Foreword<br >A director l.~+kin~ at thv aclivitics of those who create public<br >policy might be li，~4ivcn li>r diag，osing a case of" acute.<br >schizophrctfia. ()n the ~，n，. hand w，: have seen widespread<br >intcn st in cnsttring that public companies apl)oint independent<br >non-cxccutivc dir~. ct~.s， cuhnitmting in the Banking Act 1986<br >(which ~ics the Bank <d" Enoland a p<~vcr to insist on banks<br >ha inK them). In n dcathl)cd conversiot~ by Parliament to the<br >virtues of it~dct>cndctlt dircct~，rs immediately prior Ic， the 1987<br >General Eh cti~，u. the indetittig，d)le Sit" Brandon Rhys Williams<br >at last sit trod his private m，: ml)ct"s Bill through the Commons<br >(~;omtnhtcc and n ~t t+ctal rt，c~>mtncndati<m on the appointntcnt<br >0f indcF， Cl+dCnt n+m-cxccuti cc directors has been made to all<br >quoted companies It the (ihairtnan of The Stock Exchange.<br > ()t~ tlw ~thcr ha~d ，，vc haw: soon Pa.rliament， the courts， and<br >the adminislrathm gteatly increase the responsibilities and<br >thcrcli+rc tlw pcrs~mal li，tbilitics ot those satm: directors. The<br > wrongthl" trading and. ，~t)~)~. ~ all， the disqualilication provisions<br >of the lnsol+cnc Act 1!17，5 are now realities supported vigor-<br >ottsl by the l)i F，，trttnctlt ol+ Trade and lndustry s enforcing<br >oiticct+s and thc ~ ~Jutts.<br > Nor is lcgisl~tti~m the onl，， sc， urcc of enhancod responsibility.<br >New economic pt-csstlrcs on linaneial institutions are making<br >them liu nt(>rc t c;Id}， +is shareholders， to ensure that directors<br >fully disch:ugc the tiduciarv duty that they owe to their<br >compalfiCs.<br > We arc asking individuals t~ risk both their livelihood and the<br >v，hoic of their assets t)~r a ti e which good practice suggests<br >shouh-I not tm m~tc than the individual concerned might bc<br >prep+areal t~> h+sv at any tim，. as the price of his all-important<br >independence as a dilcct<>r.<br > A surprishtg nuntt>er al)tn ar to tw willing to take this risk， and<br >plainly one way of stu+rtcning the odds is to have a proper<br > undcrstimding ~l what the risks and penahies amount to. This is<br > where l+oosc and Yclland come in. +The Company Director: His<br > function， powcFs and duties is the standard legal work of<br >