Attempts to Redefine Corporate Purpose and Consequences on Directors’ Duties – Enel Use Case

Recently, economists and legal scholars have tried to deal with the trade-off between shareholders value maximization and stakeholders’ interests. Paragraph 1 will investigate whether companies could create social value and increase their profitability simultaneously. European and Italian soft and hard law has evolved partially in line with such economic theories; paragraph 2 will assess whether such legislative initiatives might foster a redefinition of corporate purpose that would allow companies to enhance stakeholders’ interests while pursuing long-term shareholder value maximization. Paragraph 3 will evaluate whether this rethinking of corporate purpose entails creating a new hypothesis of directors’ liability. From a practical point of view, companies are directly affected by this change of perspective on corporate purpose. Paragraph 4, using the Enel Use Case as an example, will examine whether a realistic and profitable implementation of sustainable corporate governance could be concretely feasible. Finally, Paragraph 5 will draw the conclusions of the analysis.