On July 17, SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar extended an important invitation to U.S. public companies. “For shareholder lawsuits,” Piwowar offered, “companies can come to [the SEC] to ask for relief to put… mandatory arbitration into their charters.” To some, this idea may be unfamiliar or even controversial. But, as someone who has studied the U.S. securities class action system and its impact on our capital markets extensively, I know this policy is a sound one that serves U.S. investors and markets well.

Indeed, the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, which I direct, first introduced the idea of corporation-stockholder non-class arbitration … Read more