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HLS Faculty & Senior Fellows
Program on Corporate Governance Advisory Board
- Peter Atkins
- David Bell
- Kerry E. Berchem
- Richard Brand
- Daniel Burch
- Paul Choi
- Jesse Cohn
- Arthur B. Crozier
- Renata J. Ferrari
- Andrew Freedman
- Ray Garcia
- Joseph Hall
- Jason M. Halper William P. Mills
- David Millstone
- Theodore Mirvis
- Philip Richter
- Elina Tetelbaum
- Sebastian Tiller
- Marc Trevino
- Steven J. Williams
Author Archives: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
Effective Delegation in Advisory Agreements
In a recent court case captioned Packer ex rel 1-800-Flowers.com v. Raging Capital Management, LLC, 2020 WL 6844063, __ F.3d __ (2d Cir. Nov. 23, 2020), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit”) vacated a grant of summary judgment to plaintiffs by the lower District Court, which had previously held […]
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Posted in Court Cases, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement, Securities Regulation
Tagged Hedge funds, Institutional Investors, Investment advisers, Liability standards, Section 16(b), Securities enforcement, Securities litigation, Securities regulation, U.S. federal courts
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Say-on-Pay Votes and Compensation Disclosures
Companies should also consider their recent annual say-on-pay votes and general disclosure best practices when designing their compensation programs and communicating about their compensation programs to shareholders. This year, companies should understand key say-on-pay trends, including overall 2020 say-on-pay results, factors driving say-on-pay failure (i.e., those say-on-pay votes that achieved less than 50% shareholder approval), […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Corporate Elections & Voting, Executive Compensation, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Compensation disclosure, Compensation ratios, Disclosure, Executive Compensation, Institutional Investors, Proxy advisors, Say on pay, Shareholder voting
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Up or Out: Resetting Norms for Peer Reviewed Publishing in the Social Sciences
Papers in economics are three times the length that they were in the 1970s. This does not include internet appendices which push the total length of some papers to more than 100 pages. It takes years from submission to publication. We argue that editorial process in many of the social sciences has become dysfunctional. It […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Empirical Research
Tagged Agency costs, Peer review
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BlackRock’s 2021 Policy Guidance
Each January, BlackRock typically previews its stewardship priorities in CEO Larry Fink’s annual letter to portfolio companies, followed soon thereafter by updated proxy voting guidelines. Given BlackRock’s position as the world’s largest asset manager, with nearly $8 trillion in assets under management, companies are prepared for this typical release of information. But as one more […]
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Posted in Corporate Elections & Voting, ESG, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Asset management, BlackRock, Boards of Directors, ESG, Index funds, Institutional Investors, Shareholder proposals, Shareholder voting, Stakeholders, Stewardship
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Appraisal Waivers
Appraisal has long been a controversial topic. The courts have struggled to determine the most appropriate valuation methodology and the extent to which that methodology should depend on vary based on case-specific factors. The Delaware Supreme Court continues to face an active docket of appraisal cases and to resolve them through opinions that are highly […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities Litigation & Enforcement
Tagged Appraisal rights, Arbitrage, Delaware cases, Delaware law, DGCL, Fair values, Firm valuation, Merger litigation, Mergers & acquisitions, Public firms
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Preparing for Shareholder Activism in 2021
Although the level of publicly reported activism has decreased this past year, boards and management teams continue to be occupied by a regular flow of “private” activism—i.e., aggressive non-public, inbound communications calling for changes in strategic direction, operational focus, public commitments to long-term metrics and changes to board and management composition, all made without launching […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, ESG, Institutional Investors, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Boards of Directors, Engagement, ESG, Hedge funds, Institutional Investors, Mergers & acquisitions, Poison pills, Shareholder activism, Takeover defenses
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Shareholder Activism at Closed-End Funds in the Wake of Covid-19
Shareholder activism in the United States and worldwide was noticeably down in 2020 when compared to 2019, and that decline was largely due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, for US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered closed-end investment funds, COVID-19 had the opposite effect. In the wake of the market dislocations […]
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Posted in Corporate Elections & Voting, Institutional Investors, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications
Tagged COVID-19, Hedge funds, Institutional Investors, Mergers & acquisitions, Mutual funds, Private funds, Shareholder activism
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Preparing Your 2020 Form 20-F
This post highlights some considerations for the preparation of your 2020 annual report on Form 20-F. As in previous years, we discuss both disclosure developments and continued areas of focus for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition, we highlight certain U.S.-related enforcement matters and other developments of interest to foreign private issuers […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, ESG, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation
Tagged Compliance and disclosure interpretation, Cybersecurity, Disclosure, Environmental disclosure, ESG, Financial reporting, Management, Mergers & acquisitions, SEC enforcement, SEC rulemaking, Securities enforcement, Securities regulation
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