The Triumph of a Local Focus in Troubled Times

By Samer Adra, Yang Gao and Jing-Ming Kuo August 16, 2021 by renholding

The emphasis on the contribution of local knowledge to economic growth is a key tenet of classical economic theory. The Hayekian worldview, for example, sees the dispersion of local pockets of knowledge across the economy as the primary reason why …

Comparative Corporate Governance

By Afra Afsharipour and Martin Gelter August 16, 2021 by renholding

With the increasing internationalization of law and legal scholarship, comparative corporate governance has seen a burgeoning volume of research from a practical, theoretical, and empirical perspective. Practically speaking, both internationally and within individual countries, most corporate governance research deals with …

Moving Beyond Mutual Funds

By Shawn Bayern August 13, 2021 by renholding

As has become widely known in the past few years, the mutual-fund industry is more concentrated than ever, especially because of the growing use of index funds. Whether this is a problem and how to respond have been the topics …

ISS on Maximizing Good Results in Global Sustainable Finance Industry

By Soumya Munagala August 13, 2021 by renholding

The global sustainable finance industry has been described as an ‘industry in transition’, according to the recently-released Global Sustainable Investment Review 2020. This is reflective not only of the growth of the industry, but also the steps taken by

…

Transnational Migration of Laws and Norms in Corporate Governance

By Jennifer G. Hill August 12, 2021 by renholding

In a recent working paper, I explore the intersection of contemporary corporate governance and transnational law. Transnational law is, of course, far from a settled concept. For early theorists, it involved conduct or events that crossed national boundaries. More recent …

Wachtell Lipton Criticizes Putting Politics in Bank Merger Antitrust Policy

By David S. Neill, Damian G. Didden and Emily E. Samra August 12, 2021 by renholding

Congressional critics of the agencies reviewing bank mergers have in recent months claimed that those agencies “rubber stamp” mergers and that merger review standards relating to antitrust are too lax. We believe those critics are misinformed.

Bank …

Democrats’ Gift-Wrapped Cloak of Secrecy for Wall Street

By Joshua Mitts August 11, 2021 by renholding

On July 29, 2021, the House Financial Services Committee voted to advance H.R. 4618, The Short Sale Transparency and Market Fairness Act, a well-intentioned bill with a misguided provision that was likely the product of hurried drafting. The legislation …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses the State of the LIBOR Transition

By Ramya Tiller, Jeff Ross, Paul Brusiloff, Emilie Hsu and Courtney Bradford Pike August 11, 2021 by renholding

On March 5, 2021, LIBOR’s administrator, ICE Benchmarks Administration (the “IBA”), and LIBOR’s regulator, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), announced that LIBOR will no longer be provided (i) for all sterling, euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen settings, …

The Restructuring Landscape in Emerging Markets One Year into the Pandemic

By Steven T. Kargman August 10, 2021 by renholding

Like advanced economies, emerging economies were buffeted by the global economic slowdown stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns of national economies. In 2020, emerging economies (and developing countries) contracted by 2.1 percent (their steepest decline in many …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses Recent Decisions Highlighting Legal Privilege Protections

By J. Cameron Murphy and Frances Carpenter August 10, 2021 by renholding

Two recent decisions on the scope of legal privilege in the United States and Europe have once again demonstrated the importance of understanding fully the scope of legal privilege in the jurisdictions relevant to companies’ operations.

In the United States, …

The Rule of Law and the Purpose of the Corporation

By Sanjai Bhagat and R. Glenn Hubbard August 9, 2021 by renholding

The three primary determinants of economic growth – physical capital growth, human capital growth, and technological innovation – rely on citizens’ confidence that private property rights are secure. Essential to that confidence is the rule of law.

Rule of law …

SEC Commissioner Peirce on Nasdaq Board Diversity Proposal

By Hester M. Peirce August 9, 2021 by renholding

I write in opposition to the approval of the Board Diversity Proposal (“Board Diversity Proposal” or “Proposal”) submitted for approval by the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“the Exchange”).[1] The Proposal attempts to expand opportunity, a goal I share,[2]

…

Private Equity, State Pension Plans, and the SEC

By William W. Clayton August 6, 2021 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission under Chair Gary Gensler has been exploring transparency issues and other problems in the private equity industry and considering whether additional policy interventions are needed. One motivating factor is that public pension plans are the …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses European Commission’s Views on Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation

By Patricia Volhard, Jin-Hyuk Jang, John Young and Eric Olmesdahl August 6, 2021 by renholding

The European Commission (the “Commission”) recently issued long-awaited answers to questions raised by the European Supervisory Authorities earlier this year on the Regulation on Sustainability-related Disclosures in the Financial Sector (“SFDR”). This Update covers answers to questions that relate to …

How Much Do Various Advisers Affect the Success of M&A?

By Alexander Schmitz and Soenke Sievers August 5, 2021 by renholding

Companies that engage in M&A regularly employ a variety of financial, legal, and other advisers to enhance the chances of success for a deal. Though research has extensively examined the impact of financial advisers, and particularly investment bankers, on a …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses SPACs in the UK

By Sullivan & Cromwell August 5, 2021 by renholding

On July 27, 2021 the FCA published a policy statement setting out its planned amendments to the Listing Rules to remove the presumption of suspension that applies to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) when a potential acquisition target is identified …

Short-Term Institutions, Analyst Recommendations, and Mispricing: The Role of Higher-Order Beliefs

By Martijn Cremers, Ankur Pareek and Zacharias Sautner August 4, 2021 by renholding

Discussions on the role of higher-order beliefs (investor beliefs about the beliefs of other investors) in financial markets can be traced back to Keynes’ (1936) comparison of the stock market to a beauty contest. Investors “are concerned,” he famously said, …

SEC Chair Gensler Discusses Crypto Regulation

By Gary Gensler August 4, 2021 by renholding

Some might wonder: What does the SEC have to do with crypto?

Further, why did an organization like the Aspen Security Forum ask me to speak about crypto’s intersection with national security?

As is customary, I’d like to note that …

National Blockchain Laws Are a Threat to Capital Markets Integration

By Matthias Lehmann August 3, 2021 by renholding

Since its creation in 2008, the blockchain has seemed incompatible with legal constraint. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin, hailed the blockchain’s “unstructured simplicity.” Even now, apostles of distributed ledger technology (DLT) strongly resist the idea that …

Wachtell Lipton Discusses Mandatory Climate Change Disclosure Rules – A Preview From the SEC Chair?

By David M. Silk, Sabastian V. Niles and Carmen X.W. Lu August 3, 2021 by renholding

As noted in our previous memos, the SEC is considering and has sought input from investors on potential new disclosure requirements related to climate change and other sustainability issues. Yesterday, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler made remarks that add some …

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The CLS Blue Sky Blog

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

August 2021