Boards of Directors' and Management's Liability in Law in Denmark: The Written Standard's Gradual Superseding of the Unwritten

The article demonstrates that written standards for the basis of liability are playing an ever greater role relative to unwritten standards under tort law. It is noted that following the bank failures in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, a significant number of cases are proceeding in Denmark in which liability for exorbitant sums is being imputed to members of the boeard of directors and management and external and internal accountants. The new Danish companies act in force from 1 March 2010 made no apparent change to the standards concerning liability. Nonetheless, the companies act emphasizes in various places that this or that is "the responsibility of the board of directors or management", and by emphasizing such legally defined focal points, the companies act is thus nevertheless instrumental in clarifying - and in the longer term perhaps to some degree increasing the stringency of - the basis of liability.