Osgoode Hall Law Journal Article 5 Volume 50, Issue 1 (Fall 2012) Addressing the Tension between Directors' Duties and Shareholder Rights - A Tale of Two Regimes Sean Vanderpol Edward J. Waitzer Osgoode Hall Law School of York University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj Part of the Business Organizations Law Commons Article Citation Information Vanderpol, Sean and Waitzer, Edward J.. "Addressing the Tension between Directors' Duties and Shareholder Rights - A Tale of Two Regimes." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 50.1 (2012) : 177-210. http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol50/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Osgoode Hall Law Journal by an authorized editor of Osgoode Digital Commons. Addressing the Tension between Directors' Duties and Shareholder Rights - A Tale of Two Regimes Abstract There is a basic tension inherent in the regulation of corporations between the role to be played by boards and that to be played by shareholders. Boards have the statutory responsibility to manage the business and affairs of the corporation, and owe an express duty to act in the best interests of the corporation. Shareholders, however, are the ultimate ‘owners’ of the corporation, and have the ability to elect and remove directors. Canadian courts and securities regulators have long struggled with this tension in determining the roles to be played by each in transactions that pose the potential for conflicts between and among boards and shareholders, such as transactions involving controlling shareholders or contested change of control transactions.