Columbia Law School
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Dodd-Frank
SEC Chair White Offers a New Model for Enforcement
Good morning and thank you, Dean (Trevor) Morrison (of New York University Law School) for that very kind introduction. It is a pleasure to be here today and I want to thank the NYU Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement
SEC Investor Advocate Talks Dodd-Frank and Regulation’s Future
Today (November 16), we will consider the future of financial regulation and, more specifically, whether the Dodd-Frank Act went too far.[1]. I am I happy to share my views with you, but before I begin, I must give
SEC Announces Chair Mary Jo White’s Departure Plans
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White, after nearly four years as the agency’s head, today announced that she intends to leave at the end of the Obama Administration. Under Chair White’s leadership, the Commission strengthened protections for investors …
Latham & Watkins Discusses New SEC Guidance on CEO Pay Ratio Rules
The staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidance on the SEC’s rules requiring companies to disclose the pay ratio between their CEO and median compensated employee. The staff’s new …
Too Big to Fool: Moral Hazard, Bailouts, and Corporate Responsibility
There is an increasing worldwide focus on trying to end the problem of “too big to fail” (“TBTF”). Regulators are concerned that systemically important financial firms might engage in excessive risk-taking because they would profit from a success and be …
Breaking Up (Banks) Is Hard to Do
The latest Wells Fargo bank scandal has rekindled debates about breaking up banks that are too big to fail, too big to manage or too big to comply.
Echoing the debate between Louis Brandeis and Teddy Roosevelt in the Progressive …
Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses D.C. Circuit Ruling Invalidating CFPB Structure
On October 11, 2016, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) is “unconstitutionally structured” because its authority is vested in a single appointee who can be …
SEC Settlements After Dodd-Frank
On September 23, U.S. District Judge William Pauley refused to approve a settlement between the CFTC and Deutsche Bank covering the bank’s failure to report swaps properly. Instead of rubber-stamping the settlement, the judge asked the parties for additional briefing. …
SEC Announces Enforcement Results for 2016
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on October 11 that, in fiscal year 2016, it filed 868 enforcement actions exposing financial reporting-related misconduct by companies and their executives and misconduct by registrants and gatekeepers, as the agency continued to enhance …
SEC Enforcement Chief Ceresney Discusses Focus on Auditors and Auditing
Good morning and thank you for that very kind introduction. It’s a pleasure to speak with you all today. Before I start, I must give our standard disclaimer that the views I express today are my own and do not …
Ropes & Gray discusses SEC Whistleblower Enforcement and Severance Agreements
On August 30, 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) reaffirmed its commitment to its whistleblower program by issuing the second largest award in its five-year history. While admittedly less dramatic than this $22 million payment, …
Davis Polk discusses Federal Agencies’ Report on Banks and Nonbank Affiliates
On September 8, the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC issued the long-expected report to Congress and the FSOC, as required under section 620 of the Dodd-Frank Act, regarding activities and investments of banks and their nonbank affiliates, which were defined …
Should Say-on-Pay Votes Be Binding?
The practice of allowing shareholders to cast non-binding say-on-pay votes has spread quickly and broadly throughout the world. It seemed that investors would finally get the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with outrageous or ill-conceived compensation packages.
The practice was, …
Financial Reform’s Internationalism
Financial reform has driven many changes in American governance, but the most dramatic one may prove to be the government’s cautious, but wide-ranging, embrace of a revised global regime to regulate international finance. That reform has moved the equilibrium of …
A Plea for a Better Response to a Failed Say on Pay Vote
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act provided shareholders of U.S. public corporations the right to vote on chief executive officers’ compensation, at least every three years. The so–called say on pay vote is advisory but was designed to curb overly generous executive …
Morrison & Foerster’s Initial Take on the CFPB’s Debt Collection Outline
On July 28, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) issued its outline of proposals under consideration for the regulation of debt collection. This 117-page release, entitled “Small Business Review Panel for Debt Collector and Debt Buyer Rulemaking: …
Debevoise & Plimpton discusses CFPB’s Plan for Reforming Debt Collection Industry
On July 28, in conjunction with a field hearing on debt collection, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) released an outline of proposals under consideration to regulate the debt collection industry (the “Outline”).[1] Released as part …
Fixing the Repo Market: The Piece Regulators Missed When Reforming the Financial Markets
We all remember the hectic summer and fall of 2008, when the U.S. financial system was at the brink of collapse. Since then, policymakers have enacted structural reforms to the financial system but left the market in repurchase agreements largely …
Debevoise & Plimpton discusses SEC Action Against an Employer for Agreements Requiring Employee Whistleblowers to Waive Recovery
On August 10, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) announced its second major enforcement action against an employer for using contracts with employees that seek to impede employees from engaging in protected whistleblowing activity. Under rules …