Sky Blog
In derivatives markets, as in other financial markets, customers rely on intermediaries for access to products. When transacting, a customer faces a choice of whether to return to a prior provider or seek a new one. My post yesterday documented …
Jack Bogle, the father of
Derivatives are financial instruments used to shift risks, such as fluctuations in interest rates or foreign exchange rates or changes in the value of assets such as stocks, bonds, metals, or agricultural or energy products. At first glance, entering into …
Audit firms are private businesses with the same legitimate interest in making a profit that all private businesses have.[1] But audit firms have also been entrusted to be essential gatekeepers in maintaining the integrity of our capital markets. The …
In the complex world of corporate governance, a novel mechanism has reemerged: board observers. Operating without the conventional voting rights of board members, these individuals have become pivotal in bridging the gap between ambitious startups and their venture capital (VC) …
On April 15, 2024, the secretary of the Department of the Treasury, as chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or Committee), published a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposed Rule) to expand CFIUS’ investigation and …
We argue that bank regulation and supervision interfere with pricing risk by creating opacity. Given that market disclosures enhance the efforts of supervisors, and vice versa, more disclosure could enhance financial stability (see Spatt, 2010)[1]. In addition, we …
The Biden-Harris administration has been keenly focused on mitigating climate risk, which has resulted in several executive and legislative actions promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs), with a stated goal of having 50% of all new vehicles …
A company’s announcement that it is undertaking a “review of strategic alternatives” is Wall Street code for exploring a potential sale or merger. Though no transaction may occur, the announcement signals that the company is due for a shake up, …
An increasing number of states have enacted or are considering enacting legislation requiring financial institutions to provide customers “fair access” to financial services. These fair access requirements, first appearing in Florida’s House Bill 3 (2023) (“FL HB 3”), generally prohibit …
California enacted its own version of New York’s “BitLicense” law, the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL),[1] becoming one of the first US states to implement a virtual-currency-specific regulatory regime. Prior to the enactment of …
In a recent Balkinization post, my colleague and friend Professor David Pozen critiques the power held by the office of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik and argues for a more “democratic model of internal governance.” Alongside his …
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (the Act) as part of a broader foreign aid package providing funding to Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel. The Act combines a series of unrelated …
It’s surprisingly tough to find detailed information about the loan agreements of many public companies. In fact, nearly 20 percent of those agreements are not publicly available, despite disclosure mandates. In a recent study, we shed light on this phenomenon, …
For decades, advocates of “shareholder primacy” as the North Star of corporate governance have steered our leading corporations and our Nation’s economic engine perilously off-course. Since the 1970s, when the work of Milton Friedman, Michael Jensen, and Frank …
Public companies face a wide range of legal claims, yet the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have questioned whether public companies provide sufficient disclosure to warn investors of potential losses from these claims. …
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are coming. Around the world, central banks are building CBDCs for testing in trials and pilots, both domestic and cross-border. However, when we talk about CBDCs – especially in international discussions – it is clear …
The New York State Legislature is again considering a proposed law with potential implications for sovereign debt. Entitled the “Sovereign Debt Stability Act,” it combines two previous legislative proposals from the 2023 legislative session.[1] Those proposals sought to: (i) …
The Department of Justice recently announced a new policy on voluntary self-disclosure for individuals (the Pilot Program) that is likely to create significant challenges for a board of director’s audit and compliance committees, as well as tension among employees — …