Protecting minority investors: Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) (DB15-20 methodology)
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The ease of shareholder suits index measures how likely plaintiffs are to access internal corporate evidence and recover legal expenses. It has six components: (i) whether shareholders owning 10% of the company’s share capital have the right to inspect the Buyer-Seller transaction documents before filing a suit. Alternatively, whether they can request that a government inspector investigate the Buyer-Seller transaction without filing a suit; (ii) what range of documents is available to the shareholder plaintiff from the defendant and witnesses during trial; (iii) whether the plaintiff can obtain categories of relevant documents from the defendant without identifying each document specifically; (iv) whether the plaintiff can directly examine the defendant and witnesses during trial; (v) whether the standard of proof for civil suits is lower than that for criminal cases; and (vi) whether shareholder plaintiffs can recover their legal expenses from the company. The index is computed based on the methodology in the DB15-20 studies.