Sky Blog
What role does public disclosure by a defendant firm play in the outcome of securities fraud class actions? In a recent article we study this question and find when a defendant firm discloses more via press releases and conference calls, …
Under the long-awaited proposed rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 1, 2015, generally, all US publicly listed companies would be required to adopt broad clawback policies and make new clawback-related disclosures. Although these requirements likely will …
On May 13, 2015, the Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee (the “EMSAC” or “Committee”) held its inaugural meeting (the “Inaugural Meeting”) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”) in Washington, D.C.[1] Discussions during the Inaugural Meeting …
On June 5, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered into settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings with Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) and some of its former executives due to the company’s alleged manipulation of financial results and concealment of problems …
In 1999 Kotsovolos, the leading Electronics Supplier in Greece, reported in its initial public offering prospectus an earnings forecast that missed its actual earnings, as announced by its first annual report, by 234%. This inaccuracy is attributed to the mandatory …
On April 30, 2015, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) approved for publication in the Federal Register proposed amendments to the trade option exemption (the “Proposal”) that would reduce reporting and recordkeeping requirements for trade option counterparties that are not …
On April 29, 2015, the SEC issued a proposing release regarding the so-called “pay versus performance” disclosure mandated by Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The proposed rules would require certain companies registered under …
The scholarly literature on institutional design focuses on how legal institutions, including administrative agencies, legislatures and courts, should be organized in order to produce the best legal outcomes. In a recent article, I consider how this literature might help …
In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance that requires companies to tell shareholders how they may be harmed by proposed energy regulations, unless the company determines that the regulation will be unlikely to affect the company.[1]…
On 18 February 2015, the European Commission published a green paper on building a Capital Markets Union, alongside two complementary consultation papers on a revised EU framework for securitisation and a review of the Prospectus Directive. The proposals are part …
In this paper, we study peer firm behavior to ascertain (i) whether exposure to financial misrepresentation fuels similar behavior or deters it among peer firms; and (ii) what factors increase or decrease the likelihood of contagion? The prior years have …
On February 10, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed settled administrative cease-and-desist proceedings against two former chief financial officers (“CFOs”) of Saba Software, Inc. for their failure to reimburse the company for the stock-sale profits and bonuses they …
“I am raising the question here and internally at the SEC as to whether investors need and are optimally served by the detailed and lengthy disclosures about all of the topics that companies currently provide in the reports they are …
On February 9, 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a proposed rule related to the disclosure of hedging policies applicable to board members, officers, and other employees. The proposed rule would implement one of the remaining requirements …
In December 2013, the SEC at the direction of Congress under the JOBS Act dutifully provided an initial SEC staff report addressing securities disclosure requirements for public companies to question whether the SEC’s detailed disclosure mandates for public company disclosure …
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Stratte-McClure v. Morgan Stanley, No. 13-0627-CV, 2015 WL 136312 (2d Cir. Jan. 12, 2015) affirmed dismissal of a securities fraud class action lawsuit. The Court also ruled, …
Speed Read
In two recent rulings, the New York Supreme Court rejected settlements arising from lawsuits in which plaintiff stockholders challenged the defendant public companies’ merger-related disclosures. The court in each case found that proposed supplemental disclosures that defendants would …
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that breaking up illegal cartels leads to consumer savings of at least 10% of annual sales in the relevant market. However, from the regulator’s perspective it is notoriously difficult to identify cartels. Even more …
The third proxy season of the Dodd-Frank Act’s mandatory shareholder “say-on-pay” advisory votes is well underway, and “round two” of shareholder say-on-pay litigation is in full swing. Unlike the first round of say-on-pay lawsuits, which were based on negative advisory …