Adams, Michael

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Given Name
Michael
Michael
Surname
Adams
UNE Researcher ID
une-id:madams42
Email
madams42@une.edu.au
URI
Preferred Given Name
Michael
School/Department
School of Law

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 14
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    Publication
    Top 2018 governance concerns: #SEMTEX
    (Governance Institute of Australia, 2018-09)
    Adams, Michael A 

  • The acronym SEMTEX relates six critical or major concerns of corporate officers for 2018.
  • New risks can emerge quickly particularly in the evolving area of technology.
  • Consider including on the board agenda space to discuss the six topics of concern for your industry/organisation

    • Top of mind for all directors, and probably most governance professionals, is negotiating the natural tensions between performance and conformance. Performance is often carefully measured by way of agreed targets or goals (and specifically linked to remuneration and bonuses). Conformance is the requirements of compliance with the laws and regulations under the local jurisdiction (in Australia this can be both federal and state/territory laws, as well as industry-specific compliance) and the corporate internal policies and procedures.

    My research, as briefly described below, demonstrates that during the financial year 2018–2019, the six critical or major concerns of corporate officers can be expressed within the acronym SEMTEX.1 Remembering #SEMTEX could help directors avoid disasters that blow up and cause corporate and personal damage. The acronym SEMTEX stands for the following six areas of critical concern for all executives and directors:

    S = strategy

    E = evaluate of risks

    M = multi-generational (diversity)

    T = technology

    E = environment (CSR)

    X = toXic culture

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    Board diversity and corporate governance: lessons from Australia, India and Asia
    (Coventry University, Law School, 2017-07)
    Adams, Michael 

    There have been a number of developments across Asia, including India, Japan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, which provide a different paradigm from the traditional Australian comparisons with the United Kingdom, America and even Europe. There currently exists a significant volume of global research on the role of gender, as a part of the board composition and there are positive returns, with some caveats. This article begins to examine and question as to whether there are positive links to a broader concept of board diversity, including gender, age and ethnicity. One of the long term research questions for the multi-disciplinary study of corporate governance has been the link between good governance and share price or other measures of value. This has been quite difficult to establish in either the legal or finance or management disciplines, but there appears to be clear evidence of corporate sustainability where quality governance practices are applied consistently. The hardest question is whether we should have targets or mandatory quotas.

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    Publication
    Is Greed Ever Good?: Royal Commission's Impact on Agriculture Loans in Australia
    (Lupine Publishers LLC, 2019-04-29)
    Adams, Michael A 

    In 2013, the media broke a scandal about the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) financial planning arm having corrupt practices. This led to a Senate Inquiry and by July 2014 there were loud calls for a royal commission. The next few years saw the momentum peak with CBA again being caught by AUSTRAC (the agency for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing) with 54,000 breaches of the law by way of their intelligent ATM network. Former High Court Justice, Kenneth Hayne, was appointed by the Governor General to conduct the Royal Commission in the Misconduct of Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, through 2018 and report by 1st February 2019. Public interest in the Banking Royal Commission (BRC) has been extraordinary, with over 10,000 public submissions, 30 background academic papers on the various issues, 20,000 exhibits at public hearings and over 4.5 million page views of the BRC website. The four major banks plus Macquarie Bank, make up half of the top ten ASX listed companies, with a combined market capital of over $400 billion. Most superannuation funds are invested in the top 50 ASX companies and the majority of home mortgages and business loans are via the four main banks.

