In contrast, corporate governance issues in the United States relate primarily to the conflict between shareholders and corporate executives, a conflict that may be affected by the increasing importance of institutional investors, such as mutual funds and pension funds, as major holders of public equity.
In all three countries, adequate disclosure and accounting are fundamental to efficient governance; and because of the recent wave of financial innovation, a combination of increased transparency and market discipline applied by creditors such as banks, counterparties, and investors - including the institutional investors in the United States that hold a large share of corporate equity - is required.