After the collapse of FTX and a summer of crypto failures (Terra Luna, Celsius, Three Arrows), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will want to act quickly and treat more digital assets as “securities.”  But which ones?  In a new …

Members of Congress and financial regulators from the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, SEC, CFTC, and CFPB appear set on regulating the crypto trading system (traded coins and associated marketplaces, exchanges, brokerages, lending, staking, derivatives, intermediaries, and enablers) as part of …

Investors now routinely turn to crypto asset trading for portfolio appreciation and diversification, but significant investor protection concerns loom. Between 2017 and 2019, thousands of crypto assets were offered to the public and others through initial coin offerings. Many of …

In March 2022, the SEC proposed mandatory climate disclosures for public companies.[1]  While climate activist investors applauded the proposed rules, opponents lamented their scope and cost, arguing that the SEC lacks the authority to promulgate such rules. But the …

Investor demand for information about firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments has prompted substantial corporate disclosure of their ESG activities. However, these disclosures often raise questions of “social washing,” where firms make unsubstantiated claims or misrepresent their company as …

The traditional IPO was once the dominant path to raising capital for a growing company, but challengers, most notably SPACs and direct listings, have emerged.  In our essay, we argue that the regulation of public offerings should seek to facilitate …

SEC regulations require public firms to disclose any “material event” on a form 8-K filed within a certain time period. These events include earnings announcements, changes in an executive or director, changes in auditor and the issuance of new debt …

For at least a quarter century, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pursued claims of unlawful insider trading where the information at issue was material to the stock price of the sponsor of a clinical trial. In recent years, …

A recent policy innovation is the use of securities regulations to solve social challenges. It started with mine-labor-safety and conflict-minerals disclosures in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and continues today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to mandate climate …

Securities litigation is a major and costly source of corporate risk that can affect many aspects of companies’ operations. The task of identifying the causes and consequences of this risk is, however, challenging because researchers observe only companies that are …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that it was initiating proceedings against a former audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for violating professional standards in reviewing the financial statements of Mattel, Inc. One might wonder why it is …