Editor's Note: Richard W. Painter is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota. This post is a reply to a post by Professor Tamar Frankel, titled Did Commissioner Gallagher Violate SEC Rules?, and available on the Forum here. This post and the post by Professor Frankel relate to a paper by Commissioner Daniel Gallagher and Professor Joseph A. Grundfest, described on the Forum here. The Forum featured last week (here) a joint statement by thirty-four senior corporate and securities law professors from seventeen leading law schools, including at Boston University, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, New York University, Northwestern, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Yale, opining that the paper’s allegations against Harvard and the SRP are meritless and urging the paper’s co-authors to withdraw these allegations. In addition to this joint statement, the Forum featured earlier posts about the paper by Professor Grundfest (most recently here), Professor Jonathan Macey (most recently here), Professor Tamar Frankel (here) and Harvey Pitt (here).

Although I have concerns about the impact of declassified corporate boards (boards that can be replaced by shareholders in a single election cycle) on corporate ethics, I will not weigh in on the substance of that controversy here. The more immediate question is whether a SEC Commissioner, in this case Daniel M. Gallagher, if he believes the federal securities laws are repeatedly being violated in connection with proposals submitted for a shareholder vote on this or any other issue, in this case by investors working with the Harvard Shareholder Rights Project, may and indeed should make a public statement to that effect, or whether the Commissioner is ethically required to remain silent, refer his concerns to the Enforcement Division of the Commission and wait for the official process to run its course. (See New York Times article.)

I am aware of no ethics rule that requires a SEC Commissioner to conceal his thoughts on such matters, and I know of many reasons why those charged with enforcing our laws should be free to speak their mind about private conduct they believe violates the law so long as their interpretation of the law is reasonable. For the police officer, it might be a speech to high school students or a similar venue. For the SEC Commissioner it might be a bar association speech or a publication. Those charged with enforcing the law have a right—and in some contexts an obligation—to tell the public what they believe the law requires.

This controversy arose because of a law review article (discussed on the Forum here) in which Gallagher and former SEC Commissioner Joseph Grundfest argued that over 100 proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard's Shareholder Rights Project violated federal securities laws because they presented a misleading characterization of academic research on the impact of classified boards on corporate governance.

Some commentators have responded to this allegation on the merits, arguing that the proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard's Shareholder Rights Project are not materially misleading in their characterization or research on classified boards or in any other way.

Click here to read the complete post...

" /> Editor's Note: Richard W. Painter is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota. This post is a reply to a post by Professor Tamar Frankel, titled Did Commissioner Gallagher Violate SEC Rules?, and available on the Forum here. This post and the post by Professor Frankel relate to a paper by Commissioner Daniel Gallagher and Professor Joseph A. Grundfest, described on the Forum here. The Forum featured last week (here) a joint statement by thirty-four senior corporate and securities law professors from seventeen leading law schools, including at Boston University, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, New York University, Northwestern, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Yale, opining that the paper’s allegations against Harvard and the SRP are meritless and urging the paper’s co-authors to withdraw these allegations. In addition to this joint statement, the Forum featured earlier posts about the paper by Professor Grundfest (most recently here), Professor Jonathan Macey (most recently here), Professor Tamar Frankel (here) and Harvey Pitt (here).

Although I have concerns about the impact of declassified corporate boards (boards that can be replaced by shareholders in a single election cycle) on corporate ethics, I will not weigh in on the substance of that controversy here. The more immediate question is whether a SEC Commissioner, in this case Daniel M. Gallagher, if he believes the federal securities laws are repeatedly being violated in connection with proposals submitted for a shareholder vote on this or any other issue, in this case by investors working with the Harvard Shareholder Rights Project, may and indeed should make a public statement to that effect, or whether the Commissioner is ethically required to remain silent, refer his concerns to the Enforcement Division of the Commission and wait for the official process to run its course. (See New York Times article.)

I am aware of no ethics rule that requires a SEC Commissioner to conceal his thoughts on such matters, and I know of many reasons why those charged with enforcing our laws should be free to speak their mind about private conduct they believe violates the law so long as their interpretation of the law is reasonable. For the police officer, it might be a speech to high school students or a similar venue. For the SEC Commissioner it might be a bar association speech or a publication. Those charged with enforcing the law have a right—and in some contexts an obligation—to tell the public what they believe the law requires.

This controversy arose because of a law review article (discussed on the Forum here) in which Gallagher and former SEC Commissioner Joseph Grundfest argued that over 100 proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard's Shareholder Rights Project violated federal securities laws because they presented a misleading characterization of academic research on the impact of classified boards on corporate governance.

