Sky Blog
In a recent study, we examine whether executive compensation contracts are designed to maximize firm value. There is considerable debate regarding executive compensation in both the public arena and academia. On the one hand, proponents of the “value maximization” …
In a new paper, we examine how tournament-based incentives affect corporate cash holdings and the value of those holdings for shareholders.
Before a firm selects a new CEO, it may run a tournament within the firm to rank its vice-presidents …
When high-profile cases of fraud make the news, we often focus our attention on the CEO or other C-suite executives, asking what signs were missed and how we might better anticipate who might commit fraud. Academics have researched the characteristics …
President Trump has repeatedly used his Twitter account to single out companies for criticism of their business practices, raising the question for a broad range of public companies of how to prepare for and potentially respond to such criticism. Of …
How much do corporate insiders make on their trades? It has long been shown that insiders realize significant positive abnormal returns on their transactions, in percentage terms. Surprisingly, however, there has been little research examining insiders’ dollar profits, even …
Much of the public has long believed that executives are overcompensated, a sentiment that has occasionally crept into legislation. In one case, Congress voted to impose punitive excise taxes on managers who received excessive golden parachute payments. Unlike most taxes …
President Donald Trump’s campaign proposals included changes to tax rates and a promise to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act. If enacted, these proposals could have a significant impact on the way businesses handle executive compensation, permitting companies greater flexibility in structuring …
On November 29, 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government issued a green paper[1] (the “Green Paper”) to canvass opinion on proposed reforms to the UK’s corporate governance framework.
A green paper is a government consultation document that …
Corporate governance has become even more important since the collapse of major firms in the 1990s and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, and the relationship between financial reporting and the capital markets is a big reason why. The debate …
The two most influential proxy advisory firms–Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis)–recently released their updated proxy voting guidelines for 2017. The key changes to the ISS and Glass Lewis policies are described below along with …
Corporate compliance — the internal processes that firms use to ensure that their employees do not violate applicable laws and regulations — has become big business. Regulation of business continues to grow, punctuated by landmark laws that have re-shaped the …
The New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Department”) issued a guidance memorandum on October 11[1] requiring regulated New York-chartered banking institutions to align their incentive compensation practices with the general principles laid out in the Interagency Guidance …
According to a recent survey of over 1,500 chief executive officers, creativity is the single most important leadership skill needed for enterprises to navigate today’s complex global business environment.[1] This is not surprising; innovative company culture has many benefits. …
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, …
The role that investors play in replacing chief executive officers of startup companies has been the subject of heated debate in the investing community, and it remains controversial whether investors in startups do better by replacing incumbent CEOs. Our recent …
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 …
Family does matter in the United States. Census data indicate that more than 20 percent of men have worked for the same employers as their fathers, while a recent New York Times article suggests that the sons of senators have …
In March 2016, the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) proposed new rules regarding disclosure of third-party compensation of directors. This third-party compensation, which may not be publicly disclosed, arises when a party other than the issuer, such as an activist …
While it is illegal for insiders to trade on material, non-public information, the SEC has created a safe harbor Rule 10b5-1 since October 2000, by allowing insiders to set up trading plans in advance of actual trading.[1] Since these …