Previous Next

Securities Disclosure As Soundbite: The Case of CEO Pay Ratios

By Steven A. Bank and George S. Georgiev February 11, 2019 by renholding

Since 2018, U.S. public companies have had to calculate and report a new, unconventional statistic—a CEO pay ratio—which links CEO pay to the pay of rank-and-file workers. Based on a last-minute addition to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the disclosure …

Debevoise Discusses Possible EU Approach to ICOs and Crypto-Assets

By Klaudius Heda, Clarisse Hannotin, Dr. Oliver Krauß and Dr. Friedrich Popp January 30, 2019 by abirvarma

In the first week of 2019, both the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) and the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) issued reports advising EU legislators on the regulation of “crypto-assets” and initial coin offerings (“ICOs”). The European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”), …

Latham & Watkins Discusses Key Compensation Items for 2019 Proxy Season

By Holly M. Bauer, David T. Della Rocca, Maj Vaseghi, Bradd L. Williamson and Stephanie Jeane January 25, 2019 by renholding

Even as the US government shutdown continues to create complexities for many companies,[1] it is business as usual for US public companies that are continuing their annual planning for the upcoming proxy season. Although 2019 introduces fewer significant changes …

The Changing Character of Securities Litigation in 2019: Why It’s Time to Draw Some Distinctions

By John C. Coffee, Jr. January 22, 2019 by renholding

Securities litigation is growing at a prodigious rate. Is that good or bad? This column will answer that we have to unpack this phenomenon and realize that very different things (with very different implications) are happening simultaneously. Let’s begin with …

SEC Chair Discusses EDGAR-Hacking Enforcement Action

By Jay Clayton January 16, 2019 by renholding

In August 2017, shortly after my arrival at the Commission, I was informed that an intrusion into the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system took place in 2016. We immediately initiated a series of review and response

…

The Impact of IPOs on Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms

By Maxime Cohen and Kevin Jiao January 10, 2019 by renholding

In a new paper, we investigate how initial public offerings affect peer-to-peer lending platforms and, more specifically, whether the platforms tend to alter their operational decisions in anticipation of going public.

Peer-to-peer lenders are essentially online services that match anonymous …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Custody of Digital Assets

By Kenneth J. Berman, Byungkwon Lim and Gary E. Murphy January 8, 2019 by renholding

Interest in cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on blockchains or distributed ledgers[1] has increased exponentially in recent years. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on blockchains increased from slightly more than $17.5 billion in January …

Cryptocurrency Pump-and-Dump Schemes

By Tao Li, Baolian Wang and Donghwa Shin January 7, 2019 by renholding

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have recently emerged as a popular method of financing blockchain-related startups. In an ICO, a startup creates and distributes its digital tokens, typically in exchange for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars to …

Ballard Spahr Discusses SEC Case Against Clearing Broker Under Bank Secrecy Act

By Brad Gershel January 7, 2019 by renholding

On December 11, Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York granted, in part, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) motion for summary judgement in its action against Alpine Securities, Inc. (“Alpine”), finding that the clearing broker …

Skadden on Delaware Chancery’s Rejection of Forum Selection Limits on Securities Act Claims

By Cliff C. Gardner, Kenton J. King, Allison L. Land and Edward B. Micheletti January 4, 2019 by pss2150

On December 19, 2018, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that forum selection provisions contained in the certificate of incorporation of Delaware corporations are invalid to the extent that they require any claim under the Securities Act of 1933 to …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses SEC Enforcement Against Private Equity Advisers

By Jonathan Adler, Kenneth J. Berman, Robert B. Kaplan, Julie M. Riewe and Rebecca F. Silberstein December 24, 2018 by pss2150

On December 13, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settled enforcement action against private equity adviser Yucaipa Master Manager, LLC (“Yucaipa”) for alleged negligent failure to disclose conflicts of interest and misallocation of fees and expenses …

The Protection of Investors and the Compensation for their Losses: Australia

By Olivia Dixon and Jennifer G. Hill December 14, 2018 by renholding

Investor protection has been an ideal in corporate and securities law ever since the early 20^th century, when Berle and Means famously highlighted shareholder vulnerability in modern public corporations. In more recent times, investor protection has been treated as …

Transparency and the (E)valuation of Asset-Backed Securities

By Jed J. Neilson, Stephen G. Ryan, K. Philip Wang and Biqin Xie December 13, 2018 by renholding

In 2011, the commission appointed by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis concluded that “a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency put the financial system on a collision course with crisis” (The …

SEC Chair Clayton Talks Small Business Capital Formation

By Jay Clayton December 13, 2018 by renholding

Every year the SEC staff does a tremendous job identifying topics, selecting speakers and coordinating the behind the scenes work necessary to organize this all-day event focused on small business capital formation.[1] Thank you Bill, Jennifer [Zepralka] and the

…

Common Ownership: The Investor Protection Challenge of the 21st Century

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. December 12, 2018 by renholding

Thank you so much, Scott [Hemphill], for that incredibly kind introduction.* It’s a real honor to be here with you—and to be invited to testify before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). I share your commitment to making sure …

New York Attorney General Overreaches in Climate-Change Complaint Against Exxon

By Merritt B. Fox December 10, 2018 by renholding

The New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) recently filed a complaint against ExxonMobil alleging that the company violated the Martin Act, New York State’s securities law, by making material misstatements concerning how it was accounting for the possibility of increasingly stringent …

SEC Chair Talks Rulemaking Over the Past Year and the Road Ahead

By Jay Clayton December 7, 2018 by renholding

For many, December is a time to reflect on the past year and to look forward to what the New Year may bring. I believe organizations also should mark milestones, take stock of what has been done and what needs

…

How the Regulation of Initial Coin Offerings Shifted from Inactivity to Full Enforcement

By Marco Dell’Erba December 5, 2018 by renholding

In recent years, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have emerged as a disruptive tool in entrepreneurial finance. ICOs involve the sale of a stake in a project with the aim of raising funds at an early stage of development. Although ICOs …

Debevoise Discusses SEC’s Record Year for Whistleblowers

By Mary Jo White, Andrew J. Ceresney, Arian M. June, Jonathan R. Tuttle and Ada Fernandez Johnson December 4, 2018 by renholding

On November 15, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) Office of the Whistleblower (the “OWB”) provided its annual report to Congress describing the status of the whistleblower program and touting a “record-breaking year” for …

Dissecting the Conundrum of Investing in Hedge Funds Despite High Fees and Mediocre Returns

By Cary Martin Shelby November 29, 2018 by renholding

October 2018 ended with the hedge fund industry suffering its worst monthly decline since September 2011, according to the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index. Some commentators are predicting that 2018 will end with the hedge fund industry experiencing its worst …

« Previous 1 … 54 55 56 57 58 … 111 Next »

The CLS Blue Sky Blog

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

Securities Regulation