Sky Blog
The 2007-2009 financial crisis was a watershed event that shook the confidence of people around the globe in the stability of the international financial system. The crisis demonstrated a failure of market discipline and the government responses only exacerbated this …
Over the past year, the SEC and other regulatory agencies have initiated an increasing number of investigations into companies based on allegations of inadequate internal controls and/or a system for reporting those controls. (For more on internal controls and a …
The Big Data revolution has begun to have a transformative impact on commercial markets. Businesses are continually developing new ways to capitalize on the increased availability of analytic services and drastic reductions in the costs of data collection and storage. …
The emergence of alternative business entities[1] like benefit corporations, which facilitate pursuit of profit and purpose in the same endeavor, challenges the strict dichotomy between for-profit and non-profit corporations. Most alternative entities, including well-known brands like Warby Parker and …
By motivating lawyers to handle class actions, fee awards enable millions of people to obtain access to justice every year and strengthen the effect of regulatory laws. But the process by which judges decide how much to pay lawyers has …
In a decision published on March 9, 2015, the Supreme Court ended the D.C. Circuit Court’s Paralyzed Veterans doctrine, which required administrative agencies to utilize the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) notice-and-comment process in order to substantially alter an interpretation. See …
For those interested in the allegations against Navinder Singh Sarao and Nav Sarao Futures Limited PLC, which implicate them in extensive market manipulation and the “Flash Crash” of 2010, here are the complaints from the DOJ and CFTC as well …
SEC Proposes Rule Extending FINRA Membership Requirement to Currently Exempted Proprietary Trading Firms
On March 25, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to issue a proposed rule amendment that would significantly narrow the existing exemption that …
In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance that requires companies to tell shareholders how they may be harmed by proposed energy regulations, unless the company determines that the regulation will be unlikely to affect the company.[1]…
A watershed moment is coming for shareholder activism and corporate governance generally, as the proxy contest brought by Trian Management Fund, seeking effectively to break up DuPont, enters its final stages (with the vote being less than a month away). …
On 18 February 2015, the European Commission published a green paper on building a Capital Markets Union, alongside two complementary consultation papers on a revised EU framework for securitisation and a review of the Prospectus Directive. The proposals are part …
Thank you, Hal [Scott], for that kind introduction. I apologize for not being able to address you in person. Back in 2013, I opened a speech to the American Academy in Berlin with a bit of German.[1] While I …
Two recent developments could have significant consequences for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry and the regulatory landscape for such products. The first development is a proposed rule change to create “generic listing standards” for actively managed ETFs. The second is …
Good morning. Thank you for that kind introduction. It is my honor to deliver the opening remarks for today’s North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) 19(d) Conference. For those who are keeping count, this …
On April 1, 2015, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed its first whistleblower protection case involving confidentiality obligations imposed on employees.[1] The SEC charged Houston-based technology and engineering firm KBR Inc. with violating Rule 21F-17, which prohibits all …
In Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2398 (2014), known as Halliburton II, the U.S. Supreme Court held that defendants may defeat the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance at the class-certification stage with evidence …
A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion charts potential new pathways for claims for damages resulting from portfolio losses by mutual fund shareholders against both a fund’s trustees and its investment adviser. However, much of the sweeping language and …
Questions of corporate governance and responsibility have been heightened by a number of corporate scandals and other events leading up to the financial crisis of 2008. In the meantime, philosophers and lawyers have been questioning the very meaning of corporate …
“Poverty should be eradicated, not seen as a money-making opportunity.”[1]
–Mohamed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank,
and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
Social finance makes a compelling promise, to make the world a better place by …
The popularity of stock options as a compensatory tool has been waning at public companies for years. While there have been a number of factors that have contributed to their decline over the past decade or so, three chief concerns …