Columbia Law School
Sky Blog
Thank you to Dan [Bigman] and the Corporate Board Member for inviting me to participate in today’s ESG Board Forum. Of course, the views I express here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my fellow Commissioners.
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Skadden Discusses SEC and ESG Disclosure
During his Senate confirmation hearing for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler said he would adhere to the U.S. Supreme Court’s view of materiality: Information is material (and should therefore be disclosed) if there is a …
Making ESG Metrics Trustworthy
Investors are flocking to companies with good environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and are threatening to shun companies with poor ones. For many investors, ESG scores are critical to a company’s long-term profitability, not to mention its impact on …
Quinn Emanuel Discusses SPAC Litigation Risks
Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, took 2020 by storm, with nearly 250 SPACs raising around $83 billion through initial public offerings (“IPOs”)—more than the previous five years combined.[1] The SPAC boom has only accelerated in 2021, with over 200 …
Discretionary Decision-Making and the S&P 500 Index
Discretion is an integral part of how indices, including stock market indices, are constituted, according to professors Rauterberg and Verstein and Robertson (here and here), and the S&P 500 index is no exception.
The S&P 500 is a …
SEC Commissioner Speaks at Asset Management Advisory Committee Meeting
Good morning to you all and thank you Ed [Bernard]. It is always a pleasure to welcome the hard working volunteers of AMAC back to the Commission. I also want to thank Sarah ten Siethoff and the staff of the
Wachtell Lipton on Whether the SEC Is Pushing the Boundaries of Regulation FD
On March 5, the SEC brought an enforcement action charging a public company and three of its investor relations personnel with violations of Regulation FD, alleging that the company’s IR personnel had fed non-public information to sell-side research analysts in …
Market Myopia’s Climate Bubble
A growing number of financial institutions, from BlackRock to the Bank of England, have reached the conclusion that markets are not accurately assessing climate change-related risks. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde recently warned that central bankers “will have to …
Commissioners Discuss SEC’s Enhanced Climate-Change Efforts
Over the past two weeks, we and the public have seen a steady flow of SEC “climate” statements and press releases.[1] Our Divisions of Corporation Finance, Examinations, and Enforcement all have announced climate- or ESG-related initiatives. What does this
Gibson Dunn Offers 2020 Year-End Securities Litigation Update
Notwithstanding the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and unprecedented changes in daily life and the economy, the second half of 2020 marched on to the steady drumbeat of securities-related lawsuits we have observed in recent years, including securities class and stockholder …
Shareholder Monitoring and Discretionary Disclosure
Regulation Fair Disclosure (“Reg FD”) is commonly believed to prohibit managers from disclosing information about their firm to select shareholders. But managers are in fact allowed to do so in several circumstances. Specifically, Reg FD exempts communications to shareholders who …
King & Spalding Discusses Takeaways from GameStop
The recent meteoric rise (and subsequent fall) of GameStop, AMC Theaters and a host of other “meme stocks” has prompted hedge funds, investment bankers, regulators and public company executives to critically re-examine their preparedness for extraordinary market volatility.
The meme …
The Duty to Disclose Inside Information: The Subtle Relationships Within the European Market Abuse Regulation
In our recent paper we discuss the European regime governing the disclosure of inside information. In particular, we try to find an answer to the question of which duties of the disclosure regime have been violated in two situations: where …
Addressing ESG in 2021: Who Is in Charge?
Over the course of 2020, market forces drove corporations and institutional investors to make expansive commitments to their purpose and social responsibility. This fueled companies in many regions to publish lengthy reports under the ESG moniker (Environmental, Social and Governance). …
How Material Are Disclosures in Annual Reports?
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) (collectively, “regulators”) have expressed concern over “disclosure overload,” or the concern that the sheer volume of disclosure in annual reports makes it difficult for investors to identify and …
Cleary Gottlieb Discusses New EU ESG Disclosure Obligations for Financial Services Firms
Over a year ago, on December 29, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures for the financial services sector (the “Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation”, or “SFDR”) entered into force. Just a few months remain before key …
Regulatory Costs of Being Public: Evidence from Bunching Estimation
Disclosure and internal governance regulations are, along with accounting rules, distinguishing features of the public firm. Deregulation agendas such as those of the Trump administration typically assume that many regulations on public firms have imposed high compliance costs. Such arguments …
Pandemic Disclosures: Covid-19 as a “Current Market Condition” for Mutual Funds
What constitutes a “current market condition” that mutual funds are required by SEC regulations to disclose? Current market condition risks arise because of changing market conditions that can affect investment performance. For some U.S.-registered funds, Covid-19 is prompting …
Paul Weiss Discusses SEC Guidance on Disclosure by SPACs
The Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance recently issued CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic 11 – Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (available here). This guidance highlights disclosure considerations for SPACs at both the IPO and business combination stages, with a …
Insider Trading and Strategic Disclosure
With COVID-19 cases rising rapidly around the world, Pfizer’s announcement on November 9, 2020, that its coronavirus vaccine was highly effective in early trials offered a rare bright spot for the coming winter.[1] But the news was soon dampened …