Sky Blog
A key principle of Chapter 11 corporate reorganizations is the “absolute priority rule.” It requires that the claims of a dissenting class of creditors be paid in full before any stakeholders in a class junior to such dissenting …
How do firms allocate their spending on philanthropic causes or other socially beneficial activities? With 94 percent of large U.S. companies committed to charitable giving and some investors increasingly willing to forego financial returns to advance such activities, this is …
Since the international Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted in 2015, there has been a massive upsurge in corporate net zero pledges. In our new article, we explored the climate commitments of large Australian companies. We wanted to …
Almost everyone seems to be talking about ChatGPT. This new AI-enabled chatbot, which can swiftly produce answers that feel as if a human wrote them, promises to revolutionize how we generate text. Although ChatGPT emerged just a few months ago, …
The rationale behind a number of recent EU legislation changes focusing on corporate governance has been to prioritise a long-term focus on governance through various transparency measures as well as some concrete requirements for action, and on allowing shareholders and …
In a potentially precedent-setting case, 11 directors of global energy company Shell Plc (formerly Royal Dutch Shell Plc) [1] are being sued in their personal capacity over the company’s energy transition strategy. The claim, which has been filed in the …
Much of the debate about activist shareholders is informed by experience in Northern Hemisphere markets, particularly the United States. In my recently published book, I examine the topic from an Australian perspective.
Australia is ideal for exploring shareholder activism for …
The steady growth of sustainable finance in recent years poses difficult questions on how regulators should approach it. In the European Union (EU), for example, there has been an explosion of new rules aimed at addressing a broad array of …
Companies, banks, insurers and asset managers are increasingly working together within their industries on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives to achieve shared goals on climate change, labor rights and other social issues. In the eyes of many, collective action …
Sound policymaking has helped India modernize and achieve robust economic growth, positioning it to become an increasingly important player on the world stage. But recent developments – and scandals – show that the government must address some major issues if …
More than 40 years after its invention by lawyer Martin Lipton, the poison pill remains the subject of important judicial decisions and academic debate over corporate governance questions, in both the United States, its country of origin, and Japan, its …
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a new report on sustainability policies and practices for corporate governance. It includes a new dataset comparing the main trends and features of corporate sustainability at the global level, …
While unequal voting structures in the U.S. are commonly associated with technology and media companies, there is no such industry specific tendency in Europe – with its tradition of so-called “loyalty shares” and government ownership. This paper surveying dual class
Following another year of increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations by companies, investors and regulators alike, ESG appears to have cemented its position in the corporate landscape. As set out in our 28 July 2022 client alert …
In response to growing concern about the effects of climate change, different regions of the world have adopted mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure rules, including Australia, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission …
Both anticipated and less expected changes occurred across the ESG landscape in 2022. Anticipated changes included regulatory developments across the globe, including in the US, the UK, and the EU. Less expected changes included global and regional political shifts, such …
In the U.S., some members of Congress and state AGs have advocated for greater antitrust scrutiny of industry-wide ESG initiatives, while other state AGs have argued that such initiatives are procompetitive. In the EU and the U.K., competition authorities have …
The debate about corporate social responsibility has recently moved into new territory: the establishment of what can be called corporate social liability or CSL. CSL goes beyond classic tort and company law and may result in vicarious liability of …
Women have traditionally suffered from discrimination in the labor market (Tatli et al., 2013) and are under-represented in upper management (Thams, Bendell and Terjesen, 2018). To address this widespread gender imbalance, many countries have implemented gender diversity policies ranging from …