Columbia Law School
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Thank you. It’s good to be here at the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association — what we all know as SIFMA. John [Rogers], I look forward to your questions.
As is customary, I will note
capital markets
Does the Strength of Investor Protection Laws Predict Capital Market Development?
Which countries provide the strongest investor protection laws? How are such laws related to the level of capital market development and ownership concentration in public companies? In a series of influential works, La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny (1997, 1998, …
How Scrutinizing Honest Managers Encourages Earnings Management
Research in finance and accounting consistently documents that a significant number of managers overstate reported earnings when true earnings miss a benchmark [1]. Managers face strong incentives to meet and beat important earnings thresholds, such as the analyst consensus forecast …
The Causes and Consequences of Increased Cross-border Shareholder Activism
In a recent working paper, we look at what drives shareholder activism around the world and focus specifically on the role of corporate governance reforms.
Overview
While shareholder activism has been a force in U.S. capital markets for some time, …
Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses UK’s Autonomous Sanctions Regime
At 11pm on December 31, 2020, the Brexit transitional period ended and the UK’s autonomous sanctions regime, consisting of approximately 30 regulations, came into force. It is largely based on the EU’s sanctions legislation that was previously implemented in the …
Morrison & Foerster Discusses Publicly Traded Public Benefit Corporations
In 2013, Delaware passed legislation adopting a new corporate form, the public benefit corporation (PBC), with a view to allowing directors of for-profit corporations to take actions not just in pursuit of stockholder returns, but also with the “[intent] to …
SEC Chair Clayton Speaks on Market Function and Monitoring and Disclosure
From a systemic risk point of view, the SEC’s primary responsibilities[1] in this period of stress are three-fold:
- Market function. Using our authority, expertise and experience to help ensure the continuing, orderly and fair function of the securities
Shifting Contours of Directors’ Fiduciary Duties and Norms in Comparative Corporate Governance
The problems in global financial markets are often similar, even though the capital market structure across jurisdictions differs significantly. The beginning of the 21st century was marked by a spate of international corporate scandals, and the 2007-2009 global financial …
SEC Chair Seeks Public Input on Disclosure for Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities
Securitization plays a critical role in the U.S. capital markets and can enhance liquidity in important sectors of the economy. In particular, residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) play a significant role in enhancing liquidity in the residential mortgage market and thereby
SEC Chairman Clayton Talks Market Growth and Development
Welcome to the SEC’s 29th Annual International Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development.[1]
Thank you for being our guests over the next two weeks.
It is our honor to host 186 delegates from 69 countries this year.
The Protection of Investors and the Compensation for their Losses: Australia
Investor protection has been an ideal in corporate and securities law ever since the early 20th century, when Berle and Means famously highlighted shareholder vulnerability in modern public corporations. In more recent times, investor protection has been treated as …
SEC Chair Talks Rulemaking Over the Past Year and the Road Ahead
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 Patents’ Disclosure Role Can Ease Market Uncertainty
In addition to providing legal protection, patents serve a disclosure function aimed chiefly at inventors and technology customers. However, the effect of this disclosure on capital markets has been left largely unexamined in the literature, creating a gap in understanding …
Buy-Side Analysts and Earnings Conference Calls
The role of sell-side equity analysts in the capital markets has been researched extensively by academics over the past several decades. In contrast, due to data limitations, there has been little research on buy-side analysts. Buy-side analysts work for institutional …
Thinking Holistically Before Dropping Quarterly Reporting
Robust capital markets are widely believed to signal economic vitality, and a reliable barometer of such vitality was historically a rising number of IPOs and listings. Yet, as we are experiencing record setting economic expansion, that barometer has failed us. …
Cutting Disclosure Frequency Is the Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem
President Trump has directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to study whether a public company’s reporting requirements should shift from a quarterly to semi-annual schedule. Doing so, according to the president, “would make business (jobs) even better in the U.S.” …
The Power of Words: How SEC Comment Letters to Foreign Issuers Affect the Capital Markets
In our recent paper, we find that the tone of language in Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) comment letters after enforcement reviews has capital market implications, which are amplified or abbreviated based on the strength of a given country’s enforcement.…
Columbia’s Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets Is Hiring Post-Doc Research Fellow
Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School’s Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets is now accepting applications for their Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. This position is intended for a person who expects to begin a law school teaching …
The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation
Disclosure and reporting regulation is a central and recurring policy issue that has received significant attention in academic research on accounting, finance, and economics. Further fueling demand for this research are increasingly frequent requests that policy makers and regulators conduct …
Ropes & Gray Discusses U.S. Treasury’s Report on Capital Markets
On Friday, October 6, the Treasury Department issued a report to the President on streamlining and reforming U.S. capital market regulation. The report covers recommendations on nine topics across the U.S. financial regulatory system. One of the topics – Access …