Sky Blog
For nearly a decade, debates over ESG – environmental, social, and governance – disclosures have dominated corporate law and securities regulation. Should companies be required to disclose information about climate risk, workforce diversity, or governance practices? At first glance, this …
When a team of researchers asked an artificial intelligence system to design a railway network that minimized the risk of train collisions, the AI delivered a surprising solution: Halt all trains entirely. No motion, no crashes. A perfect safety record, …
Shareholders and investor advocacy groups have long criticized executives for being paid top dollar while achieving subpar returns for shareholders. In response, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) passed the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which has two, related provisions that …
Shifting U.S. enforcement priorities may soon create a crisis in international anti-corruption efforts. For decades, the United States spearheaded those efforts through prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). On February 10, however, President Donald Trump issued an Executive …
Good morning and welcome to the annual conference on federal and state securities cooperation, organized jointly by the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”).[1] Inside the SEC, this gathering …
The most important question in whistleblowing is a straightforward one: Why does whistleblowing work? Modernized whistleblower award laws, such as the False Claims Act and Dodd-Frank Act, have had immense impacts on the detection and prosecution of white-collar crimes. …
Almost exactly a year after issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Personal Financial Data rights, on October 22, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final Rule under Section 1033 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. …
Whistleblowers who exposed what has been called “one of the biggest frauds in Texas history” are not eligible to receive Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower awards based on the collections recovered in a bankruptcy proceeding, according to a recent …
The Supreme Court recently upheld the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding structure in a 7–2 decision that will likely pave the way for renewed regulatory activity by the agency in the near future.
Enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, …
On May 6, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Housing Finance Agency re-proposed their joint rule to implement Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires federal financial regulators …
On March 7, 2024, in a speech before the American Bar Association, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a “90-day sprint” to establish a new Justice Department whistleblower program. In her speech, Monaco pointed to other highly successful whistleblower …
If you follow the financial press, you have probably seen coverage of the new bank capital requirements that federal regulators proposed last year. These rules would strengthen capital levels for the United States’ largest banks and thereby complete the implementation …
In August, the SEC proposed rules requiring broker-dealers (BDs) and investment advisers (IAs) to identify and eliminate or neutralize the effect of conflicts of interest associated with their use of technologies, widely defined (Proposal). My primary concern about the Proposal …
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“DFA”) was signed into law in July 2010. The DFA introduced several reforms; collectively, these reforms were intended to reduce the risk of the financial sector and to provide financial stability …
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are in the midst of drafting regulations to implement the anti-money laundering (AML) whistleblower program. The program, established in 2021 by the AML Act of 2020 and reformed in …
On June 7, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to Regulation M, replacing the investment-grade exceptions for non-convertible debt or preferred equity securities with credit risk exceptions based on a specified probability of default threshold assessed …
Today [June 7], the Commission is considering adopting two final rules related to the security-based swaps markets. I am pleased to support these rules because they will enhance the integrity of the security-based swaps markets.
The 2008 financial crisis had
The 1990s was the decade of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The Cold War was over. It was the dawn of the internet and the Spice Girls. Seinfeld was on TV. Bill Clinton brought blue jeans and Domino’s delivery …
On February 22, 2023, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market released their respective versions of a proposed rule that implements the SEC’s clawback rule mandated by Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The SEC’s final rule, …
A recent policy innovation is the use of securities regulations to solve social challenges. It started with mine-labor-safety and conflict-minerals disclosures in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and continues today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal to mandate climate …