Principles of Corporate Law

You will find all information about the course here (there is no OLAT page).

For any questions regarding the lecture, please use only the following email address: lst.alexander@ius.uzh.ch, and kindly refrain from contacting the lecturers directly.

The lectures will be held on Monday, 2pm - 3.45pm, Room KOL-F-104, starting 15 September 2025 until 15 December 2025.

Syllabus

Syllabus Principles of Corporate Law HS 25 (PDF, 321 KB)

Reading List (Reading list is subject to amendments without notice, please check regularly)

Lecture 1

• Ronald Coase, The Firm, The Market, And The Law, Chapter 2 ‘The Nature of the Firm’ (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1988) pp. 33-55 (PDF, 5 MB)
• The Economist, Coase’s theory of the firm (July 27th 2017) (PDF, 332 KB)
• Milton Friedman, A Friedman doctrine – The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase its profits, The New York Times, 13. September 1970
• Freer and Moll, Principles of Business Organizations, Chapter 4 ‘The Corporation: Overview, Theory and History’, pp. 139-151 (PDF, 3 MB)

Lecture 2

• Cahn and Donald, Comparative Company Law, Chapter 5: Incorporating the Company, (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2018) pp. 150-166 (PDF, 223 KB)
• Easterbrook and Fischel, Limited Liability and the Corporation, 52 (1985) The University of Chicago Law Review 89-117 (PDF, 1 MB)
• Ron Harris, A new understanding of the history of limited liability: An invitation for theoretical reframing, 16 (2020) Journal of Institutional Economics 643-664 (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 3

• Cahn and Donald, Comparative Company Law, Chapter 4: The partnership as an alternative form of business organisation, (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition, 2018) pp. 105-133 (PDF, 223 KB)
• Aaron Wright, The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations: Opportunities and challenges, 4 (2021) Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy 1-32 (PDF, 672 KB)

Lecture 4

• Merrick Dodd, For Whom are Corporate Managers Trustees, The Harvard Law Review, Vol 45 No 7, (May 1932), pp. 1145 – 1163 (PDF, 1 MB)

• Berle, For Whom Corporate Managers are Trustees: A Note, The Harvard Law Review, Vol 45 No. 8 (June 1932), pp. 1365 – 1372 (PDF, 897 KB)

• Freer and Moll, Principles of Business organizations, pp. 189-229, 251-255, 262-267. (PDF, 3 MB)

• Leo E. Strine Jr., ‘One Fundamental Corporate Governance Question We Face: Can Corporations Be Managed For The Long Term Unless Their Powerful Electorates Also Act And Think Long Term?’ (November 2010). (PDF, 130 KB)

• THE TIMES, Duty on shareholders when voting at a class meeting (21 March 2017) (PDF, 464 KB)

• Barings Bank Case, Directors’ Duties: a Case Study Re Barings Plc (No 5), Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Baker (No. 5) [1999] 1 BCLC 433 (PDF, 252 KB)

• Key Takeaways of the case Richard J. Tornetta v. Elon Musk et al. of 30.01.2024 (C.A. No. 2018-0408-KSJM) (PDF, 185 KB)

Lecture 5

• Robert Hamilton, Chapter 9 'Financial Structure', pp. 237-258 (PDF, 3 MB)

• Bonn & Schmitt Avocats, New Ruling by the European Court of Justice in Relation to the Prospectus Regulation and Prospectus Directive (16 July 2014) (PDF, 126 KB)

• C–441/93 Pafitis and Others v TKE and Others, Judgement of 12 March 1996 (PDF, 843 KB)

Lecture 6

• Lucian Bebchuk, The Myth of Hedge Funds as “Myopic Activists”, Wall Street Journal (6 August 2013) (PDF, 272 KB)

• Martin Lipton, Bite the Apple; Poison the Apple; Paralyze the Company, Wreck the Economy (26 February 2013) (PDF, 64 KB)

• Davies, Hopt and Ringe, Chapter 8: Control Transactions, in: Kraakman et al. (editors), The Anatomy of Corporate Law, 3rd. ed., 2017, pp. 205-242 (PDF, 269 KB)

• Implications of Tornetta v Musk II for Executive Compensation and for Stockholder Ratification (Gall Weinstein et al., Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 15 Febuary 2025) (PDF, 283 KB)

Lecture 7

• Sally Hickey, FCA tells UK asset managers to prove they offer value for money (Financial Times, 10 August 2023) (PDF, 617 KB)

• Bruce G.A. Pollock Alternative Investment Funds as Potential Catalysts in the Realization of Systemic Risk in Financial Markets (Dike 2021)

  • Chapter 2.4: “Funds” (PDF, 1 MB)

  • Chapter 6.2: “Regulatory Rationale”, “Behavioural Economics and Investor Protection” (PDF, 2 MB)

  • Chapter 3.6: “Investment Funds and Systemic Risk” (PDF, 2 MB)

Lecture 8

• Michael C. Jensen, Foundations of Organizational Strategy, Part III 'Compensation' (1998 Harvard University Press, 1998) pp. 197-228 (PDF, 2 MB)

• Richard A. Posner, Are American CEOs Overpaid, and, if So, What if Anything Should Be Done about It?, 58 (2009) Duke Law Journal 1013-1047 (PDF, 206 KB)

