Sky Blog
It has been three years since the first wave of registrants applied to be swap dealers (SDs) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Since then, SDs have focused on modifying their operations and building compliance programs that accommodate the …
Effective corporate governance relies on models—business models, financial models, and risk models, among many others—the primary fuel for which is timely, reliable information. In this connection, statistics luminary George Box famously wrote, “Remember that all models are wrong; the practical …
Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made major progress in completing its rulemaking mandates under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) and the Dodd-Frank Act. Additionally, Congress enacted the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), …
The rise and fall of federal RICO claims in securities litigation is well-known. During the 1980s and early 1990s, plaintiffs increasingly asserted RICO claims premised on alleged securities fraud, drawn by the potential for treble damages. In 1995, however, Congress …
Private equity is often seen as an agent of creative destruction, helping resources to be reallocated to more productive uses. Private equity firms help improve the financial performance and operational efficiency of the companies they acquire, and plenty of academic …
A perennial concern of policy makers around the world is the construction of a framework of financial regulation that is effective, efficient, and—most importantly—conducive to the emergence of deep and liquid financial market. While the channels through which financial development …
The sharp increase in mergers and acquisitions litigation has generated widespread skepticism about the utility of such cases and, along with it, skepticism about the role played by the plaintiffs’ law firms that bring them. Deal suits are broadly perceived …
One of the most far-reaching legacies of twentieth century law is the establishment of comprehensive public regulation as the norm for governance of vast swaths of commerce. The reality of persistent and rapid technological change is, however, proving fatal for …
In order to ensure that victims of business-related human rights and gross environmental abuses in countries that host transnational business (host countries) are able to have the ability to seek and obtaining a remedy for their harm, courts should ignore …
Are gender-balanced boards more active than non-gender balanced boards? I address this question in “Gender and Board Activeness: The Role of a Critical Mass”, forthcoming in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Using detailed minutes of …
Entrepreneurs are sometimes guilty of letting compliance slip down their list of priorities. They prefer to “move fast and break things”—an ethos that doesn’t always find time for bureaucratic niceties like employee handbooks and contracting guidelines.[1]
This dynamic raises …
European Economic Area (EEA) financial institutions are now subject to a new set of regulatory requirements designed to avoid taxpayers bailing out banks in the event of another banking crisis — a central component of which is that EU member …
When it comes to corporate litigation, is more necessarily better? The legal system has developed a broad array of litigation options to address corporate wrongdoing. Under state law, shareholders can file a derivative suit or class action alleging that directors …
A January 2016 study, Short-Term Investors, Long-Term Investments, and Firm Value, by Martijn Cremers, Ankur Pareek and Zacharias Sautner, provides substantial “empirical” evidence for the fact that, in the current corporate governance environment, short-term investors possess the undue …
On May 18, 2012 Facebook (FB) held its initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ, raising over $16 billion making it one of the largest IPOs in history. To the surprise of many investors, there was almost no underpricing, as the …
In order to investigate what (and how much) is being reported in annual proxy statements about executive pay packages and how incentive pay is designed, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s Human Resources & Compensation Consulting Practice (formerly James F. Reda …
During most of Steve Job’s tenure as CEO of Apple Inc. the company did not have any long-term debt obligations. Apple started an aggressive buyback program only after Tim Cook took over, at the same time that it added debt …
Mutual funds are becoming more like hedge funds as a matter of investment strategy while hedge funds are becoming more like mutual funds as a matter of the regulatory framework. The growth of the private fund industry and the proliferation …
Once again, NML v. Argentina is in the spotlight. Sovereign debt’s “trial of the century”[1] has been the focal point of intense academic and policy debates, prompted a Supreme Court decision, and even triggered a contested default by Argentina …
In a recent decision relating to the sale of a portfolio company by one private equity firm to another—Prairie Capital v. Double E (Nov. 24, 2015)—the court provided important guidance with respect to a buyer’s ability to make post-closing …