The under-pricing of initial public offerings (IPOs) has puzzled researchers for decades. First-day returns average around 15 percent, translating into billions of dollars left on the table by issuers and picked up by investors allocated shares in the IPO.  The …

In a recent paper, we examine how the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) could reshape the behavior of American corporations. The CS3D holds large corporations legally accountable for how they protect human rights and the environment throughout …

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 …

Venture capital (VC) is a key driver of economic growth. A substantial body of legal and financial scholarship has examined the institutional factors that shape VC activity. In the first of two papers, we build on the idea that the …

The digital economy has put antitrust regulation in the spotlight, with increasingly dominant technology companies – such as Amazon, Google, Facebook (Meta), Apple, and Microsoft – reviving concerns about private monopolies reminiscent of Standard Oil and AT&T. Yet the enforcement …

In the United States, there is talk of a backlash against ESG, while in Europe, the number of laws requiring companies to comply with ESG standards is growing steadily. This difference in attitude and approach toward ESG may, in part, …

The modern economy is fueled by personal data. Described as the “new gold” or “new oil” of today’s digital economy, data are being monitored, collected, and analyzed by public and private entities for strategic and economic value. Coupled with artificial …

I teach a course on “Financial Crises/Regulatory Responses” with the economist Patrick Bolton. This course addresses the struggle to establish and maintain financial stability, an apex goal of the financial system.  Last week, I told the students that by the …

The venue for stock trading is important. Exchanges provide high immediacy and transparency, while dark markets are slower and more opaque.[1] Traders generally prefer exchanges when they want to capitalize on information before it becomes known but value dark markets …

Private firms are the backbone of our economies, influencing everything from investment levels to job creation to market competition. Given their collective significance, various regulatory agencies outside the U.S. impose financial disclosure (and sometimes audit) requirements on these firms. In …

In the realm of corporate law, board directors are bound by fiduciary duties of loyalty and care to both the company and its stockholders.[1] The interpretation of these duties, however, is national, even in the European Union, despite its …

In its approach to digital assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been criticized for regulating by enforcement. In reality, the SEC has taken a twofold approach. In addition to bringing lawsuits against crypto exchanges, the commission has proposed amending …

ESG ratings play an important role in helping companies and financial institutions integrate sustainability into their decisions. Yet critics argue that regulations are needed to address the ratings’ many shortcomings: a lack of transparency in the methodologies behind them, the …

Over the past decade, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been an important agenda item in EU-China political dialogue and technical cooperation on promoting decent work and international labor standards. The EU has defined CSR as a process “whereby companies integrate …