A collaborative paper titled Legal Liability of Directors, Supervisors, and Senior Executives, Investor Protection, and High-Quality Development of the Bond Market: Evidence from the Implementation of the New Securities Law, co-authored by Professor Yu Minggui from the School of Finance at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Dr. An Jianfeng, and Dr. Zhang Mengmeng from the School of Economics and Management at Wuhan University, has been officially published in Financial Research (Issue 12, 2024; Vol. 534). Financial Research is recognized as a Category A journal by the university’s academic journal evaluation system.

Abstract​
To improve the legal framework of the capital market and strengthen investor protection, Article 82 of the new Securities Law (2020) explicitly requires directors, supervisors, and senior executives (collectively referred to as "DSSEs") to sign written commitments ensuring the truthfulness, accuracy, and completeness of information disclosure in bond issuance, thereby enhancing their legal liability. Using the implementation of the new Securities Law as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a difference-in-differences approach to examine the impact of heightened DSSE legal liability on bond financing costs. The results show that, following the enactment of the new law, the credit spreads of corporate bonds in the primary market decreased significantly, indicating a notable reduction in financing costs. Mechanism analysis reveals that strengthening DSSE legal liability improves corporate governance and mitigates information asymmetry, thereby lowering bond financing costs. Extended research further demonstrates that this legal enhancement also reduces financing costs for enterprise bonds. This study pioneers the exploration of DSSE legal liability’s role in influencing bond credit spreads, expanding the literature on corporate governance and information disclosure. The findings provide valuable insights for advancing unified regulation in the bond market, enhancing investor protection, and promoting high-quality development of the bond market.

Author Profiles:

​​Yu Minggui​​ is Dean and Professor of the School of Finance at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, a doctoral supervisor, Lead Principal Investigator of Major Projects under the National Social Science Fund, and a recipient of the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talent Award. His research focuses on digital finance, finance and artificial intelligence, corporate finance, and finance and innovation. He has published over 90 academic papers in leading domestic and international journals, including Economic Research Journal, Management World, The World Economy, China Economic Quarterly, Financial Research, China Industrial Economics, Accounting and Finance, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, and Economic Modelling. He has presided over more than 10 major research projects, including those funded by the National Social Science Fund and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

​​An Jianfeng​​ is a doctoral student at the School of Finance, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

​​Zhang Mengmeng​​ is a doctoral student at the School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University.