Addressing ESG in 2021: Who Is in Charge?

By Samuel G. Liss January 29, 2021 by renholding

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?

By Jenna D’Adduzio January 22, 2021 by renholding

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

By Géraldine Bourguignon, Helena Grannis, Caroline Petruzzi McHale, Ferdisha Snagg and Clara Cibrario Assereto January 19, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

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

By Michael Ewens, Kairong Xiao and Ting Xu January 8, 2021 by renholding

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

By Anne M. Tucker, Yusen Xia and Susan Navarro Smelcer January 5, 2021 by renholding

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

By Mark S. Bergman, John C. Kennedy, Raphael M. Russo, and David Curtiss January 5, 2021 by renholding

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

By Joshua Mitts December 9, 2020 by renholding

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 …

Biden and the SEC: Some Possible Agendas

By John C. Coffee, Jr. December 2, 2020 by renholding

This is the gossip season, and almost everyone has heard a rumor about who will be the next chair of the SEC. Although I was interviewed by the Biden transition team (for my views, not as a candidate), my sources …

Alternative Venture Capital: The New Unicorn Investors

By Anat Alon-Beck December 1, 2020 by renholding

The COVID-19 outbreak provides fertile ground for sweeping regulatory changes. On May 19, 2020, for example, President Trump issued “Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery Executive Order 13924”, which prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Department …

Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility Legislation Around the World

By Li-Wen Lin November 20, 2020 by renholding

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is typically assumed to be a voluntary rather than mandatory initiative. Yet, over the past few decades, a growing number of countries have adopted laws that explicitly require corporations to undertake CSR.

To date, most scholarly …

Separating Owners from Control: The Proposed DOL Proxy Voting Rule and Other Actions on Shareholder Activism

By Frederick Alexander October 8, 2020 by renholding

On October 3, The Shareholder Commons and B Lab submitted their comment on a recent new rule (the “Proxy Proposal”) proposed by the Department of Labor (the “DOL.”) The Proxy Proposal would limit independent proxy voting by pension trustees. It …

How to Talk When a Machine is Listening: Corporate Disclosure in the Age of AI

By Sean Cao, Baozhong Yang and Alan L. Zhang October 1, 2020 by renholding

The annual report, like other regulatory filings, is more than a legal requirement; it provides an opportunity for public companies to communicate their financial health, promote their culture and brand, and engage with a full spectrum of stakeholders. How readers …

Exchange-Traded Confusion: How Industry Practices Undermine Product Comparisons in Exchange Traded Funds

By Ryan Clements September 22, 2020 by renholding

Despite their popularity[1] and growing importance in U.S. capital markets,[2] exchange traded funds (ETFs) are incredibly difficult (at times even impossible) to accurately compare side-by-side. In a new article, I show how a variety of discretionary industry …

SEC Chair Clayton Discusses Modernizing Framework for Disclosures

By Jay Clayton August 27, 2020 by renholding

Good morning. This is an open meeting of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, under the Government in the Sunshine Act. I would like start today’s meeting by welcoming Commissioner Crenshaw to her first open meeting.

Today [August 26], we

…

Public Disclosure and Consumer Financial Protection

By Yiwei Dou and Yongoh Roh August 17, 2020 by renholding

The 2008 financial crisis triggered a surge of interest in regulating consumer financial markets. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to safeguard consumer interests. Since 2011, the CFPB …

Executive Private Misconduct

By Tom C.W. Lin August 4, 2020 by renholding

Over the last few years, misbehavior of corporate executives like Harvey Weinstein, Steve Wynn, Leslie Moonves, and Elon Musk has outraged many people around the world. The misconduct has ranged from the inadvisable to the unethical to the criminal. Almost …

Activist Short Selling Today: The Two Sides of the Coin

By John C. Coffee, Jr. July 7, 2020 by renholding

Two extraordinary accounting scandals — one at Luckin Coffee Inc. in China and the other at Wirecard AG, the German digital payments firm — have revealed brazen and bankrupting frauds, directed by the most senior executives at each firm. Together, …

SEC Chair Clayton Speaks on Municipal Securities Disclosure

By Jay Clayton June 17, 2020 by renholding

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you to the Office of Municipal Securities for organizing this conference. And thank you to all the panelists for taking time to join us today.[1]

State of the Municipal Securities Market

Since December 2018, when

…

Davis Polk Discusses the SEC and Inadequate Perk Disclosure

By Robert Cohen, Ning Chiu, Joseph Hall, Betty Moy Huber and Kyoko Takahashi Lin June 10, 2020 by renholding

A $900,000 fine is a reminder for companies to use care in tracking and disclosing all elements of executive compensation.

Between 2015 and 2019, Argo Group International Holding, Ltd. reported some $1.2 million in perks and similar personal benefits paid …

« Previous 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 22 Next »

The CLS Blue Sky Blog

Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

disclosure