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    Publication
    Australian Corporate Law
    (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2018)
    Harris, Jason
    ;
    Hargovan, Anil
    ;
    Adams, Michael 
    Now in its sixth edition, Australian Corporate Law has been designed specifically for students undertaking corporations law as part of their business or commerce degree. This text aims to reduce the complexity of corporations law for students by providing clear explanation of legal principles and explaining how corporate law operates within the broader business context. It does this within a specifically designed learning framework that will enhance student learning and understanding of the presented material. The sixth edition has been updated to take account of the latest developments in statute and caselaw. Teaching and learning is supported by a comprehensive and innovative suite of online resources for both students and lecturers.
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    Publication
    Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law and Environmental Issues
    (Bond University, 2012)
    Nehme, Marina
    ;
    Adams, Michael 
    The market for 'green' products has expanded drastically over recent years in response to increased consumer concerns about environmental issues. However, such expansion has been accompanied by unsavoury conduct by some producers and marketers of green products. A number of corporations, for example, have sought to exploit their environmental and corporate social responsibility credentials to confuse, mislead or even defraud customers or clients by marketing so-called 'brown' (or non-green) products as green products. This practice has been referred to as 'greenwashing'. While Australia does not have specific legislation dealing with misleading environmental claims, it has developed a sophisticated approach to the regulation of misleading or deceptive conduct through the old s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), now s 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, and its many derivatives in other statutes. This article analyses the extent to which s 18 of the Australian Consumer Law and its federal statutory equivalents apply to the regulation of greenwashing.
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    Australian Prudential Regulation Authority: The History, Criticisms and Challenges of a Risk Regulator
    (Sweet & Maxwell Ltd, 2019)
    Adams, Michael 
    ;
    Borsellino, Grace
    ;
    Young, Angus
    Australian regulation of financial services has had a checkered history. The recent Hayne Royal Commission has made a number of recommendations to enhance the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. This article explores the origins and criticisms of two royal commissions and discussessome of the challenges ahead for the risk regulator.
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    Publication
    Board Diversity: More Than a Gender Issue?
    (Deakin University, School of Law, 2015)
    Adams, Michael 
    There has been extensive research conducted on the importance of corporate governance around the world. The research seems to demonstrate that, regardless of whether corporations are based in common law or civil code systems, their longevity and sustainability arise from good corporate governance. However, the evidence does not clearly demonstrate a correlation between a particular organisation’s governance structure and practices and its share price. Around the world the question of board diversity is gaining in importance. The beginning of the debate in the 1960s centred on gender. While it is essential to conduct a debate on gender diversity, other aspects of diversity should also be considered. Race, culture and even age may have a direct impact on the performance of a board. Australian companies, particularly those listed on the ASX, have a poor record of instituting any type of diversity. The USA and European Union have a much wider range of policies to promote diversity on corporate boards. The key question is how best to regulate to promote diversity across gender, race, culture and age. The historical approach of regulating diversity by setting targets and requiring disclosure does not seem to have delivered substantial change. Is it the right time to impose mandatory requirements, or are there other alternative strategies? Without doubt change is required, but there will be opposition.
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    Corporate governance in the digital economy: The critical importance of information governance
    (Governance Institute of Australia, 2018-11-01)
    Adams, Michael A 
    ;
    Bennett, Susan
    • Information is critical to decision-making and plays an essential role across all three pillars of governance.
    • The emerging driver of good information governance globally is compliance with regulatory obligations, particularly with the growth in global privacy laws.
    • Effective information governance requires top-down board and senior executive leadership.

    Good corporate governance in the data-driven and digital economy poses significant challenges for boards and seniors executives. This article highlights the importance of information governance to ensure there is a unified strategy and framework to govern information effectively. Good information governance enables organisations to maximise the value of information as a business asset while minimising risks and costs, particularly those associated with data breach.

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    Corporate governance reform: An empirical study of the changing roles and responsibilities of Australian boards and directors
    (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2010)
    Klettner, Alice
    ;
    Clarke, Thomas
    ;
    Adams, Michael 
    This article draws together some of the legal and management literature relevant to the theory and design of qualitative empirical research in the field of corporate governance. It goes on to describe the methodology used by the authors in a project involving interviews with representatives of 67 Australian companies. One of the aims of the project was to examine the changing roles and responsibilities of company boards and directors following legal and regulatory reform. It is only through improving our knowledge of the day to day processes occurring in board rooms that we can really understand the complex relationship between the regulatory framework and the control of corporations in practice. Our evidence was that with regard to the Australian corporate governance framework, over-regulation is not as critical an issue as often suggested, instead the 'comply or explain' mechanism is well understood and permits sufficient flexibility for companies to find an acceptable cost-benefit balance.