Columbia Law School
Sky Blog
Delaware’s Familiarity
The following post comes to us from Brian J. Broughman, Associate Professor of Law at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and Darian M. Ibrahim, Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School. It is based on their …
Finance & Economics
Tax Inversions and Regulatory Competition
The following post comes to us from Eric L. Talley, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It is based on a recent working paper, “Corporate Inversions and the …
Bingham discusses FINRA’s Proposed Rule to Implement CARDS
FINRA is seeking comments on a proposed rule to implement the Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System (“CARDS”).[1] FINRA published a CARDS concept proposal on December 23, 2013 (the “Concept Proposal”),[2] to which it received approximately 800 comment letters.[3] According to …
De-Humanizing Antitrust: The Rise of the Machines and the Regulation of Competition
The following post comes to us from Salil K. Mehra, Professor of Law at the Temple University Beasley School of Law. It is based on his recent paper, “De-Humanizing Antitrust: The Rise of the Machines and the Regulation of Competition,” …
Whatever Happened to Promoting Small Business Capital Formation?
The following speech was delivered by Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 17, 2014. A copy of the speech is also available here.
Thank you, David [Burton], for that introduction. I appreciate …
Gibson Dunn discusses Shareholder Activism
On September 18, 2014, Gibson Dunn hosted a webcast on shareholder activism. In addition to partners Eduardo Gallardo, Beth Ising and Adam Offenhartz, Matthew Sherman from Joele Frank and Scott Winter from Innisfree M&A also participated. Topics covered include current …
Sullivan & Cromwell discusses New Anti-Inversion Notice
SUMMARY
On September 22, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) and the Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) issued Notice 2014-52 (the “Notice”) announcing that the Treasury and the IRS intend to issue regulations that will address inversion transactions and certain …
Hedge Fund Activism: Impacts and Options
Hedge fund activism has increased almost hyperbolically. Some view this optimistically as a means for bridging the separation of ownership and control; others are more pessimistic, seeing mainly wealth transfers from bondholders or speculative expectations of a takeover as fueling …
Skadden discusses FTC’s Challenge to Pharmaceutical Settlement
On September 8, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a federal antitrust complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against defendants AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Besins Healthcare and Teva Pharmaceuticals alleging violations …
The JOBS Act and the Costs of Going Public
The following post comes to us from Susan Chaplinsky, Tipton R. Snavely Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business; Kathleen Weiss Hanley, Visiting Associate Professor of Finance and Senior Academic Advisor to the Center …
Simpson Thacher discusses OCC Guidelines for Bank Risk Governance
On September 2, 2014, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) issued final guidelines (the “Guidelines”) establishing risk management standards for large national banks, insured federal savings associations, and insured federal branches of foreign banks (each, a …
PwC discusses Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps
On September 3rd, the prudential regulators (including the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC) re-proposed the second major element of derivatives reform – mandatory margin on uncleared swaps. The re-proposed rule is designed to end years of debate that began with …
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Six Case Studies (With Implications) and An Essay on Regulatory Management
The following post comes to us from John C. Coates IV, John F. Cogan Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School. It is based on two of his recent articles, “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Financial Regulation: Case Studies …
The Long Arm of Financial Intermediaries
Why haven’t the significant financial and technological innovations of the past thirty years substantially decreased the cost of financial intermediation? What explains the ever-increasing complexity of financial products and markets? Why do so many investors hold actively managed mutual funds …
The Social Reform of Banking: Innovating for Sustainable Financial Services
The following post comes to us from John M. Conley, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, and Cynthia A. Williams, Osler Chair in Business Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, …
Alston & Bird discusses Tax Allocation Agreements
On June 13, 2014, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the “agencies”) issued a final version of an addendum to the …
The Law and Economics of Benchmark Manipulation
The following post comes to us from Andrew Verstein, Assistant Professor of Law at Wake Forest University School of Law. It is based on his recent article, “The Law and Economics of Benchmark Manipulation,” which is forthcoming in the Boston …
Sullivan & Cromwell discusses Berkshire Hathaway’s Civil Penalty for Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Violation
Summary
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $896,000 concerning its conversion of notes into voting securities of USG Corporation in December 2013, which was more than five years after Berkshire’s HSR Act filing to acquire …
Latham & Watkins discusses New York’s Proposed Virtual Currencies Regulations
On July 23, 2014, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS), the governmental agency that regulates the financial services and insurance industries in New York, released proposed regulations governing the use of virtual currencies in New York State …
Trading Rules, Competition for Order Flow, and Market Fragmentation
The following post comes to us from Ronald Masulis, Scientia Professor of Finance at the Australian School of Business. It is based on his recent paper, Trading Rules, Competition for Order Flow and Market Fragmentation, which is co-authored by Amy …