Philadelphia partner Doug Raymond’s latest column for Directors & Boards, written with the assistance of Chicago associate Antonia Scholz, was published in the Third Quarter 2011 issue of the magazine. The article, “Separation Anxierty,” focuses on the roles of CEO and chair, and whether they should be filled by different persons.
Doug, a partner in the firm’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group, notes that over the last 10 years, a growing chorus of voices has been calling for the separation of the roles of the chief executive officer and chair of the board of directors of a public company. The reasoning is that the role of the board in overseeing management is significantly compromised if the manager is in charge of the oversight body.
Doug recommends that in light of this “current focus on board independence,” boards “should engage in a considered discussion as to whether the roles of CEO and chair should be filled by different persons.”
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