The Derivative Action in Asia A Comparative and Functional Approach International Corporate Law and Financial Market Regulation Series

This in-depth comparative examination of the derivative action in Asia provides a framework for analysing its function, history and practical application and examines in detail how derivative actions law works in practice in seven important Asian jurisdictions (China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore). These case studies allow an evaluation of a number of the leading Western comparative corporate law and governance theories which have come to define the field over the last decade. By debunking some of these critically important theories, this book lays the foundation for an accurate understanding of the derivative action in Asia and a re-examination of the regulation of the derivative action around the world.

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins; 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak; 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak; 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japan's unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak; 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim; 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang; 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the People's Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson; 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kong's derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong; 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak; 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil; 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

Dan W. Puchniak is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore, where he specialises in company law with an emphasis on comparative corporate law in East Asia.
Harald Baum is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Japanese Law Department at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany. He also serves as Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law of Hamburg University and as Research Associate at the European Corporate Governance Institute in Brussels.
Michael Ewing-Chow is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS) where he teaches world trade law and corporate law.