Sky Blog
Since 2020, new retail investors have flooded the securities markets, opening a record number of new brokerage accounts. Due to the ease of investing through commission-free trading apps and the ability to purchase fractional shares, a broader segment of the …
Since President Biden issued his July 2021 Executive Order on Competition, the antitrust agencies have made broad policy statements promising more aggressive enforcement and have initiated a number of high-profile enforcement actions. Rather than establishing a record of success, the …
More shareholder resolutions were filed in the 2022 proxy season than in the previous year, with approximately 932 environmental, social, and governance shareholder proposals submitted at U.S. companies so far, compared to 903 proposals submitted in 2021, according to ISS …
Investors allocate capital to mutual funds based on past performance and the perception of whether a fund can “beat the market.” In fact, mutual fund companies explicitly promote their funds based on these factors, knowing that investors will respond. The …
On August 26, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted two amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program. The first amendment expands the circumstances where the SEC can pay whistleblowers for their information and assistance in legal actions not brought …
On July 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commenced the first ever lawsuit charging insider trading in cryptocurrency markets. A former employee of Coinbase – a major cryptocurrency exchange – together with his brother and a friend, …
Today [August 25], the Commission voted to adopt a rule requiring certain public companies to disclose information regarding their executives’ compensation and how such compensation relates to the company’s financial performance. I was pleased to support this rule—so-called “pay versus …
Can you name 10 corporate criminals? Bernie Madoff, Martha Stewart, and Jeff Skilling don’t count – they are individuals, not businesses. How about just five? Three? It’s surprising the task should be so difficult. Corporate crime inflicts upwards of 20 …
In 2021 and 2022, as the market continued to focus increasingly on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues, government financial regulators across many independent agencies strongly indicated that increased enforcement relating to ESG is on the horizon, while private plaintiffs …
Why should corporate managers comply with international law? International agreements, customary international law, and non-binding recommendations are sources of norms that, if adopted, could address many of the harms that corporations create for society and the planet.
Corporations are increasingly …
Responses to financial crises can have the unfortunate effect of creating “zombie” firms, companies whose operating profits are insufficient to cover their debt service. These companies would probably have gone bankrupt without the forbearance of banks or regulators or other …
For all the press lamenting the “crypto winter” and urging long-term legislative overhaul, there has not been sufficient attention to how existing regulatory tools can be employed to address some of the key risks and vulnerabilities in the current crypto …
Activist hedge funds will soon likely have greater leverage in proxy contests, thanks to a new rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission. But will that benefit shareholders who care about long-term value? Our study suggests that it will – …
Today [August 11], the Federal Trade Commission initiated a proceeding to examine whether we should implement new rules addressing data practices that are unfair or deceptive.
The Commission brought its first internet privacy case 24 years ago against GeoCities, one
In late March, Argentina and the IMF agreed on a new arrangement that would enable Argentina to avoid falling into arrears on the IMF’s 2018 loan. However, the agreement was reached only after protracted and tortuous negotiations that dragged on …
On August 5, 2022, the Second Circuit held that individuals claiming they were terminated in retaliation for protected whistleblower activities under Sarbanes-Oxley must prove that their employer acted with retaliatory intent. Murray v. UBS Securities LLC, No. 20-4202 (2d …
The Fortune 500 CEO survey in 2021 found that two-thirds of interviewed CEOs consider cybersecurity risk their greatest concern, far greater than the risks presented by political instability or climate change.[1] They are right to be concerned, particularly in …
Last week, the CFPB took three actions demonstrating the agency’s continued focus on technology companies and personal financial data protection. First, the CFPB issued an interpretive rule explaining the CFPB’s view that many digital marketing providers may be “service providers” …
Stock-option backdating, the practice of changing the reported date of a stock-option grant to an earlier date, proliferated in the 1990s and early 2000s, with nearly one-third of public corporations engaging in it, according to some estimates (Heron and Lie, …
Since the passage of Regulation Fair Disclosure, managers have increasingly met privately with investors. During these meetings, investors gather useful information by seeking managers’ feedback, pursuing a deeper understanding of publicly available information, and inquiring about company strategy. That information …