Anglo-American Directors' Legal Duties and CSR: Prohibited, Permitted or Prescribed?

The interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations and directors' legal duties is underexamined. This article addresses that void by examining directors' duties in case law and legislation across the major commonwealth countries and the U.S.A. It provides an analysis of leading cases and examines how they deal with directors' duties, the doctrine of shareholder primacy, corporate legal theory and CSR. The article reviews fiduciary relations and duties and analyzes the directors'duties toexercise power in the best interests of the company as a whole and for proper purposes. The article concludes that CSR is well within the accepted range of directors' duties and, in some instances, mandates.