Sky Blog
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today, it is great to be back in New York. The Citizens Budget Commission has played an important role over the years as a forum to discuss issues of interest to …
Managers are concerned about how their current performance would influence their current employer’s and the labor market’s assessment of their ability. An unfavorable assessment of their ability can have significant adverse effects, including termination and poor job prospects thereafter. Thus, …
Discussions about regulating investment advice have largely focused on whether to harmonize the laws governing two categories of individuals within the securities world—registered investment advisers and stockbrokers. The discussion has overlooked insurance brokers who often times also provide investment advice. …
If a party obtains information about a public firm before its initial public offering (IPO), and the party themselves is not an insider of the firm, should they be allowed to profit from the information after the IPO? We investigate …
On February 9, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a proposed rule related to the disclosure of hedging policies applicable to board members, officers, and other employees. The proposed rule would implement one of the remaining requirements …
The SEC staff issued a no-action letter recently that will allow some companies to refinance their debt using tender and exchange offers shorter than the 20 business days required in the tender offer rules. The letter extends to high yield …
A nuance in margin rules proposed by the CFTC and other federal financial regulators threatens to undermine a carefully struck balance in Dodd-Frank. As background, Title VII of Dodd-Frank subjected U.S. derivatives markets to a host of new regulations. Broadly …
Recent Delaware decisions have reinforced the expansive power and authority of a board to adopt and enforce corporate bylaws. Advance notice bylaws have become commonplace; exclusive forum bylaws are becoming more prevalent; and adoption of fee shifting bylaws generally awaits …
The following post is taken from an address by CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo before the ABA Business Law Section, Derivatives & Futures Law Committee Winter Meeting and is dated January 23, 2015. Commissioner Giancarlo’s address may be accessed here…
Earlier this month, federal district Judge Richard J. Leon rejected outright a deferred prosecution agreement with a company, “looking at the DPA in its totality,” and noting that not only were “no individuals . . . being prosecuted for their …
In December 2013, the SEC at the direction of Congress under the JOBS Act dutifully provided an initial SEC staff report addressing securities disclosure requirements for public companies to question whether the SEC’s detailed disclosure mandates for public company disclosure …
Today we feature three posts on the theme of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The first two posts — from David Min and Brad Miller, respectively — question assumptions about the proper role of government and markets in home …
I want to make the argument that government-backed securitization—i.e., something approximating the core functions and parameters of the much-maligned government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—is necessary and prudent for the future of housing finance reform. To do so, …
The debate over housing finance is odd even by the current standards of political debate in Washington, which sets a high bar.
Proposals to limit government involvement in housing finance have nothing to do with the failings of the system, …
There was perhaps no issue of greater importance to the financial regulatory reforms of 2010 than the resolution, without taxpayer assistance, of large financial institutions. The rescue of firms such as AIG shocked the public conscience and provided the political …
The US economy has been one of the most dynamic economies in the world but recent research suggests that US dynamism is in decline. The startup, job creation, and job destruction rates have all declined over the past three decades …
In Marblegate Asset Management v. Education Management Corp. (S.D.N.Y. 2014), the Southern District of New York found that a proposed out-of-court debt restructuring to the detriment of non-consenting creditors likely violated provisions of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 …
I want to thank the Brookings Institution for inviting me to comment today on Martin Wheatley’s presentation on the Fair and Effective Markets Review (Review).[1] The Review is an ambitious and important initiative. Although London is perhaps the leading center …
Corporate accounting standards are an important basis for the measurement of firm and managerial performance and for the stewardship of corporate assets in a market economy. Understanding the process that culminates with the creation of accounting standards can provide insights …
In recent years, top executives taking a $1 base salary (or less) has become a high-profile phenomenon across many types of organizations. The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of some of the most recognizable corporations, both successful and distressed, have had …