How Nudges Can Help Regulate New Technologies

By Nissim Cohen and Hadar Y. Jabotinsky April 17, 2020 by renholding

New technologies are being introduced in markets around the globe. Disruptive innovations such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, the Internet of things, automated cars and other products that support decision-making based on artificial intelligence (AI) are offering a creative take on traditional …

How Banks and Fintechs Can Help Small Businesses Survive COVID-19

By Todd H. Baker and Kathryn Judge April 16, 2020 by renholding

Small business assistance has been a central focus of the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and for good reason. Small businesses underlie the vitality of our neighborhoods, spark innovation, and employ almost one-half of the U.S. workforce. In a …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses UK and EU Regulators’ Latest Moves on ESG

By David M. Silk, David A. Katz, Sabastian V. Niles, Carmen X. W. Lu and Ram Sachs April 16, 2020 by renholding

Amid the ongoing push for standardized, comparable and decision-useful ESG disclosures, regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union have proposed additional disclosures and benchmarks to promote sustainable economic activity. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published …

Wall Street CARES!: Who Gets the Hidden Subsidies Under the CARES Act?

By John C. Coffee, Jr. April 15, 2020 by renholding

The CARES Act was passed under intense pressure and with minimal transparency. The consequence of this opaque process is that there are some surprising windfalls. No criticism is here expressed of the act’s purpose, but Wall Street knows one thing …

Exequity Offers a Framework for Discretion in Executive Incentive Plans

By Chad Mitchell April 15, 2020 by renholding

The impact of COVID-19 on business has been profound and sudden. Strategic plans, business forecasts, and operating budgets set before the current crisis are likely to bear no semblance to plans that might be set today. Moreover, plans set today …

Large Corporations Did Not Need A Bailout

By Anthony J. Casey April 14, 2020 by renholding

The CARES Act passed in response to the COVID-19 crisis provides billions of dollars in industry-specific loans that will go to large corporations like Boeing and the major airlines. These provisions are part of a larger compromise that also puts …

Conference Board Discusses Areas for Board Attention During Pandemic

By Matteo Tonello and Paul Washington April 14, 2020 by renholding

Just as with the financial crisis of 2008, corporate boards of directors are facing the combination of increased responsibility, scrutiny, and uncertainty as their companies grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the wake of the Great Recession, The Conference Board …

Corporate Technologies and the Fallacy of Tech Nirvana

By Luca Enriques and Dirk A. Zetzsche April 13, 2020 by renholding

Time and time again, corporate scandals remind us of the importance of the mechanisms aimed to ensure that agents within corporations perform their tasks and duties in line with the long-term interests of their shareholders (and other stakeholders, as the …

Paul Weiss Discusses the Scheduled End of LIBOR

By Susanna M. Buergel, Jessica S. Carey, Manuel S. Frey, Brad S. Karp, and Jane O'Brien April 13, 2020 by renholding

Notwithstanding numerous COVID-19-related challenges faced by market participants, UK regulators have affirmed that—at least for now—the anticipated cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) at the end of calendar year 2021 remains unchanged. Complying with regulators’ and working groups’ …

Boards in Information Governance

By Sarah C. Haan and Faith Stevelman April 10, 2020 by renholding

When the markets go haywire, as they appear to be doing now, stock prices cease to provide useful signals about corporate value or the performance of the men and women in the C-suite. This is a major problem for the …

Top SEC Officials Address What to Say on Earnings Calls During Pandemic

By Jay Clayton and William Hinman April 10, 2020 by renholding

The SEC’s three part mission—maintain market integrity, facilitate capital formation and protect investors—takes on particular importance in times of economic uncertainty. Disclosure—providing the public with the information necessary to make informed investment decisions—is fundamental to furthering each aspect of our

…

Bankruptcy’s Role in the COVID-19 Crisis

By Edward R. Morrison and Andrea C. Saavedra April 9, 2020 by renholding

Current policy discussions tend to minimize the role of bankruptcy law in mitigating the financial fallout from COVID-19. Scholars too are unsure about the merits of bankruptcy, especially Chapter 11, in resolving business distress. In this paper, we argue that …

Wachtell Lipton on The CARES Act: Litigation and Enforcement Lessons from the Financial Crisis

By Jonathan M. Moses, Elaine P. Golin, Graham W. Meli, Getzel Berger and Daniel J. Brenner April 9, 2020 by renholding

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, provides $2 trillion in emergency relief to individuals, small businesses, large corporations, and financial institutions. This includes up to $349 …

Corporate Governance and the Role of Labor

By Lilian K. Ng, Man Pham and Jing Yu April 8, 2020 by renholding

Labor is an important corporate stakeholder and crucial to a company’s wealth and long-term productivity. Yet the investment of human capital in a corporation is not diversified and depends on the company’s profitability. If the corporation collapses and layoffs follow, …

ISS Surveys Regulatory Landscape of Annual Meetings and Covid-19

By Michael Laff April 8, 2020 by renholding

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, securities regulators in several countries have published guidance that affords publicly listed companies greater flexibility regarding the type of annual general meeting (AGM) they can hold as well as when it can be held.…

Are ETFs Making Some Asset Managers Too Interconnected to Fail?

By Ryan Clements April 7, 2020 by renholding

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) sit at the center of the COVID-19 crisis selloff.[1] This isn’t surprising, since ETFs are a low-cost highly liquid vehicle for trading entire sectors, asset classes, and even global economies. Yet the use of ETFs …

Exequity Discusses How COVID-19 Is Affecting Pay

By Ben Burney and Chris Wood April 7, 2020 by renholding

While it is safe to say every economic crisis is different, it does not seem fair to compare this crisis to any other. The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in modern times. In response, governments around the …

Artificial Intelligence and Technology in Corporate Governance

By Natania Locke and Helen Bird April 6, 2020 by renholding

The modern boardroom is beset by huge volumes of data that directors must digest to perform their governance functions, data that are only increasing as industries rapidly change and respond to technological disruption. At the same time, corporate scandals as …

Skadden Discusses Cybersecurity and Incident Response During Coronavirus Pandemic

By Bill Ridgway and Dan Scime April 6, 2020 by renholding

The spread of the novel coronavirus has upended Americans’ lives in a matter of months. While life outside has ground to a standstill in many regions of the country, much of corporate America is meeting the unique challenges posed by …

Will FinTech Disruption in the ‘20s Be Roaring?

By Troy A. Paredes and Lee A. Schneider April 3, 2020 by renholding

In recent podcasts, we addressed three themes, among other topics: how artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can change how decisions get made; how blockchain can transform how we transact and how we record and communicate things; and how technology …

« Previous 1 2 3 Next »

The CLS Blue Sky Blog

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

April 2020