disclosure

The Impact of Banking Regulation on Voluntary Disclosures

By Anya Kleymenova and Li Zhang April 3, 2019 by renholding

Firms disclose a variety of information to the public, some because they are required to do so by law or regulations, and others voluntarily because they want, for example, to signal their creditworthiness to potential investors. The level and effectiveness …

Disclosure Incentives When Competing Firms Have Common Ownership

By Jihwon Park, Jalal Sani, Nemit Shroff and Hal D. White April 2, 2019 by renholding

Over the past three decades, there has been tremendous change in the ownership of publicly-traded firms in the U.S. Consolidation in the asset management industry and the rise in mutual fund investing have led a small number of institutional investors …

SEC Chairman Delivers Remarks to the Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee

By Jay Clayton March 29, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Anne (Sheehan). Good morning everyone. It’s good to see everyone again, particularly as the last time we all met in person was in December of last year. I was glad to be able to participate with Commissioner Roisman …

SEC Commissioner Jackson Discusses FAST Act Adopting Release

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. March 27, 2019 by renholding

I want to begin by conveying my thanks to the staff in the Division of Corporation Finance for their hard work in developing today’s adopting release. I am especially grateful to Charles Kwon and Dan Greenspan, as well as Director …

SEC’s Corporate Finance Director Discusses Disclosing Risks

By William Hinman March 21, 2019 by renholding

Today, I would like to discuss [1] how the U.S. securities disclosure requirements, which are largely principles-based, apply in areas where the disclosure topics may be complex, associated with uncertain risks and rapidly evolving. Sounds like Brexit might fit that

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The Effect of SEC Comment Letters on M&A Outcomes

By Bret A. Johnson, Ling Lei Lisic, Joon Seok Moon and Mengmeng Wang March 14, 2019 by renholding

Recent research on the effectiveness of the SEC’s filing review and comment letter process has focused almost exclusively on reviews of Forms 10-K and other periodic filings. Reviews of filings involving transactions such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have received …

Does Public Ownership and Accountability Increase Diversity?

By Rembrand Koning and John-Paul Ferguson February 25, 2019 by renholding

For two generations, U.S. companies, regulators, and activists have grappled with how to increase employment diversity in large firms. Quotas and other explicit hiring targets have tended to fare poorly in the courts. Instead, diversity policies have come to focus …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses Key Considerations for Annual SEC Filings

By Robert E. Buckholz, Catherine M. Clarkin, Robert W. Downes, James M. Shea Jr. and Danielle B. Abada February 25, 2019 by renholding

As issuers prepare their Form 10‑K and 20‑F filings for fiscal year 2018, they should consider the guidance provided in some recent speeches from officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which highlight a number of considerations relating to …

Securities Disclosure As Soundbite: The Case of CEO Pay Ratios

By Steven A. Bank and George S. Georgiev February 11, 2019 by renholding

Since 2018, U.S. public companies have had to calculate and report a new, unconventional statistic—a CEO pay ratio—which links CEO pay to the pay of rank-and-file workers. Based on a last-minute addition to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the disclosure …

Latham & Watkins Discusses Key Compensation Items for 2019 Proxy Season

By Holly M. Bauer, David T. Della Rocca, Maj Vaseghi, Bradd L. Williamson and Stephanie Jeane January 25, 2019 by renholding

Even as the US government shutdown continues to create complexities for many companies,[1] it is business as usual for US public companies that are continuing their annual planning for the upcoming proxy season. Although 2019 introduces fewer significant changes …

Wachtell Lipton on the State of Play of Activism at Year-End 2018

By Martin Lipton and Zachary S. Podolsky January 3, 2019 by renholding

As we noted in early 2018, the threat of activism continues to be high, and has become a global phenomenon.  The conclusion of a volatile and dynamic 2018 prompts a brief update of the state of play.

• Activist assets under

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The Protection of Investors and the Compensation for their Losses: Australia

By Olivia Dixon and Jennifer G. Hill December 14, 2018 by renholding

Investor protection has been an ideal in corporate and securities law ever since the early 20^th century, when Berle and Means famously highlighted shareholder vulnerability in modern public corporations. In more recent times, investor protection has been treated as …

Transparency and the (E)valuation of Asset-Backed Securities

By Jed J. Neilson, Stephen G. Ryan, K. Philip Wang and Biqin Xie December 13, 2018 by renholding

In 2011, the commission appointed by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis concluded that “a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency put the financial system on a collision course with crisis” (The …

SEC Commissioner Discusses Improving Information for Investors in the Digital Age

By Kara M. Stein October 26, 2018 by renholding

I last spoke to you in May 2014 about “Building Momentum.”[1] At the time, I was a rookie Commissioner. Now, I stand before you after five years as a Commissioner and over 5,700 votes under my belt. It has

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Financial Misconduct and Strategic Corporate Disclosures

By Rebecca Files, Alex Holcomb, Gerald S. Martin and Paul Mason October 9, 2018 by renholding

Financial misconduct can lead to significant financial and reputational penalties for a firm and its managers, including hefty fines from regulators and steep drops in stock price. In fact, recent research finds that firms accused of fraud lose an average …

SEC’s Co-Director of Enforcement Talks About Her Division’s Impact

By Stephanie Avakian September 21, 2018 by renholding

My speech today [1] happens to fall a little less than two weeks before the close of Steve Peikin’s and my first full fiscal year as Co-Directors of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  In many respects, a year is an

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How Credit Default Swaps Affect Managers’ Voluntary Disclosure

By Jae B. Kim, Pervin K. Shroff, Dushyantkumar Vyas and Regina Wittenberg Moerman September 17, 2018 by renholding

Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) enable lenders to distribute credit risk to parties more willing and able to bear it, thereby enhancing the liquidity and flexibility of individual lenders and the financial system (Greenspan 2004). However, empirical evidence suggests that CDSs …

Do Investors Care Who Did the Audit?

By Marcus M. Doxey, James G. Lawson, Thomas J. Lopez and Quinn T. Swanquist September 14, 2018 by renholding

In 2008, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession called for a “standard-setting initiative to consider mandating the engagement partner’s signature on the auditor’s report” as a way to increase audit transparency.[1] The Public …

Disclosure Regulation in the Commercial Banking Industry: Lessons from the National Banking Era

By João Granja September 12, 2018 by renholding

In the aftermath of the 2007—2009 financial crisis, policymakers around the globe responded to calls for greater transparency in the financial system by adopting new rules and institutions that required more and better information disclosure by financial institutions. For example, …

Making Sustainability Disclosure Sustainable

By Jill E. Fisch September 10, 2018 by renholding

Issuers, investors, and regulators are paying increasing attention to corporate sustainability.  Commentators have proffered a variety of explanations for this attention ranging from the argument that corporations are morally obligated to act in a socially responsible manner to the claim …