toward more granular examination of governance mechanisms—whether in takeover markets, board processes, or stewardship frameworks.

www.gcgc.global

Questions may be directed to: admin@ecgi.org

This event was organised by the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

- This event was strictly by invitation only and the number of places are limited to ensure quality engagement.
 

📆 Conference details
Friday 13 June - Saturday 14 June 2025 | 08:45 – 17:00 BST

📍 Conference Location: 
Imperial Business School, London

Programme

Friday, 13 June 2025 | 08:15 BST

Registration

Coffee break

Lunch break

Coffee break

Session 4

Concluding Remarks

Reception & Dinner

Saturday, 14 June 2025 | 08:45 BST

Arrival

Coffee break

Lunch break

Coffee break

Closing remarks

Reception

Speakers

Marco Becht

Professor of Finance and the Goldschmidt Professor of Corporate Governance
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles
Fellow, Research Member

Mike Burkart

Professor of Finance; Head of Department
London School of Economics and Political Science
Fellow, Research Member

Elroy Dimson

Chairman, Centre for Endowment Asset Management; Research Director (Finance & Accounting), Judge Business School
Cambridge University
Research Member

Luca Enriques

Professor of Business Law
Bocconi University, Department of Legal Studies
Fellow, Research Member

Jill Fisch

Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Fellow, Research Member

Tom Gosling

Executive Fellow
The London School of Economics and Political Science and ECGI

Jennifer Hill

Bob Baxt AO Chair in Corporate and Commercial Law
Monash University
Research Member

Dirk Jenter

Professor of Finance
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Research Member

Luh Luh Lan

Associate Professor
National University of Singapore
Research Member

Amir Licht

Professor of Law
Harry Radzyner Law School, Reichman University
Research Member

Ernest Lim

Professor of Law
Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Research Member

Dorothy S. Lund

Professor of Law and Co-Director, Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership
Columbia Law School
Research Member

Nadya Malenko

Professor of Finance and Wargo Family Faculty Fellow
Boston College
Research Member

Ronald Masulis

Scientia Professor in Finance
UNSW School of Business, University of New South Wales
Research Member

Pedro Matos

James A. & Stacy Cooper Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration (Finance)
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Research Member

Curtis J. Milhaupt

William F. Baxter - Visa International Professor of Law
Stanford Law School
Fellow, Research Member

Dan Puchniak

Professor
Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law
Research Member

Paolo Rainelli

Associate Professor of Business Law
Politecnic University of Turin, Italy
Representative Member

Adriana Robertson

Donald N. Pritzker Professor of Business Law
University of Chicago
Research Member

Tobias Tröger

Professor of Private Law, Commercial and Business Law
Leibniz Institute SAFE, Goethe University Frankfurt, House of Finance, LawFin Center
Research Member

Umakanth Varottil

Professor of Law
Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Research Member

Charles Wang

Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Research Member

Yupana Wiwattanakantang

Associate professor, Department of Finance
NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Research Member

Yishay Yafeh

Professor
School of Business Administration, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Research Member

Presentations

gcgc-report-2025

2025 Conference Programme

View the conference programme and attending delegates for the 2025 Global Corporate Governance Colloquium.

GCGC Conference Report 2015 - 2025

Discover more about the GCGC conference series and journey through a range of corporate governance themes, including traditional topics and also more recent developments.

GCGC

GCGC Partners

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Past events in this series

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