Sky Blog
As sovereign borrowers and their creditors know all too well, the legal framework governing their respective rights and obligations (the so-called international financial architecture) lacks an effective means to enforce payment in most circumstances or to modify payment obligations when …
On October 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced revisions to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”) and the Export Administration …
U.S. regulators, led by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), are starting to examine sales practices at large and mid-size banks. They will likely first focus on whether banks have opened accounts for customers without consent as …
The more an investor can learn about a financial security’s value, the better his trades and the higher his profits can be. But research is costly, and trading on one’s own information inevitably affects prices, which then reveal some of …
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently proposed new regulations that will significantly affect international swap transactions.[1] At present, international swap market participants look to the CFTC’s 2013 Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance With Certain Swap Regulations…
On October 25, 2016, the Argentine province of Santa Fe issued $250 million in international bonds. One aspect of this offering is highly unusual for international sovereign debt: the bonds are not listed on any of the major global stock …
Between 2014 and 2016, European law firm Frank Bold and the Modern Corporation Project at Cass Business School of City, University of London, hosted a global series of roundtables on corporate governance in which we engaged with over 260 practitioners, …
Scholars and practitioners of the law generally agree that any large enterprise must be run through a legal entity such as a corporation. Entities reduce transaction costs to coordinate an enterprise’s many patrons, limit liability for shareholders, and protect a …
Following the referendum vote on June 23, 2016, the UK government proposed to notify the European Council by March 31, 2017 under article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
The UK …
The European Union (EU) enacted a series of regulations in the early 2000s to improve the financial markets of member states. While the new regulations were formally the same across the EU, member countries must individually implement, supervise, and enforce …
The use of digital currencies, like Bitcoin, is becoming widespread. To date, much of the focus on digital currencies has been directed at their potential to substitute for or complement fiat currencies, but the true innovation lies in their underlying …
Following the “Leave” result of the United Kingdom’s referendum on its membership in the European Union, there has been uncertainty regarding the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) due to come into effect on 25 May 2018. Our …
The efficiency of dual class share structures is controversial, and whether to allow them is a difficult choice. Though much has been written about this topic, no comprehensive picture of dual class structures’ governance effects has emerged.
Although dual class …
On September 29, in the case of Palmer v. Reali, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware confronted claims that two corporate officers engaged in conduct that breached their fiduciary duties and eventually led to the bankruptcy …
Thank you, Michael [Barr], for that kind introduction. Thank you also to the University of Michigan and the Office of Financial Research for organizing this important conference. I am pleased to be here with you today. This conference is a …
Prior to the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, global banks were big, broad and borderless. They operated as integrated groups. Separate legal entities within a group were an afterthought: The results that mattered were those for lines of …
The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidance on the SEC’s rules requiring companies to disclose the pay ratio between their CEO and median compensated employee. The staff’s new …
Two major challenges have arisen for financial services companies since the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008. On the expense side, post-crisis fines have exceeded $200 billion, and the ongoing cost of regulation and compliance has become massive. On the …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or “Bureau”) made headlines in FinTech on October 24, 2016. First, the Bureau released its first-ever Project Catalyst report on promoting consumer-friendly innovation (the “Report”). The Report summarizes the work conducted by Project …