Columbia Law School
Sky Blog
Thank you so much, Neera [Tanden], for that very kind introduction. I’ve long admired all that you and everyone here at the Center for American Progress do to promote a progressive economic agenda. And I share your commitment to making
Dodd-Frank
Financial Enforcement Actions and the Role of Whistleblowers
In our recent paper, we investigate the association between employee whistleblowers and outcomes of financial misrepresentation enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). We examine SEC and DOJ enforcement actions for financial misrepresentation …
Cleary Gottlieb Discusses New Law Revising Dodd-Frank Act
The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”), which became law on May 24, contains the first major package of revisions to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The Act …
Wachtell Lipton Discusses Risk Management and the Board of Directors
The past year has seen continued evolution in the political, legal and economic arenas as technological change accelerates. Innovation, new business models, dealmaking and rapidly evolving technologies are transforming competitive and industry landscapes and impacting companies’ strategic plans and prospects …
Did Dodd-Frank Help Reduce Systemic Risk?
In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) was enacted on July 21, 2010 to overhaul the U.S. financial regulatory system. Dodd-Frank contains 390 rulemaking requirements, of which 274 (70.3 percent) …
Whistleblower Provisions of Dodd-Frank Deter Aggressive Financial Reporting
In 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a Whistleblower (WB) program as part of the Dodd-Frank Act to protect investors through greater deterrence of securities law violations and more effective enforcement. The program offers financial incentives to provide …
SEC Chair Talks Blockchain Scrutiny, Dodd-Frank Rulemaking, and Expectations for Gatekeepers
Thank you for that warm welcome.[1] I am delighted to join you today by videoconference. I know Meredith [Cross] has prepared questions. I look forward to answering those, as well as questions from this distinguished audience. When I was
Financial Reporting Choices of Large Private Firms
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of firms opting to either forgo the public equity market or exit the market in favor of private financing.[1] Increasingly, financing for private firms comes from private funds, …
Do Corporate Whistleblower Laws Deter Accounting Fraud?
Whistleblowers play a significant role in detecting corporate fraud. For example, recent high-profile financial frauds such as the Enron scandal and Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme were brought to light by whistleblowers. To encourage more whistleblowers to come forward, the Securities …
The Case Against Activity-Based Financial Regulation
An October 2017 Treasury Department report on the asset management and insurance industries includes an important—and fundamentally flawed—recommendation that could change the way U.S. regulators monitor risk in the financial system. The Treasury report recommends that regulators focus on identifying …
Arnold & Porter Discusses SEC’s Pay Ratio Guidance
Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K was adopted in 2015 to implement the pay ratio disclosure provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and will require pay ratio disclosure with respect to the first fiscal year beginning …
SEC Commissioner Piwowar Speaks on Market Structure
These days you rarely hear the name Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) in this town [Washington, D.C.] [1] without some mention of “FINRA 360,” the comprehensive self-evaluation initiated by FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook. From what I have seen …
How to Cure Too Big To Fail
The Dodd-Frank Act’s worthy objectives were to improve the safety, resilience, efficiency, and transparency of our financial system. Yet the law has drastically diminished the credit available to low-income Americans – the very people it was supposed to help. Equally …
The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 and the Future of SEC Administrative Enforcement
Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. of Columbia Law School is scheduled to speak on June 22 before the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, which asked him to address the CHOICE Act’s impact on the SEC’s enforcement powers. These …
Skadden Discusses Potential Impacts of the Financial CHOICE Act
On June 8, 2017, the House of Representatives passed, by a 233-186 vote (with all Democrats and one Republican voting against), the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017, a bill principally designed to reverse many features of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street …
The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017: Will Collective Amnesia Triumph?
Notwithstanding decidedly hostile testimony last month from this humble columnist,[1] the U.S. House of Representatives will soon pass legislation (probably on a strict party-line basis) entitled, “The Financial CHOICE Act of 2017” (H.R. 10) (which acronym stands for “Creating …
Corporate Governance, Shareholder Proposals, and Engagement Between Managers and Owners
Tucked into the Financial Choice Act (FCA), the recent endeavor in the House of Representatives to overturn significant segments of the Dodd-Frank Act, was an entirely unrelated provision. Section 844 of the FCA proposed a number of changes to Rule …
Paul Weiss Discusses Review of Dodd-Frank Provisions
On April 21, 2017, President Trump signed two presidential memoranda calling for review of portions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). These presidential memoranda follow the executive order signed on February …
The CHOICE Act Is a Bad Choice for Financial Reform
We may stand at the threshold (or is it precipice?) of repeal of important parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“the Dodd-Frank Act”) in the House of Representatives. (Prospects for repeal in the Senate seem …
The SEC as Financial Stability Regulator
The Financial Stability Oversight Council is the only regulatory body in the United States with an express mandate to “identify risks to the financial stability of the United States” and to “respond to emerging threats to the stability of the …