Corporate killing as a corporate governance issue

In May 2000 the government proposed the introduction of a new offence of corporate killing founded on the concept of “management failure”. Two specific corporate risks are investigated; the risk that the company’s operations will kill one of its employees or a member of the public and the risk that the company will be convicted of an offence indicating corporate responsibility for that killing. The article demonstrates, firstly, that the risks associated with corporate killing fall within the ambit of the Turnbull Guidance. More importantly, it uses this particular, not directly financial, example to illustrate the proposition that Turnbull should not be associated with closure; rather it should be associated with the opening of a new level of corporate governance debate that will focus on corporate behaviour rather than corporate policy.