No sooner than the Enron scandal (and other major US corporate failures) unfolded that it became apparent the sundry issues of corporate governance that were being brought into question and deliberation were not simply issues peculiar to the US corporate governance context (which are covered in detail in this volume by leading US experts), but were of major concern also throughout Western Europe (aspects which are governed by UK, Italian, French, and Scandinavian experts and which touch upon European scandals such as Parmalat). In fact, the corporate governance issues of the Enron debacle are of a broader "global concern," where the experiences of developing, emerging, and transitioning economies present their own special perspectives and lessons to be learned (here experts from Russia and East Asia make significant contributions). In addition, the increasing interconnection of law and accounting rears its head as being of core importance-another topic that is discussed in detail throughout this volume. Further, special types of corporations (eg regulated financial institutions) and transactions (eg mergers and acquisitions) generate their own additional issues: these are also covered within this book. This publication, comprised of 21 chapters prepared by leading legal experts drawn worldwide, contributes constructively to the continuing comparative and international discussions and debates concerning the appropriate subject, policies and rules for appropriate corporate governance system(s)-as viewed from a multifaceted and multilayered context of true global dimensions. This volume represents the collaborative efforts of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (Queen Mary, London), the Stockholm Center for Commercial Law (Stockholm University Law Faculty), and the SMU Dedman School of Law and its Institute of International Banking and Finance; and comes as the latest addition to the Studies Series in International Financial, Economic and Technology Law, published in collaboration with the SMU International Law Review Association and the SMU-London Forum Intitiative. ò