Sky Blog
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 …
On March 25, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to adopt final rules to implement the rulemaking mandate of Title IV of the JOBS Act by adopting amendments to Regulation A. In December 2013, the SEC had released …
Scholars agree that crowdfunding regulations in Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act are broken. My latest article addresses their concerns and proposes a solution for crowdfunding based on a deeper understanding of the startup fundraising market—a …
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced [several weeks ago] that it had charged eight directors, officers and major stockholders for failing to timely disclose steps taken to take their respective companies private in their beneficial ownership reports on Schedule 13D. …
Following closely on the heels of the reinstated reporting requirements for inbound and outbound direct investment involving U.S. entities,[1] the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has announced plans to require U.S. financial service providers to respond …
In the Great Recession’s morality play, unscrupulous financiers on the inside of the mortgage industry exploited ordinary folk on the outside. Predatory lenders pushed unsuspecting homebuyers into teaser rate mortgages that seemed affordable but were in fact ticking time bombs. …
Earlier this week, the SEC filed an administrative action against Lynn Tilton and her Patriarch Partners funds. See In re Lynn Tilton et al. CNBC has reported that the SEC is “accusing Patriarch of hiding the poor performance of …
It is an honor to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s 20th Financial Markets Conference, and I am grateful to President Lockhart and the organizers for inviting me to do so.[1] This evening I would like to …