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 …

Insider Trading Ahead of Cyber Breach Announcements

By Zhaoxin Lin, Travis R.A. Sapp, Jackie Rees Ulmer and Rahul Parsa September 4, 2018 by renholding

On March 14, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former chief information officer of Equifax with insider trading. The complaint alleged that he profited from selling stock ahead of the September 2017 public announcement of a major cybersecurity …

How Patents’ Disclosure Role Can Ease Market Uncertainty

By Ali Mohammadi, Mehdi Beyhaghi and Pooyan Khashabi August 31, 2018 by renholding

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 …

SEC Chair Clayton Talks Capital Formation

By Jay Clayton August 30, 2018 by renholding

I am delighted to participate in the 36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival here in Nashville, Tennessee. I would like to speak for about 25 minutes about key capital formation initiatives at the SEC.[1] After my remarks, I will be joined by

…

What Really Drives “Short-Termism”?

By John C. Coffee, Jr. August 27, 2018 by renholding

Earlier this month, the CEO of Pepsi Co. suggested to President Trump that eliminating quarterly reporting (and shifting to biannual reporting) would reduce the pressure on managers to focus on the short-term. As impulsive as Elon Musk, the president bought …

Thinking Holistically Before Dropping Quarterly Reporting

By James D. Cox August 27, 2018 by renholding

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. …

Financial Reporting Frequency

By Donald C. Langevoort August 27, 2018 by renholding

I should be a prime candidate to support the lengthening of the financial reporting cycle from three to six months, as the White House—and many others—now say they want the SEC to do. I want public corporations to be more …

Quarterly Reporting and Market Liquidity

By Joshua R. Mitts August 27, 2018 by renholding

Trading in U.S. equity markets is fast and cheap. While proponents of ending quarterly reporting point to the dangers of short-termism, less frequent disclosure is also likely to lead to a decline in liquidity and to greater trading costs. The …

Cutting Disclosure Frequency Is the Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem

By Charles K. Whitehead August 27, 2018 by renholding

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.” …

Voluntary Disclosure and Firm Visibility: Evidence from Initial Public Offerings

By Michael Dambra, Bryce Schonberger and Charles Wasley August 23, 2018 by renholding

Legal academics and practitioners have long emphasized the important role that disclosure plays in the initial public offering (IPO) process. Issuers and their underwriters provide information via a prospectus and corresponding IPO roadshow to mitigate the information gap between the …

How the Level of Blame Affects Companies’ Willingness to Disclose

By Jason D. Schloetzer, AyungTseng, Teri Lombardi Yohn and Yeo Sang Yoon August 21, 2018 by renholding

What motivates a firm to disclose information rather than remain silent following a material, negative economic event? For example, why did oil companies issue multiple, detailed disclosures about oil spills caused by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita but not disclose …

Do Financial Analysts Help Improve Firm Productivity?

By Marco Navone, Eliza Wu and Thomas To August 7, 2018 by renholding

Academic researchers in corporate finance have in recent years taken a renewed interest in the impact of private firms on employment, growth, and other positive developments in national economies. In a recent article, we develop this new field of research …

Is Silence Golden? Negative Effects of Mandatory Disclosure

By Sudarshan Jayaraman and Joanna S. Wu July 30, 2018 by renholding

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” – Dalai Lama XIV

Disclosure regulation is a cornerstone of modern securities markets. Its economic consequences have been extensively studied …

How a Uniform Disclosure Regime Would Empower Benefit Corporations

By Brent J. Horton July 24, 2018 by renholding

Benefit corporations[1] are free to pursue profit and purpose.[2] That is to say, each benefit corporation is free to focus on good acts, defined as those acts that have “a material positive impact on society and the environment.”…

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses Hot Topics in Corporate Governance

By Sullivan & Cromwell July 16, 2018 by renholding

Corporate Governance, Surveys, Policies and Reports

Lazard Report Finds Increased Shareholder Activism in Q1 2018: Lazard’s Quarterly Review of Shareholder Activism for Q1 of 2018 found increased activism by shareholders in terms of number of campaigns initiated, board seats

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How M&A Laws Affect the Risk of Stock Price Crashes

By Balasingham Balachandran, Huu Nhan Duong, Hoang Luong and Lily Nguyen July 5, 2018 by renholding

In a new cross-nation study, we discuss our findings on how the takeover market affects stock-price crash risk, defined as the likelihood of a sudden, drastic decline in the stock price of a firm. An important consideration for risk management …

SEC Updates Definition of “Smaller Reporting Companies”

By Securities and Exchange Commission June 29, 2018 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted on June 28, 2018, to adopt amendments to the “smaller reporting company” (SRC) definition to expand the number of companies that qualify for certain existing scaled disclosure accommodations.

“I want our public capital markets

…

SEC Adopts Changes to Disclosure of Funds’ Liquidity Risk

By Securities and Exchange Commission June 29, 2018 by renholding

The Securities and Exchange Commission on June 28, 2018, adopted amendments to public liquidity-related disclosure requirements for certain open-end funds. Under the amendments, funds would discuss in their annual or semi-annual shareholder report the operation and effectiveness of their liquidity

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Financial Misreporting: Hiding in the Shadows or in Plain Sight?

By Delphine Samuels, Daniel J. Taylor and Robert E. Verrecchia June 13, 2018 by renholding

It’s widely assumed that executives are less likely to inflate earnings at high profile companies under a good deal of regulatory oversight. And yet it’s also widely known that managers in high profile companies have an incentive to overstate their …

SEC Chief Accountant Talks Financial Reporting and Innovation

By Wesley Bricker June 7, 2018 by renholding

Thank you, Robert [Hodgkinson] for the kind introduction. Thank you, also, to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) for sponsoring this event. I am delighted to be in London and with you this afternoon. London continues …

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