Gabriela Figueiredo Dias

In a context of increasing complexity and sophistication of financing techniques and instruments for companies, and also in a scenario of companies ' growing reliance on the available sources of financing and on finance suppliers, the influence of creditors in corporate governance of companies has been increasingly impressive. This influence has assumed such critical proportions that lenders are now leveled with shareholders and directors as a class of stakeholders with greater ability to… Show more

In a context of increasing complexity and sophistication of financing techniques and instruments for companies, and also in a scenario of companies ' growing reliance on the available sources of financing and on finance suppliers, the influence of creditors in corporate governance of companies has been increasingly impressive. This influence has assumed such critical proportions that lenders are now leveled with shareholders and directors as a class of stakeholders with greater ability to influence companies’ management and governance, building up as the third power along with the other two traditional corporate powers. This impact has positive and negative aspects, is bidirectional and can even arise not from the direct lender, but from their counterparts in hedging contracts or to whom the shares of the company financed are assigned as a guarantee.
However, neither the companies’ law nor the corporate governance frameworks and principles are prepared to provide appropriate answers to the brand new questions posed by this circumstance, not to add to the capitalization on the benefits that this ‘third power’ may provide to shareholders and to companies themselves.
Some debt governance issues are addressed here, and some action points for the conception of a debt governance system are proposed as well.
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The governance debate has been much centered in companies. This article analyses the most relevant features of the board and of the monitoring body in each of the governance models allowed under Portuguese law

Together with their major responsibility for the welfare of beneficiaries, pension funds also play a critical role in the financial markets. Hence, their governance and regulation are currently issues of public concern and major importance, which impact directly the interests of beneficiaries of the funds and ultimately, given the relevance of its investments, the performance of financial markets themselves. The main issues of pension fund governance, just like of companies’ governance, arise… Show more

Together with their major responsibility for the welfare of beneficiaries, pension funds also play a critical role in the financial markets. Hence, their governance and regulation are currently issues of public concern and major importance, which impact directly the interests of beneficiaries of the funds and ultimately, given the relevance of its investments, the performance of financial markets themselves. The main issues of pension fund governance, just like of companies’ governance, arise from the fiduciary nature of its management and correlated agency problems, information asymmetries and risk management fragilities. However, and differently from the classical problems of corporate governance in companies, pension funds exhibit specific governance problems and needs.
This study aims to identify these main specific issues of pension fund governance and to identify the existing solutions as well as the ones still to be built, with a special glance over the Portuguese regulatory environment and putting forward some proposals aiming to improve the Portuguese governance framework for pension funds.
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