My fellow Commissioners and I have agreed to keep our remarks brief so we can move forward promptly with this important program. I am going to highlight four items.
First, thank you to Bill, Michele Anderson and staff from the
In recent years, we have seen significant advances in technologies – including blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies – that impact our securities markets. This statement[1] highlights several recent Commission enforcement actions involving the intersection of long-standing applications of …
My fellow Commissioners and I have agreed to keep our remarks brief so we can move forward promptly with this important program. I am going to highlight four items.
First, thank you to Bill, Michele Anderson and staff from the
Good morning and thank you to the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Investment Management for organizing this roundtable. I hope that everyone here will take this opportunity to engage in a thoughtful, meaningful discussion on the proxy process. If the …
On October 23, 2018, the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued new Staff Legal Bulletin 14J[1], following up on previous bulletins clarifying issues arising under Exchange Act Rule 14a-8. The new …
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) appreciates the opportunity to comment in advance of the SEC Staff Roundtable on the Proxy Process that is scheduled for November 15, 2018. We focus these preliminary comments on two primary areas, proxy advisory firms …
Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. of Columbia Law School speaks with John Metaxas (Columbia Law ’84) about insider trading law and his role on a new task force created to develop proposals for reform in this area. The task force …
On November 2, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC” or “Commission”) Division of Enforcement released its 2018 Annual Report (“Report”) which presents and assesses the Division’s accomplishments during the 2018 Fiscal Year (“FY”).[1] The statistics, as well …
Every security traded in public markets represents several data points that can be valuable to future trades (not to mention compliance). The Regulation National Market System (or “Reg NMS”) grants exchanges, licensed as self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”), the responsibility to disseminate …
On October 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a report outlining an investigation conducted by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement related to the internal accounting controls at nine public companies that were the victims of cyber fraud. …
Protecting against data breaches, hacks and cyber threats is an unwelcome but necessary reality for businesses today. In addition to vigilantly guarding against attacks, companies must consider the possibilities of litigation and investigations that can stem as a result of …
I last spoke to you in May 2014 about “Building Momentum.”[1] At the time, I was a rookie Commissioner. Now, I stand before you after five years as a Commissioner and over 5,700 votes under my belt. It has
Thank you so much, Sarah [Miller], for that kind introduction. It’s a privilege to be here with you and the Open Markets Institute and Village Capital today. I’ve long admired the Institute’s leadership in putting the concentrated power choking our …
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) release establishing the Proxy Voting Rule, an investment adviser “is a fiduciary that owes each of its clients duties of care and loyalty with respect to all services undertaken on the client’s …
The process of replacing key individuals is crucial to organizations’ performance. This is as true for presidents of countries as it is for CEOs. When a firm announces the departure of a CEO without announcing a successor, the incumbent CEO …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to my colleague Commissioner Peirce and the terrific Staff in the Division of Trading and Markets for all of the hard work that so clearly went into this proposal. I’m especially grateful to
Financial misconduct can lead to significant financial and reputational penalties for a firm and its managers, including hefty fines from regulators and steep drops in stock price. In fact, recent research finds that firms accused of fraud lose an average …
As private equity funds approach the end of their lives, a fund’s general partner is often encouraged by the fund’s limited partners and third-party buyers to consider secondary liquidity solutions. Liquidity solutions can involve fund extensions, asset sales to third-party …
My remarks today come a little over a year after Stephanie Avakian and I were appointed Co-Directors of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and just a few days after the close of the first full fiscal year in which we
Elon Musk came close to doing something truly unique. No, not his electric car. Rather, he was about to roll the dice with his shareholders’ equity.
Securities analysts estimate that somewhere between 25 and 35 percent of the value of …