lack Letter
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Corporate governance: the board, its duties and the shareholders' toolsGobierno corporativo: el consejo, sus deberes y las herramientas de los accionistas

A structure for any governance problem: actors and hats, who owes what to whom, standards of review, and remedies; built on chapter 5 and the 2025 developments.Una estructura para cualquier problema de gobierno corporativo: actores y sombreros, quién debe qué a quién, estándares de revisión y remedios; con base en el capítulo 5 y las novedades de 2025.

  1. List the actors and their hatsEnumera a los actores y sus sombreros: Shareholder, director, officer, employee under contract, lender, supplier, relative. One person often wears three. Each hat carries different powers and duties.The board removes officers; only shareholders remove directors. A fired CEO who is also a director keeps the seat.
  2. Who owes duties to whomQuién debe deberes a quién: Directors and officers owe fiduciary duties to the corporation and its shareholders; constituency statutes let boards weigh employees, communities and the public without unduly harming shareholders; creditors get only their contracts.
  3. What the board is forPara qué sirve el consejo: Monitor, do not manage daily: strategy, choosing and paying the CEO, risk identification, succession, financial controls, compliance programs, shareholder communication, approval of major plans (new lines of business, acquisitions, dividends, big asset sales).
  4. Independence and committeesIndependencia y comités: Majority of independent directors for listed companies; audit and compensation committees fully independent; nominating committee recruits and evaluates. Test independence with the exchange rules (employment within three years, payments above thresholds, family, interlocks). (NYSE § 303A.02; Nasdaq Rule 5605; SOX § 301)
  5. Duty of care and relianceDeber de diligencia y confianza en reportes: Be informed, attend, read, question. Directors may rely in good faith on reports of officers, committees and experts if the reliance is reasonable. A hurried, uninformed decision is the classic breach. (Smith v. Van Gorkom; TBOC § 3.102)
  6. Duty of loyalty and conflictsDeber de lealtad y conflictos: Self-dealing, deals with relatives or affiliates, corporate opportunities, competing. Cleanse through informed approval by disinterested directors or shareholders, or prove entire fairness. (DGCL § 144; TBOC § 21.418)
  7. Oversight (Caremark)Supervisión (Caremark): Good-faith effort to install reporting systems and respond to red flags; liability only for conscious disregard. The SEC's body-armor directors are the cautionary tale.
  8. Standard of review: business judgment ruleEstándar de revisión: business judgment rule: Presumption that an informed, disinterested, good-faith decision was in the company's interest; the plaintiff must rebut it. Texas codified a strong version for listed and opting-in corporations in 2025. Exculpation clauses and D&O insurance then limit what directors actually pay. (TBOC § 21.419 (2025); DGCL § 102(b)(7); TBOC § 7.001)
  9. The shareholders' toolsLas herramientas de los accionistas: Elect and remove directors (special meeting or written consent), proxy contests, say on pay, inspection rights, direct suits for personal injuries, derivative suits for injuries to the corporation (written demand, 90-day wait in Texas, ownership thresholds up to 3% if adopted). (TBOC §§ 21.409, 21.551–21.563)
  10. Disclosure and tradingRevelación e información privilegiada: Material information must be disclosed accurately and on time; nobody trades or tips while it is nonpublic; leaks of board plans are a securities problem as well as a loyalty problem.

The shape of a governance essay

  1. Hats: who is a shareholder, director, officer, contract party.
  2. Powers: who can do the thing proposed (board resolution, shareholder vote, written consent, special meeting) and who cannot (the board cannot remove directors; the CEO cannot bind the board).
  3. Duties: which duty each actor’s conduct implicates (care, loyalty, oversight, good faith) and whether a conflict taints the vote.
  4. Standard: business judgment rule or entire fairness; exculpation; reliance on reports.
  5. Remedies: injunction, damages, removal, derivative or direct suit, and the practical advice (call the meeting, document the process, get independent advice, negotiate).

Two 2025 questions worth an answer in class

What risks must a board oversee directly (cybersecurity, AI, financial reporting) and what may it delegate? Do the Texas reforms improve governance by cutting weak litigation, or weaken shareholder oversight by shielding management? Have one paragraph ready for each.

Mexican contrast

The LMV borrowed the architecture (consejo, comités de auditoría y prácticas societarias, consejeros independientes, deberes de diligencia y lealtad), so the vocabulary will feel familiar. The difference is enforcement: derivative suits, Delaware case law and SEC actions make the duties bite in a way the acción de responsabilidad rarely does.