Snehita Singh, Irene-marie Esser, and Iain MacNeil

The article deals with CSR regulation from a company law perspective. It considers mechanisms for better protection of stakeholder interests in the context of both hard and soft law, by evaluating the extant frameworks in the UK and India. The lack of proper consideration of stakeholder interests in companies’ decision-making processes emphasises the need to secure accountability for stakeholders. Unequal access to information and a lack of mechanisms for participation in board decision-making means that stakeholders do not have the same opportunity as shareholders to influence board decisions. Therefore, the principal question is how to regulate CSR to protect stakeholder interests and compel companies to behave ethically and responsibly.