Os diferentes níveis de regulação legal dos conflitos de interesses no âmbito da gestão de fundos de investimento mobiliário

In the context of the activity developed by securities investment funds (hereinafter referred to “SIF”) the holders of investment units have a very tiny power to intervene. Aware of the risks that a decoupling between ownership and control may pose, the legislator has foreseen a number of impositions and limitations to the activity of the managing entities, namely to prevent or prohibit the performance of acts in situations of potential conflicts of interests. Accordingly, the purpose of the dissertation on – “Os diferentes níveis de regulação legal dos conflitos de interesses no âmbito da gestão de FIM” – is exactly to determine the field of application of the several levels of legal regulation of the conflicts of interests that arise within the scope of the management of SIF, both at the level of the new legal requirements governing collective investment undertakings, and at the level of the legal requirements governing the conflicts of interests foreseen in the Portuguese Securities Code, in order to clarify the articulation of these different levels of conflicts of interests regulations.

Does the existing Corporate Governance structure and strict Legal Framework, affect the strategic decisionmaking of CEOs?

This thesis is a case study on Corporate Governance and Business Ethics, using the Portuguese Corporate Law as a general setting. The thesis was conducted in Portugal with illustrations on past cases under the Business Judgment Rule of the State of Delaware, U.SA along with illustrations on current cases in Portugal under the Portuguese Judicial setting, along with a comparative analysis between both. A debate is being considered among scholars and executives; a debate on best practices within corporate governance and corporate law, associated with recent discoveries of unlawful investments that lead to the bankruptcy of leading institutions and an aggravation of the crisis in Portugal. The study aimed at learning possible reasons and causes for the current situation of the country’s corporations along with attempts to discover the best way to move forward. From the interviews and analysis conducted, this paper concluded that the corporate governance structure and legal frameworks in Portugal were not the sole influencers behind the actions and decisions of Corporate Executives, nor were they the main triggers for the recent corporate mishaps. But it is rather a combination of different factors that played a significant role, such as cultural and ethical aspects, individual personalities, and others all of which created gray areas beyond the legal structure, which in turn accelerated and aggravated the corporate governance crisis in the country.