The corporate governance from the United States (US) perspective has been highly influential in Europe, but it does not serve us well. Portugal needs to take the best of the US model, but also the best of the UK and continental European approaches. Corporate governance is about guaranteeing that companies perform well - monitoring, and protecting investors. In the Anglo-Saxon model, shareholders are remote from the company, but in the US, boards are dominated by management and there is a real confusion between the CEO and the Chairman. In many ways, the continental European model is good because the majority of companies have group shareholders who exercise direct influence and control over their affairs, so most of this does not apply. In Portugal, the situation requires new structures and attitudes, to emerge particularly in relation to minority shareholders. Local companies still do not always appreciate the costs of having poor governance. The test of its success will be that capital flows to its markets and investors have confidence. A Portuguese way must be found. In this paper we aim to present as the principles of corporate governance can be applied to public sector.
corporate governance; public sector; stakeholders
