Transatlantic Corporate Governance Dialogue (TCGD)

Background

In 2004, the European Corporate Governance Institute and the American Law Institute (ALI) established the Transatlantic Corporate Governance Dialogue in order to bring together leading academics from law, economics and finance, regulators, judges, law makers, corporate leaders, investors and other corporate constituencies to engage in forward-looking discussions of corporate governance issues that are or will be at the forefront of policymaking on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2008, the Columbia University replaced the ALI as the ECGI's US partners.  The ongoing Dialogue is endorsed by the European Commission.

The Dialogue was launched with a full-day public conference held in Brussels on 12 July 2004 thanks to support from the European Commission.  In subsequent years, a conference has been held alternately in the United States and Europe. See below for further details of each conference.

2004 Launch Conference: Brussels

The theme of the launch Conference was “Regulatory Competition and Subsidiarity in Corporate Governance in a Transatlantic Perspective”. Over 220 delegates attended the Conference which was held in Brussels at La Maison de l'Europe at la Bibliothèque Solvay on Monday, 12th July 2004.

2005 Conference: New York

In 2005, the twin themes of the Conference were "Corporate Board Elections" and "Internal Controls". It took place at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday, 27 September 2005. 

2006 Conference: Brussels

The theme of the 2006 Conference was "Controlling shareholders and corporate governance: Better monitors or more self-dealing?". The Conference took place on Tuesday, 27 June 2006 at the Charlemagne Building, Brussels.

2007 Conference: Washington DC

The theme of the 2007 Conference was "Corporate Governance Standards and Capital Market Competitiveness". The Conference took place on Tuesday, 9 October 2007 at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D.C.

2008 Conference: Brussels

The theme of the 2008 Conference was "Corporate Governance Standards and Financial Stability". The Conference took place on Tuesday, 9 September 2008 at the Charlemagne Building, Brussels.

2009 Conference: Washington DC

The theme of the sixth conference in the series, which took place in Washington DC on Thursday, 17th September 2009, was "The New Role of Government in Corporate Governance". Keynote speakers were Mary L. Schapiro, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Professor Mario Monti, President, Università Bocconi and Former European Commissioner for the Single Market, Financial Services and Taxation, and for Competition Policy.

2010 Conference: Brussels

The theme of the seventh conference in the series, which took place in Brussels at the Bibliothèque Solvay on Monday, 25th October 2010, was "Corporate Governance and the new Financial Regulation: Complements or Substitutes?". Keynote speakers were Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services at the European Commission, Troy A Paredes, Commissioner, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Christine M Cumming, First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

2011 Conference: Washington DC

The theme of the eighth conference in the series, which took place in Washington at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. on Thursday, 15th December 2011, was Shareholder Engagement: What is 'Appropriate'?. Keynote speakers were Mary L. Schapiro, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nadia Calvino, Deputy Director General, DG Internal Market and Services at the European Commission. 

2012 Conference: Brussels

The theme of the ninth conference in the series which took place at the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels on Monday, 17th December 2012 was Corporate Governance and Banking Union in a transatlantic perspective. Keynote speakers were Sheila Bair, Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair, Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, European Commission, Luc Coene, Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Governor of the National Bank of Belgium and Troy A. Paredes, SEC Commissioner.

2013 Conference - Washington DC

The theme of the tenth conference in the series which took place in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, 3rd December 2013 was The Realities of Stewardship for Institutional Owners, Activist Investors and Proxy Advisors.   Keynote speakers were Mary Jo White, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Daniel Gallagher, SEC Commissioner, and Ugo Bassi, Director for Capital and Companies, DG Internal Market and Services at the European Commission.
 

The next conference in the TCGD series was scheduled to take place in Brussels in 2014. However a new European Commission had just been appointed and the portfolios of some Commissioners had been changed. As a result, the TCGD conference was postponed until such time as the Commission had established its corporate governance agenda and priorities. Additionally there have been changes at the SEC in the US which have further complicated plans for this conference series. It is intended to resume this series in the foreseeable future.