• Einer Elhauge, Horizontal Shareholding, 129 (2016) Harvard Law Review 1267–1317 (PDF, 3 MB)

Lecture 9

• Jonathan Mukwiri, Takeovers and the European Legal Framework: A British Perspective, Routledge-Cavendish, 2009 (PDF, 2 MB)

• Thomas Gr Papadopoulos, EU Law and the Harmonization of Takeovers in the Internal Market, Wolters Kluwer, 2010 (PDF, 4 MB)

• John Revill, Sika Exposed to Takeover After Shareholder Vote on Charter, The Wall Street Journal (15 April 2015) (PDF, 479 KB)

Lecture 10

• Kern Alexander, The Law of Insider Dealing – A Tale of Two Jurisdictions, ZVglRWiss 2013, 262-292. (PDF, 36 MB)

• Katja Langenbucher: Insider Trading in European Law, in: Bainbridge, Stephen M. (editor), Research Handbook on Insider Trading (Cheltenham/Northhampton 2013) pp. 429-448. (PDF, 7 MB)

• Caroline Binham / Barney Thompson, Barclays at risk of fresh fraud charges over Quatar cash call, Financial Times (9 July 2017) (PDF, 225 KB)

• Caroline Binham, What is the Barclays fraud case about?, Financial Times (20 June 2017) (PDF, 281 KB)

• James B. Stewart, Muddled insider trading laws need clarity, The New York Times (20 / 21 December 2014) (PDF, 344 KB)

Lecture 11

• Nat'l Small Bus. United v. Yellen, 5:22-cv-1448-LCB (N.D. Ala. Mar. 1, 2024)

• Overview of the Directive for corporate sustainability due diligence 

• Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Lecture 12

• Aguilera and Castillo, 2025, Toward an updated corporate governance framework: Fundamentals, disruptions, and future research, Business Research Quarterly, 1-13

• Holmes et al., Lone Star Governance: Recent Amendments to the Texas Corporate Statute (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 17 June 2025)

• McCormick, How corporate America learnt not to mess with Texas (Financial Times, 6 June 2025)

(no readings for lecture 13 and 14)

Lecture 1 (15 September 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Leture 2 (22 September 2025) (PDF, 2 MB)

Lecture 3 (29 September 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 4 (6 October 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 5 (13 October 2025) (PDF, 4 MB)

Lecture 6 (20 October 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Additional Slides Lecture 6 (20 October 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 7 (27 October 2025) (PDF, 2 MB)

Lecture 8 (3 November 2025) (PDF, 2 MB)

Lecture 9 (10 November 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 10 (17 November 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 11 Part 1 (24 November 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 11 Part 2 (24 November 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 12 (1 December 2025) (PDF, 1 MB)

Lecture 12 (additional slides, 1 December 2025) (PDF, 753 KB)

Lecture 13 (Presentations) (PDF, 6 MB)

Lecture 14 (Presentations) (PDF, 13 MB)

Lectures will be recorded and made available online as podcasts.

However, due to potential technical issues, recordings may be incomplete, unavailable, or temporarily inaccessible. Students are therefore strongly encouraged to attend lectures in person. Please note that loss of access to recordings does not constitute valid grounds for an examination appeal.

Lecture 1 (15 September 2025)

Lecture 2 (22 September 2025)

Lecture 3 (29 September 2025)

Lecture 4 (6 October 2025)

Lecture 5 (13 October 2025)

Lecture 6 (20 October 2025)

Lecture 7 (27 October 2025)

Lecture 8 (3 November 2025)

Lecture 9 (10 November 2025)

Lecture 10 (17 November 2025)

Lecture 11 (24 November 2025)

Lecture 12 (1 December 2025)

(no podcast for lecture 13 and 14 due to technical issues)

Regular Exam

• Exam date: 7 January 2026
• Exam format: written exam, open book
• For information on exam dates and related matters, please consult the corresponding UZH website.

Mobility Exam (only for Mobility Students)

• In addition to the regular examinations, the Faculty of Law offers mobility examinations that may only be taken by mobility students (see more information here).
• For the course 'Principles of Corporate Law', an oral mobility exam is offered. The mobility exam is scheduled for Wednesday, 17 December 2025, and is expected to be conducted via Zoom. The final schedule, including confirmed dates and examination format, will be communicated mid-November.

Students are offered the opportunity to give a voluntary extra credit presentation in class. Participation is optional; however, a well-prepared presentation may have a favorable impact on the final course grade.

The presentations will take place during:

• Lecture 13: Monday, 8 December 2025

• Lecture 14: Monday, 15 December 2025

Presentation topics (PDF, 129 KB)

Submission:

• PowerPoint slides (not PDF) must be submitted no later than Monday, 1 December 2025, 23:59 (local time). Students who fail to submit their slides by this deadline will not be allowed to present. Deadlines are strictly enforced, and no extensions will be granted.
• The first slide must state: topic title, presentation number and your full name. 
• The presentation time is 5 minutes, and we will stop strictly at 5 minutes. 
• Presentations must be delivered in person during the scheduled lecture sessions. Remote presentations are not possible.