Justice Department’s Antitrust Chief Talks Modernizing M&A Review

By Makan Delrahim September 28, 2018 by renholding

Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak here today. It is a pleasure to be at Georgetown University for this year’s Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium.

Events like these, which bring competition enforcement officials together to speak with

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Covington & Burling on the UK’s “No-Deal” Competition and Merger Guidance

By Elaine Whiteford, Kevin Coates, Siobhan L.M. Kahmann and Jonathan Benjamin September 28, 2018 by pss2150

The UK Government published its highly-anticipated technical guidance on merger review and anti-competitive activity on 13 September 2018 which will apply in the case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit (the ‘Guidance’). Although brief, it provides market players with some form of …

Resolving the Tension Between Efficiency and Inclusivity in Crowdfunding

By Andrew Abraham Schwartz September 27, 2018 by renholding

There’s a contradiction at the core of securities crowdfunding, a form of Internet-based public stock market modelled on Kickstarter and its ilk. On the one hand, crowdfunding seeks to create an inclusive system where entrepreneurs, regardless of where they are …

Latham & Watkins Discusses Principles Guiding FINRA Enforcement Action

By John J. Sikora, Jr., Stephen P. Wink and Gregory Mortenson September 27, 2018 by renholding

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) relies on a framework of core principles in deciding whether to bring an Enforcement action in response to a given set of facts, and the key consideration is an assessment of “risk.” These core …

How Corporate Social Responsibility and Influential Institutional Ownership Affect Firm Value

By Bonnie G. Buchanan, Cathy Xuying Cao and Chongyang Chen September 26, 2018 by renholding

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is defined as “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law” (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). According to this definition, CSR activities not only …

SEC Commissioner Airs Her Beef With Stakeholders

By Hester M. Peirce September 26, 2018 by renholding

Last time I flew to California, the skies were so clear that I was able to keep an eye on the changing landscape below all the way across the country. The vastness and great variety was striking. Having grown up

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Corwin at a Crossroads: Could DVMT Stock Be the Tracker Jacker in Dell’s Hunger Games?

By Eric Talley September 25, 2018 by renholding

Of all the conjured hazards faced by the teenage gladiators in the dystopian novel The Hunger Games, the Tracker Jacker (a genetically engineered wasp) was the most deadly and unpredictable when provoked. Dell Technologies Inc. may soon have to …

Cleary Gottlieb on Government Scrutiny of Cryptocurrencies and ICOs

By Alexis Collins, Grace Kurland and Adam Motiwala September 25, 2018 by abirvarma

On Tuesday, September 11, 2018, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Eastern District of New York issued a decision holding that Initial Coin Offerings (“ICO”) may qualify as securities offerings and therefore be subject to the criminal federal securities laws. …

The Market for Lead Plaintiffs

By John C. Coffee, Jr. September 24, 2018 by renholding

A drama is playing out in Boston federal court before a respected judge that could prove to be a legal “Watergate,” one that could reshape class action practice.[1] Combining elements that are both sordid and comic, this litigation has …

Addleshaw Goddard Discusses a “Hard” Brexit’s Implications and Practical Solutions

By Richard Small September 24, 2018 by renholding

At 11 pm on March 29, 2019, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. In the absence of a material change of trajectory in the Brexit negotiations, it is likely that the investment management industry will find itself grappling …

The Sky’s the Limit as Comcast and Fox Prepare for Battle at the Auction Block

By Albert Choi and Eric Talley September 21, 2018 by renholding

For the last year, a heated ownership battle has been unfolding between Comcast and 20^th Century Fox in their contest to acquire Sky PLC. Sky is Europe’s leading media company and the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK, with …

SEC’s Co-Director of Enforcement Talks About Her Division’s Impact

By Stephanie Avakian September 21, 2018 by renholding

My speech today [1] happens to fall a little less than two weeks before the close of Steve Peikin’s and my first full fiscal year as Co-Directors of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. In many respects, a year is an

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How to Achieve Equivalence of Financial Regulation in the EU and UK Post-Brexit

By Georges Ugeux September 20, 2018 by renholding

As the March 29, 2019 deadline approaches, the United Kingdom prepares its withdrawal from the European Union amidst political turbulence that would suit a television drama.[1] Center stage is what to do about the financial services industry. For the …

SEC Commissioner Jackson on the State of America’s Stock Markets

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. September 20, 2018 by renholding

Thank you so much, J.W. [Verret] and Ty [Gellasch], for that incredibly kind introduction. It’s a real honor to be here with you both today at George Mason, talking about the only issue you two have ever agreed on.[*

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Corporate Governance and Countervailing Power

By Brian Cheffins September 19, 2018 by renholding

The analysis of corporate governance has been a strikingly one-sided affair. The focus has been almost exclusively on “internal” checks and balances, namely scrutiny of executives by the board of directors and by shareholders. In contrast, mechanisms that can operate …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses SEC’s Withdrawal of Proxy Advisory Guidance

By Marc Treviño, Misha Patel and Amanda Toy September 19, 2018 by renholding

On September 13, the SEC’s Division of Investment Management withdrew two interpretive letters issued in 2004 to Egan-Jones Proxy Services (“Egan-Jones”) and Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (“ISS”). The letters described some of the guidelines under which an investment adviser could …

Did Deregulation Contribute to the Financial Crisis?

By Reynolds Holding September 18, 2018 by renholding

Today the CLS Blue Sky Blog presents a debate about the role of deregulation in contributing to the financial crisis of 2007-2009. Our columnists are Professor Paul G. Mahoney at the University of Virginia School of Law, Professor Arthur E. …

Did Deregulation End the “Quiet Period” of Low-Risk Banking?

By Paul G. Mahoney September 18, 2018 by renholding

From the New Deal until the 1970s, banks were on a tight leash. Regulators controlled the rate of interest they could pay on deposits. Banks could not underwrite or deal in corporate securities. With some exceptions, they could not expand …

Was Glass-Steagall’s Demise Both Inevitable and Unimportant?

By Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr. September 18, 2018 by renholding

The financial crisis of 2007-09 caused the Great Recession, the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression. The financial crisis began with the collapse of the subprime mortgage market in the U.S. and spread to financial markets around …

The Deregulation Debate: The Challenge of Using Static Rules to Govern a Dynamic System

By Kathryn Judge September 18, 2018 by renholding

In their lively disagreement about the role of deregulation in contributing to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, professors Arthur Wilmarth and Paul Mahoney inadvertently illuminate why the processes through which finance is regulated are so ill-suited to that purpose. Finance is …

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The CLS Blue Sky Blog

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

September 2018