Effectiveness
Some researchers have complained that firms have appointed "independent directors who are overly sympathetic to management, while still technically independent according to regulatory definitions."
One complaint against the independence regulations is that CEOs may find loopholes to influence directors. While the NYSE has a $1 million limit on business dealing between directors and the firm, this does not include charitable contributions. Two critics of management influence over boards note that "a director who is an officer or employee of a charitable organization can still be considered independent even if the firm on whose board the director sits contributes more than $1 million to that organization."
Read more about this topic: Independent Director