Willful Blindness as Boardroom “Bad Faith”

The recent increase in the frequency and success with which “willful blindness” theories have been asserted in litigation may have long term implications for the corporate director’s liability profile.

Willful blindness is an aggressive liability theory that seeks to expand …

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Editor's Tweet: McDermott Will & Emery's Michael Peregrine on Willful Blindness as Boardroom “Bad Faith” http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1xF

Addressing Congress on the Need for Transparency in Corporate Political Spending

A committee of law professors that I co-chair with Lucian Bebchuk has petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission  to develop rules requiring public companies to disclose the use of shareholder money on politics. The petition has drawn over 500,000 supportive comments, more than any rulemaking proposal in the SEC’s history, including support from institutional investors and Members of Congress  along with a sitting Commissioner. Although the SEC confirmed last year that it was considering the proposal and added disclosure of political spending to its regulatory agenda, the Commission has not yet announced whether it will require public companies to tell investors whether and how their money is being spent on politics. This afternoon, I will join U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Elizabeth Warren, along with John Coates of Harvard Law School, for a briefing on why the SEC should act immediately to develop rules requiring disclosure of corporate spending on politics. Today I will explain why the case for such rules is strong—and why the arguments that have apparently led the SEC to hesitate about making rules in this area provide no basis for continuing to allow public companies to spend shareholder money on politics in the dark.
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Editor's Tweet: Columbia's Robert J. Jackson Jr. on Addressing Congress on the Need for Transparency in Corporate Political Spending

Empiricism and Experience; Activism and Short-Termism; the Real World of Business

Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk believes that shareholders should be able to control the material decisions of the companies they invest in.  Over the years, he has written numerous articles expressing this view, including a 2005 article urging that …

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Editor's Tweet: Wachtell Marty Lipton on Empiricism and Experience; Activism and Short-Termism; the Real World of Business

Dechert discusses the Office of Financial Research’s Report on Asset Management and Financial Stability

The Office of Financial Research (“OFR”), an office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently issued a report that may provide a roadmap for future designations by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) of asset management companies for supervision …

Adoption of Rules Regarding Municipal Advisor Registration

Commissioner Kara M. Stein gave the following statement on September 18, 2013 at an SEC open meeting in Washington D.C.  The new municipal advisor registration rules are available here.

Municipalities are the lifeblood of many communities.  They provide the …

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Editor's Tweet: SEC Commissioner Kara STein on Adoption of Rules Regarding Municipal Advisor Registration http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1sN

Do Activist Investors Constrain Managerial Moral Hazard in Chapter 11?

Chapter 11 creates a system of collective corporate governance that allows stakeholders that are usually passive – such as shareholders or creditors like lenders and bondholders – to play a day-to-day role in overseeing management and monitoring the business.  In …

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Ice Cube Bonds: Allocating the Price of Process in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy cases are as different as the types of businesses that fail, but all share an element of crisis.  The weeks and days that precede a bankruptcy filing are often chaotic.  The first days after filing may be even worse, …

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Editor's Tweet: Jacoby and Janger on Ice Cube Bonds: Allocating the Price of Process in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1p6

How Pressure on the Issuers of Private-Label Mortgage-Backed Securities Can Improve the Accuracy of Credit Ratings

The following post comes to us from Brent J. Horton, assistant professor at Fordham University Gabelli School of Business.

In my recent Article, Toward a More Perfect Substitute: How Pressure on the Issuers of Private-Label Mortgage-Backed Securities Can Improve the

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Editor's Tweet: Fordham's Horton on How Pressure on the Issuers of Private-Label Mortgage-Backed Securities Can Improve the Accuracy of Ratings

Sullivan & Cromwell discusses Bank Capital Plans and Stress Tests

Federal Reserve Issues Interim Final Rules Addressing Application of New Basel III-Based Capital Framework for Purposes of the 2013-2014 Capital Plan and Stress Test Cycle

The Federal Reserve recently issued two interim final rules that clarify how covered companies must

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Editor's Tweet: Sullivan & Cromwell discusses Bank Capital Plans and Stress Tests http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1te

The Government Shutdown Could Affect Your Transaction

The US antitrust authorities will cease certain of their operations during the pending government shutdown and your transaction may be affected.

The US antitrust agencies receive an average of 25 Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings per week. During the current government shutdown, …

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Editor's Tweet: Clifford Chance's Tim Cornell on The Government Shutdown Could Affect Your Transaction

Facebook, the JOBS Act, and Abolishing IPOs

The following comes to us from Adam C. Pritchard, the Frances and George Skestos Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School.  

A two-tier market system would go a long way toward promoting capital formation and curtailing speculation.

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Editor's Tweet: Michigan Law's Adam C. Pritchard on Facebook, the JOBS Act, and Abolishing IPOs http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1qr

Commoditizing Creditor Control

The following comes to us from Yesha Yadav, Assistant Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School:

Scholars have long lamented that the growth of modern finance has given way to a decline in corporate governance. According to current theory, the …

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Editor's Tweet: Vanderbilt Law's Yesha Yadav on Commoditizing Creditor Control http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1pm

Clearinghouse Overconfidence

The following comes to us from Mark J. Roe, the David Berg Professor of Law at Harvard Law School:

Regulatory reaction to the 2008-2009 financial crisis focused on complex financial instruments that deepened the crisis. A consensus emerged that these …

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Editor's Tweet: Harvard Law's Mark J. Roe on Clearinghouse Overconfidence http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1nS

Reed Smith discusses CFTC’s Final ‘Harmonization’ Rules

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) caused quite a stir in 2012 when it changed its rules to require investment advisers to mutual funds that invest to any significant degree in derivatives, to register as “Commodity Pool Operators” (CPOs). The …

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Editor's Tweet: Reed Smith discusses CFTC’s Final 'Harmonization' Rules http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1la

Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. to Address U.N. General Assembly on the Role of Credit Rating Agencies at 4pm Today

The following comes to us from Public Affairs at Columbia Law School:

John C. Coffee Jr., the Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, has been asked by Vuk Jeremić, president of the 67th Session …

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Editor's Tweet: Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. to Address U.N. General Assembly on the Role of Credit Rating Agencies at 4pm Today http://wp.me/p2Xx5U-1nZ