The Irrepressible Myth That SEC Overregulation Has Chilled IPOs

By John C. Coffee, Jr. May 29, 2018 by renholding

The following is an abbreviated version of Professor Coffee’s May 23 testimony before the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments. The deleted portions of his testimony relate to the specific content of proposed bills to …

Gibson Dunn Discusses SIFMA Report on Helping More Companies Go and Stay Public

By Glenn Pollner, Hillary Holmes, Jessica Annis and Nicolas Dumont May 16, 2018 by renholding

On April 27, 2018, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”), the leading industry group representing broker-dealers, banks and asset managers, along with other securities industry related groups, released a report called “Expanding the On-Ramp: Recommendations to Help More …

The Middle-Market IPO Tax

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. April 26, 2018 by renholding

It’s a real honor to be here with you today at the Greater Cleveland Middle Market Forum.* In addition to leading some of the nation’s most promising young companies, you all have done exceptional work making sure that the …

Blue Sky Banter Podcast: SEC’s Robert Jackson on Dual Class Shares and More

By Reynolds Holding April 19, 2018 by renholding

Robert Jackson, a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a former professor at Columbia Law School, speaks with Reynolds Holding about becoming a commissioner, the problem of perpetual dual class stock, and what the commission can do

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Sticking Around Too Long? Dynamics of the Benefits of Dual-Class Structures

By Hyunseob Kim and Roni Michaely April 12, 2018 by renholding

Lawyers and academics generally have a dim view of dual-class share structures. When Snap Inc., a technology-based social media company, was preparing for its initial public offering (IPO) in early 2017, for example, CalPERS and many other prominent institutional investors …

Stock Market Indices: Inside the Black Box

By Anita Anand and Adriana Z. Robertson March 21, 2018 by renholding

The news that a whistleblower contacted U.S. regulators last month about alleged manipulation of the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX, highlights near universal reliance on information that stock market indices provide. While the VIX is not itself …

Spotify’s Direct Listing in the U.S. and Lessons from the UK

By Ambrus Kecskés March 1, 2018 by renholding

If all goes well with its February 28 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Spotify will be the first firm to go public in the U.S. via a direct listing on a stock exchange. Simply put, this means that, …

SEC Commissioner Jackson Talks Mandatory Arbitration

By Robert J. Jackson, Jr. February 28, 2018 by renholding

I’m so glad to be back home here in New York. It’s an incredible honor to be speaking after Mayor Bloomberg today. And I’m sure the Mayor will be pleased to know that I plan to return and speak in

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SEC Investor Advocate Discusses Mandatory Arbitration as Illusory Remedy for Shareholders

By Rick A. Fleming February 27, 2018 by renholding

Today [February 24, 2018] is a special day for the [Securities and Exchange Commission’s] Office of the Investor Advocate.[1] I started this job four years ago today, and because I am the first Investor Advocate that is also the …

Optimal Disclosure and Litigation Rules around IPOs and SEOs

By Onur Bayar, Thomas Chemmanur and Paolo Fulghieri February 6, 2018 by renholding

In recent years, there have been a number of reforms to the legal and regulatory framework governing disclosures and litigation around initial public offerings (IPOs) and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). The most prominent of these are the JOBS Act of …

The Spotify Listing: Can an “Underwriter-less” IPO Attract Other Unicorns?

By John C. Coffee, Jr. January 16, 2018 by renholding

Press reports indicate that Spotify, the music streaming company, is planning an initial public offering in March or April of this year, and that it plans to use a novel “direct listing” approach that has not previously been used at …

Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses FCA’s Reforms to UK’s IPO Process

By James C. Scoville, Vera Losonci, Laurence Hanesworth and Thomas Matthews November 21, 2017 by Carly Goeman

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) has published changes to the Conduct of Business sourcebook (“COBS”) to boost the transparency of the IPO process and tackle conflicts of interest that may arise from the interaction between an issuer and …

How Do Small Issuers React to Innovation in Securities Offering Methods?

By Anzhela Knyazeva November 2, 2017 by renholding

In 2015 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments that significantly expanded Regulation A, a previously little used provision that allows companies to conduct small public securities offerings without having to comply with all the requirements applicable to traditional …

Ropes & Gray Discusses U.S. Treasury’s Report on Capital Markets

By Keith F. Higgins October 20, 2017 by renholding

On Friday, October 6, the Treasury Department issued a report to the President on streamlining and reforming U.S. capital market regulation. The report covers recommendations on nine topics across the U.S. financial regulatory system. One of the topics – Access …

Davis Polk Explains How New Revenue Recognition Rules May Slow 2018 Offerings

By Alan F. Denenberg, Joseph A. Hall, Michael Kaplan, Sarah K. Solum and Richard D. Truesdell, Jr. October 9, 2017 by renholding

New revenue recognition rules (ASC 606 and IFRS 15) are required to be adopted by most public companies starting January 1, 2018 and most private companies starting January 1, 2019. These changes are widely regarded as some of the most …

Another Reason Why Companies Avoid IPOs

By Bernard S. Sharfman September 29, 2017 by renholding

In a recent New York Times article, Steven Davidoff Solomon listed several possible explanations for a significant decline in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs). Among the most interesting was that there are many large and successful high-tech …

How Dual Class Shares in IPOs Can Create Value

By Bernard S. Sharfman August 1, 2017 by renholding

The shareholder empowerment movement (the “movement”), driven primarily by public pension funds and union-related funds with over $3 billion in assets, has renewed its effort to eliminate, restrict, or at least discourage companies from creating dual class share structures in …

Benefit Corporations and Public Markets

By Brett McDonnell July 31, 2017 by renholding

Benefit corporations are a new legal form of business association created to support social enterprises. Over half of U.S. states have adopted a benefit corporation statute, and over 2,000 companies have chosen the form. So far, almost all of these …

The Agency Costs of Teamwork

By Jeremy McClane May 9, 2017 by renholding

It is common wisdom among transactional lawyers that good teamwork results in smoother deals and better service for their clients. Perhaps for this reason, capital-markets practices frequently tout their teamwork skills as a source of value for clients, especially in …

Can Investors Anticipate Post-IPO Mergers and Acquisitions?

By Christopher W. Anderson, Gokhan Torna and Jian Huang March 21, 2017 by renholding

Of the nearly 6,000 U.S. firms that conducted initial public offerings between 1980 and 2008, 38 percent became merger bidders within three years after the IPO and 12 percent became takeover targets. It is important that investors understand these developments, …

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Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

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