Some commentators have responded to this allegation on the merits, arguing that the proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard's Shareholder Rights Project are not materially misleading in their characterization or research on classified boards or in any other way.

Click here to read the complete post...

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If A SEC Commissioner Thinks Someone Is Violating the Securities Laws, He Should Say So

Richard W. Painter is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota. This post is a reply to a post by Professor Tamar Frankel, titled Did Commissioner Gallagher Violate SEC Rules?, and available on the Forum here. This post and the post by Professor Frankel relate to a paper by Commissioner Daniel Gallagher and Professor Joseph A. Grundfest, described on the Forum here. The Forum featured last week (here) a joint statement by thirty-four senior corporate and securities law professors from seventeen leading law schools, including at Boston University, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, New York University, Northwestern, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Yale, opining that the paper’s allegations against Harvard and the SRP are meritless and urging the paper’s co-authors to withdraw these allegations. In addition to this joint statement, the Forum featured earlier posts about the paper by Professor Grundfest (most recently here), Professor Jonathan Macey (most recently here), Professor Tamar Frankel (here) and Harvey Pitt (here).

Although I have concerns about the impact of declassified corporate boards (boards that can be replaced by shareholders in a single election cycle) on corporate ethics, I will not weigh in on the substance of that controversy here. The more immediate question is whether a SEC Commissioner, in this case Daniel M. Gallagher, if he believes the federal securities laws are repeatedly being violated in connection with proposals submitted for a shareholder vote on this or any other issue, in this case by investors working with the Harvard Shareholder Rights Project, may and indeed should make a public statement to that effect, or whether the Commissioner is ethically required to remain silent, refer his concerns to the Enforcement Division of the Commission and wait for the official process to run its course. (See New York Times article.)

I am aware of no ethics rule that requires a SEC Commissioner to conceal his thoughts on such matters, and I know of many reasons why those charged with enforcing our laws should be free to speak their mind about private conduct they believe violates the law so long as their interpretation of the law is reasonable. For the police officer, it might be a speech to high school students or a similar venue. For the SEC Commissioner it might be a bar association speech or a publication. Those charged with enforcing the law have a right—and in some contexts an obligation—to tell the public what they believe the law requires.

This controversy arose because of a law review article (discussed on the Forum here) in which Gallagher and former SEC Commissioner Joseph Grundfest argued that over 100 proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard’s Shareholder Rights Project violated federal securities laws because they presented a misleading characterization of academic research on the impact of classified boards on corporate governance.

Some commentators have responded to this allegation on the merits, arguing that the proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard’s Shareholder Rights Project are not materially misleading in their characterization or research on classified boards or in any other way.

These types of responses are helpful and further legitimate public debate on two important issues: (1) the impact of classified boards on corporate governance, and (2) what a proxy solicitation can lawfully say to shareholders about this issue (the law requires truthfulness and prohibits material omissions in communications to shareholder voters, which raises the concern about how one-sided a proxy solicitation can be and not violate the securities laws). On the latter point, we need to keep in mind that while law review articles can be very one-sided (many are), proxy solicitation is governed by a different standard. The issue here is what this standard is and whether, in particular instances, it has been violated.

On that issue, I express no opinion on the merits of claims that the proposals submitted by investors working with Harvard’s Shareholder Rights Project violated the securities laws. But it should be quite clear that an SEC Commissioner is entitled to an opinion, and if he has a reasonable basis for thinking the law is being violated he should say so. Others who disagree should say why he is wrong, for example the 34 securities law professors who just posted their statement on this blog (available here). Of course a SEC Commissioner should not use the power of his office to “defame or destroy” a person or organization, as stated in SEC ethics rules and pointed out in Professor Tamar Frankel’s post on this incident (available here).

But this defamation concept turns on the merits—whether there is a reasonable basis for the Commissioner’s opinion that the law is being violated. There is no separate prohibition on a Commissioner stating his opinion if there is a reasonable basis for it, and indeed he should express his opinion. This is particularly important when large well-funded institutions are involved that have the means and ability to repeat the conduct. And these institutions—whether large Wall Street banks or prominent universities—have the expertise and the means to defend themselves.

In the absence of any ethics rule that directly or indirectly prohibits a Commissioner from expressing his opinion on what does and does not violate the securities laws, commentators have no basis to accuse a Commissioner of acting unethically in expressing his opinion. The public is entitled to hear those views, as well as the views of those who disagree with him. That is what representative government is all about.

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