Sky Blog
Efficiencies, economies of scale, and the general desire to improve the customer experience are the lifeblood of all mergers. And one of the most common efficiencies in any deal comes from enhanced purchasing power, or the ability to lower costs …
For the last 40 years, the problem of managerial agency costs—corporate managers shirking duties and diverting resources—has dominated the study of corporate law and governance. Many scholars treat the reduction of agency costs as the essential function of corporate law …
In the 100 days since his election, President Trump and members of his cabinet have continued public calls for a rollback of Dodd-Frank and related regulations enacted since the financial crisis, while offering few concrete actions or proposals. Initially, Wall …
I appreciate your invitation to participate in this [April 19] panel discussion. In my remarks, I will discuss how U.S. monetary policy actions affect our foreign trading partners, with particular focus on how foreign economies have responded to the Federal …
After almost every major financial-reporting scandal, news stories and congressional speeches inevitably follow, detailing how corporate culture encouraged and enabled fraud. For example, in September 2016, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding the
The world of Harry Potter is divided into wizards and muggles, those who can work magic, and those who (sadly) cannot. In the world of US federal securities laws, the division between domestic US companies and foreign private issuers, or …
Elizabeth Cabraser, a renowned litigator and name partner in the plaintiffs’ law firm of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, speaks with Reynolds Holding about settling the class action against Volkswagen for rigging emissions tests, the challenges of mass actions generally …
The U.S. capital markets experienced continued volatility throughout much of 2016, as the bond and equity markets were affected by a series of significant events: the November U.S. presidential election; the June Brexit vote; fluctuating oil prices over the course …
With a Republican sweep of Congress and the executive branch, there will be a concerted effort this year to reform and restrain the current regulatory state. The incoming Trump Administration and Republican Congress have a number of options to repeal …
The Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) has been working for over a year to develop a comprehensive framework to improve the OCC’s ability to identify and understand trends and innovations in the financial services industry, as well …
The Blue Sky Blog will be quiet for the next week, but we will be back, better than ever, for the New Year. Happy Holidays.…
Many expect Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president and Republican majorities in both houses of the U.S. Congress will result in a revised financial regulatory framework. Preliminary indications from the Trump transition team have signaled substantial changes may be in …
There is a general perception that statutory appraisal challenges have been on the rise over the past several years. The Delaware Court of Chancery has issued a number of opinions during that time that use the merger price minus synergies …
On December 2, 2016, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry announced formally that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will move forward with chartering financial technology (FinTech) companies that offer bank products and services as special …
President-Elect Trump’s transition website promises to “dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act and replace it with new policies to encourage economic growth and job creation.” For those who wonder what that might mean in more detail, we believe that Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s …
On November 7, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) overturned an Administrative Law Judge’s (the “ALJ”) initial decision[1] and issued an opinion In re The Robare Group, Ltd., Advisers Act Rel. No. 4566 (Nov. 7, …
In a September 22, 2016, post on this blog, available here, Professor Wulf Kaal asked in the title to his piece, “What Happens When Technology Is Faster Than the Law?” He noted that while “innovation driven by science and …
The question of whether government regulation is, on aggregate, helpful or harmful has been widely studied in economics. However, an equally important question is whether or not regulation is selectively enforced, and this has received substantially less attention from academic …
Regulatory compliance is time consuming and expensive for both financial institutions and regulators—and the complexity and cost is increasing. According to Federal Financial Analytics, a policy analysis firm, the six largest U.S. banks spent $70.2 billion on compliance in 2013, …