Author Archives: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

Statement by Commissioner Lee on Amendments to the Exempt Offering Framework

For decades, private offerings were the exception to the rule in our securities regime. The registration and reporting provisions in the federal securities laws are designed to level the playing field by requiring issuers to provide all investors with reliable, timely, and material information about investments. The public markets are designed to, and to a […]

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Shareholder Value(s): Index Fund ESG Activism and the New Millennial Corporate Governance

Our new paper Shareholder Value(S): Index Fund ESG Activism and The New Millennial Corporate Governance forthcoming in the Southern California Law Review documents and explains the increasing role of large index fund managers in promoting ESG issues at major companies. While often viewed as quiet on key corporate governance issues, we show that these asset […]

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Trump Legacy: Boom in Corporate Political Disclosure

How has the Trump presidency impacted corporate political disclosure and accountability? The answer might come as a surprise. It’s been a boon and a boom. Over the past four years, more large publicly held U.S. companies than ever before have adopted sound transparency and oversight practices for their political spending. This trend has strengthened between […]

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Shifting Influences on Corporate Governance: Capital Market Completeness and Policy Channeling

Corporate governance scholarship is typically portrayed as driven by single factor models, for example, shareholder value maximization, director primacy or team production. These governance models are Copernican; one factor is or should be the center of the corporate governance solar system. In this essay, we argue that, as with binary stars, the shape of the […]

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Pandemic Preparation: 72-Hour Response Plan to Government Inquiry

Introduction This post provides guidance covering key questions that your organization may face as a result of a regulatory and enforcement inquiry during COVID-19, including a checklist to aid your response. Considering and approving these best practices is good; mastering and implementing them so that you may reflexively employ them is ideal. And a critical […]

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How Boards Can Calibrate Executive Compensation to The Risk of Disruption

Thanks to emerging digital technologies, many industries are now facing a new wave of disruption. Artificial intelligence is powering autonomous vehicles, while data analytics are reshaping financial services and other consumer industries. AI-powered advances by themselves, according to a 2019 McKinsey study, could boost annual global GDP by $13 trillion, or an additional percentage point. […]

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2020 Annual Corporate Directors Survey

Introduction 2020 has presented unprecedented challenges for companies. While the year generally started like any other, by the end of the first quarter, the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented global health emergency. Business was upturned across the globe, unemployment shot through the roof, US GDP took the greatest fall on record, and many workforces shifted […]

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The PCAOB’s Revised Research and Standard-Setting Agendas

In late 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) appointed an entirely new Board, giving the five new members the collective opportunity to develop a PCAOB 2.0. In 2018, we issued a Strategic Plan that promised innovative oversight, including with respect to our approach to writing auditing standards. Consistent with our statutory mission, we […]

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Incorporating Human Capital Management Disclosures into a Company’s Annual Report

On August 26, 2020, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final amendments under Regulation S-K as part of a Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative to modernize and improve corporate disclosures which will become effective on November 9, 2020. One of the key revisions is the addition of a new disclosure topic that will require […]

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Politics and Purpose in Corporate America

Political engagement traditionally has been viewed as a no-win situation for a public company or a public company chief executive officer. In a sharply divided nation, taking sides on a controversial topic can instantly alienate half of a company’s stakeholders, from investors and customers to suppliers and employees. These days, however, silence can also be […]

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