Sky Blog
Under the leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins with a Republican majority on the commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to continue on its trajectory toward regulatory reform that marks a pivot from the prior administration.
On December 18, 2025, President Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (the “2026 NDAA”),which includes the Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act. The Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act amends Section 16(a) of the …
Climate-related reporting continues to be a controversial topic. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn its defense of enhanced climate-related disclosures, the European Commission is debating how to scale back mandatory sustainability reporting requirements under its Omnibus revisions, …
In the market for corporate control, regulation has long been viewed as a tax on activity, a hurdle to overcome, or a cost to be priced in. The conventional wisdom is straightforward: More regulation equals less activity. However, in a …
Between 2020 and the first half of 2024, corporations in a variety of industries adopted the language of social and environmental progress. They pledged to diversify their workforces, hired DEI professionals, denounced racial injustice, and announced plans to reduce greenhouse …
The federal government shutdown commenced at midnight on October 1, 2025, and proposals to reopen the government failed on October 3, extending the shutdown further into the fourth quarter.
On September 30, 2025, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued …
Corporate transparency is often assumed to be driven by law, regulation, and public scrutiny. Yet new research shows that private pressure – quiet, anonymous inquiries sent through companies’ grievance channels – can meaningfully shape how firms disclose sensitive information.
In …
Shareholder proposals on political issues—particularly lobbying spending disclosure and campaign finance issues—have been a common part of the proxy landscape for some time now. This proxy season, proposals seeking greater transparency around corporate political spending had surprising success compared to …
While climate change poses clear threats to corporate financial health, from disrupted supply chains to higher insurance costs, our new research shows that climate risks don’t always lead to lower credit ratings. In fact, we find, firms that increase transparency …
On July 1, 2025, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released new guidance[1] on disclosure requirements for offerings and registrations of securities by crypto asset exchange-traded product …
A subtle, yet potentially dangerous shift is underway in one of the most influential narrative sections of financial reports: the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A). Companies are increasingly crafting these disclosures not just for human shareholders or regulators, but for …
Climate change has become a central topic of discussion among banking regulators and policymakers. While many policymakers focus primarily on addressing the environmental externalities associated with carbon emissions, banking regulators confront a unique set of challenges that the current regulatory …
The promise of decentralized finance (DeFi) was that it would replace often conflict-ridden financial intermediaries and hierarchies with automated systems that we could trust. The reality, however, is that DeFi has not eradicated conflicts or trust issues but shifted them …
Do you know the difference between “carbon neutral” and “net zero”? If not, you have plenty of company. In a new paper, we show that few people can distinguish between these and similar terms and find that, while providing more …
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, particularly large language models, are quickly becoming integral to financial advising. Recent evidence, however, demonstrates that they can act against investors’ interests. In a 2023 experiment,researchers deployed GPT‑4 as an autonomous trading agent and found that …
In the world of legislative decision-making, one truth holds: U.S. legislators are heavily motivated by re-election. To win votes, they must understand and serve the economic interests of their constituents. This dynamic raises an intriguing question: How do members of …
Firms often face a free-rider problem when competitors learn about and implement the firms’ innovations without bearing the costs of development, a phenomenon known as knowledge spillovers. As recent empirical evidence shows, this causes substantial underinvestment in research and development …
In an earlier post, I discussed my paper arguing that significant changes to the corporate-disclosure regime should trigger review of aspects of the securities-fraud regime. This is because the disclosure regime and the securities-fraud regime go hand-in-hand. So if …
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a general purpose technology (GPT) with the potential to transform industries. As a result, the potential benefits of AI give firms strong reasons to adopt it – but also provides opportunities to exaggerate their …
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff recently updated its guidance on circumstances in which investors engaging with issuers on ESG and other matters can file a short-form Schedule 13G as a passive or institutional investor rather than a long-form …