Promoting more socially responsible corporations through UK company law after the 2008 financial crisis: turning of the crisis compass

After the 2008 financial crisis, pluralistsare worried that sustainability and enlarged corporate responsibility towards social and philanthropic concerns are disappearing from the boardroom agenda as companies try to tighten their belts in the face of turbulent stock markets and a looming economic slowdown. Corporate social responsibility (CSR hereinafter) may be regarded as a “fad whose time has come and gone”. The relationship between CSR and the financial crisis will be discussed to illuminate the question of how to prompt the corporations to be more socially responsible and competitive in order to avoid or minimise the risk of getting into further financial difficulties. Positive aspects of Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 will be examined in response to defects of corporate governance after the financial crisis.