MEMBERS

Corporate Governance SIG Annual Conference 2026

Thursday 12 - Friday 13 November 2026 University of Leeds Business School

The Corporate Governance SIG will hold its Annual Conference on 12–13 November 2026 (Hybrid) hosted by the Accounting and Finance Department, University of Leeds Business School, in collaboration with the BAFA Corporate Governance Special Interest Group. 

Conference Day 1: 12 November 2026 (Thursday) Online presentations for participants based outside the United Kingdom.

Conference Day 2: 13 November 2026 (Friday) In-person conference at Leeds University Business School, Leeds, United Kingdom. Further details regarding the venue and room allocation will be provided closer to the conference date.

Conference Theme: Corporate Governance at a Crossroads.

The field of corporate governance is entering a period of profound uncertainty and transformation. Recent developments in the United States, including reforms to Delaware corporate law through Senate Bill 21, regulatory changes affecting shareholder engagement and proxy voting, efforts to curtail the role of ESG considerations in financial decision-making and credit ratings, and initiatives that may increase litigation risks for proxy advisory firms, have reignited debates about the future direction of corporate governance. Similarly, the debate in the United Kingdom over corporate governance reform is framed as a choice between economic growth vs. compliance costs. As a result, a long-anticipated audit reform has been shelved and important provisions on internal controls didn’t make it to the final draft of the latest iteration of the UK Corporate Governance Code despite extensive consultation.

Keynote Speaker

Professor Kevin Keasey, Chair in Accounting and Finance and Leeds Permanent Building Society Professor of Financial Services at the University of Leeds. He also serves as Director of the International Banking Institute (IBI) and the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance (CASIF). He received the 2025 Distinguished Academic Award from the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2026. An internationally recognised scholar in accounting, banking, and finance, his research has shaped academic and policy discussions on corporate governance, banking risk, financial stability, and financial markets. He has published over 150 journal articles and 14 books, with research appearing in leading journals including the Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Corporate Finance, Accounting, Organisations and Society, and The Economic Journal. He has supervised more than 50 doctoral students and accumulated over 15,000 citations.

Conference Chair

Konstantinos Stathopoulos (University of Manchester), Chair in Accounting and Finance at Alliance Manchester Business School, Vice President of the International Corporate Governance Society, and Chair of the BAFA Corporate Governance Special Interest Group

Call for Papers

 Submission Deadline: 31 August 2026

The conference invites submissions exploring whether corporate governance is experiencing a temporary correction, a structural realignment, or a more fundamental redefinition of corporate purpose and accountability. Submissions in all areas of corporate governance are welcome.

Topics of Interest

  • Corporate governance reforms and regulatory developments
  • Shareholder rights, activism and engagement
  • Board composition, effectiveness and dynamics
  • Executive compensation and incentives
  • Ownership structures and institutional investors
  • Stewardship and responsible investment
  • ESG, sustainability and stakeholder governance
  • Corporate purpose and stakeholder capitalism
  • Governance implications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies
  • Proxy voting, proxy advisors and shareholder proposals
  • Corporate governance and capital markets
  • Governance and firm performance
  • Corporate misconduct, fraud and accountability
  • Audit committees, internal controls and risk management
  • Comparative and international corporate governance
  • Governance in emerging and frontier markets
  • Corporate governance and climate-related risks
  • Corporate law and governance

Manuscript Submission

Full and developmental papers are welcome. Please submit your paper via email to bafacgsig@leeds.ac.uk. Please include the following in the subject line of the email:

(i) BAFA_CG_SIG2026,
(ii) your preferred presentation format (Online or In-person),
(iii) your surname, and
(iv) your institution name 

For example: BAFA_CG_SIG2026-In-person-Smith-University of Leeds or BAFA_CG_SIG2026-Online-Smith-University of Sydney

IMPORTANT:  the option to present online is available only to participants based outside the United Kingdom. 

Papers will be selected through a double-blind review process conducted by the Program Committee.

Registration

Both presenters and non-presenters are welcome to attend the conference. All participants are required to pay registration fees.

Opens: 15 September 2026
Closes: 15 October 2026

Hybrid Participation 

Academic Staff: £100
PhD Students: £50

Online Participation* 

Academic Staff: £50
PhD Students: Free

Hybrid Participation includes:

  • Access to the online presentations on Day 1.
  • In-person attendance at the conference on Day 2.

Online Participation includes:

  • Access to the online presentations on Day 1.
  • Online access to the presentations of the in-person conference on Day 2.

Please note: Attendance is open to BAFA members only. Annual BAFA membership fees: Academic staff: £30; PhD students: £15

Key Dates

  • Submission Deadline: 31 August 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: 14 September 2026
  • Registration Opens: 15 September 2026
  • Registration Deadline: 15 October 2026

Conference Organisers

Costas Lambrinoudakis, University of Leeds
Jiayi Yuan, University of Leeds

Program Committee

Konstantinos Bozos, University of Leeds
Jie Chen, University of Leeds
Marian Chijoke-Mgbame, De Montfort University
Samaneh Elmi, Oxford Brookes University
Sainey Faye, Buckinghamshire New University
Yang Gao, University of Leeds
Xuejun Jiang, University of Sussex
Franklin Nakpodia, Durham University
Shabana Talpur, University of Otago
Vu Trinh, Newcastle University
Xihui Chen, Keele University
You Zhou, University of Leeds

Enquiries and Contacts

For general enquiries, please contact the conference organisers, Dr Costas Lambrinoudakis (C.Lambrinoudakis@leeds.ac.uk) or Dr Jiayi Yuan (J.Yuan1@leeds.ac.uk).