What are the Rules and Guidelines for Director Independence?

Executive Summary In the last ten years, significant legislative or regulatory requirements for director independence have emerged.  In some cases, specific metrics were introduced. There’s a rule, for example, that all federally insured depository institutions above $1 billion in assets must have audit committees filled exclusively with outside, independent directors. The directors of publicly traded companies must disclose certain relationships. Even the public stock exchanges have their own rules. In other situations, less formulaic approaches were adopted.  In many cases, a board of directors was left to make its own judgments. This article will discuss the rules and parameters of...