Sky Blog
In a new paper, we examine how the visibility of executives affects the value of their firms. We define executive visibility as the ubiquity of the executive’s public profile, separate from that of the firm. Communications and public relations …
Investors are increasingly incorporating assessments of companies’ performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in their portfolio decisions. The global assets under management of the signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have grown from about …
The spectacle of a shambling billionaire with an adolescent personality, an inconsistent memory, a fondness for using his depositors’ funds for his own personal purposes, and an eagerness to talk in self-destructive ways to the press has fascinated everyone. This …
The FTC recently announced the first use of its “Penalty Offense Authority” in many years. The agency dusted off this statutory tool as part of its multifaceted effort to continue to obtain monetary relief in its consumer protection enforcement actions …
Over the last two decades, the dramatic increase in institutional investors’ ownership of rival companies has raised questions about collusive corporate policies.[1] However, it is still unclear how common shareholders engage with and influence corporate decision-making, especially when it …
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) that seeks to clarify the circumstances under which a fiduciary subject to ERISA may consider climate change and other environmental, social …
A Delaware vice chancellor recently lamented that “Delaware should not be determining employment law for the country and for the world.”[1] That remarkable assertion was a reference to the gradual expansion of the internal affairs doctrine, which provides that …
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (the “GDPR”) changed the global privacy landscape, and has been called the “gold standard” for data protection regulation. Recently, a number of U.S. states have introduced privacy laws, which borrow certain GDPR concepts …
The debate over the corporation’s purpose is today a central topic of corporate law scholarship. So far, the discussion has advanced little beyond a two-sided view, considering only the approaches known as shareholder primacy and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In …
Today [December 14], the Commission will consider whether to adopt amendments to Rule 10b5-1, as well as new required corporate disclosures related to executive officers’ and directors’ trading. I am pleased to support these new requirements because, if adopted, they …
A common argument against stakeholder governance is that it renders managers less accountable while doing little to improve the welfare of stakeholders. Lucian Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita call this “The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance.” But what if stakeholder governance …
Top practitioners, judges, regulators, and scholars gathered at Columbia Law School on December 2 to offer their unique perspectives and cutting-edge insights on a variety of topics related to M&A and corporate governance. The topics included current M&A market trends, …
CEO activism, the practice of CEOs or other executives taking a public stance on social, political, or environmental issues not directly related to their companies’ businesses, has been on the rise these past few years. Moreover, several well-publicized polls …
The topic of human rights is of major concern among many stakeholder groups, spanning the public, private, and social sectors (e.g., companies, investors, consumers, NGOs, governments, intergovernmental organizations, etc.). Human rights issues present material risks to not only companies, but …
Stock prices affect various corporate decisions such as the amount of CEO compensation, as emphasized in traditional pay-for-performance studies, and capital investment. However, an unanswered question is whether changes in firms’ stock price in a short window around events related …
Companies have increasingly leveraged artificial intelligence (“AI”) to facilitate decisions in the extension of credit and financial lending as well as hiring decisions. AI tools have the potential to produce efficiencies in processes but have also recently faced scrutiny for …
The amount of assets that passive (index) funds have under management has grown significantly in recent decades. Domestic passive funds and ETFs now manage more than half of all assets under management (AUM) of domestic equity mutual funds and ETFs, …
In the U.S., some members of Congress and state AGs have advocated for greater antitrust scrutiny of industry-wide ESG initiatives, while other state AGs have argued that such initiatives are procompetitive. In the EU and the U.K., competition authorities have …
The debate about corporate social responsibility has recently moved into new territory: the establishment of what can be called corporate social liability or CSL. CSL goes beyond classic tort and company law and may result in vicarious liability of …