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Program on Corporate Governance Advisory Board
- Peter Atkins
- David Bell
- Kerry E. Berchem
- Richard Brand
- Daniel Burch
- Paul Choi
- Jesse Cohn
- Arthur B. Crozier Christine Davine
- Renata J. Ferrari
- Andrew Freedman
- Ray Garcia
- Byron Georgiou
- Joseph Hall
- Jason M. Halper William P. Mills
- David Millstone
- Theodore Mirvis
- Philip Richter
- Elina Tetelbaum
- Sebastian Tiller
- Marc Trevino Jonathan Watkins
- Steven J. Williams
HLS Faculty & Senior Fellows
Author Archives: Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
Addressing Climate as a Systemic Risk: A Call to Action for Financial Regulators
Executive Summary Systemic risks have the potential to destabilize capital markets and lead to serious negative consequences for financial institutions and the broader economy. Under this definition, climate change, like the current COVID-19 crisis, is indisputably a systemic risk. Its wide-ranging physical impacts, combined with expected transitions to a net-zero carbon economy and other socio-economic […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Financial Crisis, Financial Regulation, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation
Tagged Climate change, Environmental disclosure, ESG, Financial crisis, Financial regulation, Risk, Risk management, Securities regulation, Sustainability, Systemic risk
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Update by Chairman Clayton on the Commission’s Targeted Regulatory Relief to Assist Market Participants Affected by COVID-19 and Ensure the Orderly Function of our Markets
Introduction The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are centered, first and foremost, on the health and safety of our employees and all Americans. The Commission’s recognition of the corresponding need of market participants to also prioritize health and safety while ensuring the continuity of operations essential to the […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Boards of Directors, Regulators Materials, Securities Regulation, Speeches & Testimony
Tagged Boards of Directors, Capital formation, COVID-19, Disclosure, Financial reporting, Securities regulation
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Asset Manager Perspective: Shareholder Proposals on Sustainability
Voting on shareholder proposals allows investors to exercise their ownership rights by holding the board accountable and steering companies in the right direction. In many markets, an increasing number of proposals focus on the environmental and social aspects of companies’ activities. Emerging academic research indicates that some of these proposals may have positive financial implications […]
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Posted in Corporate Elections & Voting, Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG, Institutional Investors, Materiality, Pension funds, Shareholder proposals, Shareholder voting, Sustainability
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Supreme Court Limits SEC Disgorgement Remedy
In an 8-1 decision issued today in Liu v. SEC, the Supreme Court upheld the SEC’s authority to obtain disgorgement from securities law violators, but also indicated some limitations on the scope of the remedy. Some observers had raised questions about the continued viability of the disgorgement remedy after the Court’s 2017 decision in Kokesh […]
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Posted in Court Cases, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement
Tagged Disgorgement, Liability standards, SEC, SEC enforcement, Securities enforcement, Supreme Court
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Testimony by Chairman Clayton before the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets Subcommittee U.S. House Committee on Financial Services
Chairman Sherman, Ranking Member Huizenga and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today to highlight the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s response to the effects of COVID-19 on our capital markets. COVID-19 has had profound effects on our capital markets and our broader economy. At the outset of the pandemic, […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, ESG, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement, Securities Regulation, Speeches & Testimony
Tagged Capital markets, COVID-19, Emerging markets, ESG, Financial Services Committee, Investor protection, Market conditions, Market reaction, Misconduct, Program on Institutional Investors, Retail investors, SEC enforcement, Securities enforcement, Securities regulation, Systemic risk, US House
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Response to US Critics of the French Securities Regulator Position on Activism
The measures proposed on April 28, 2020, by the Autorité des marchés financiers (French Financial Market Authority) in response to an environment of increasing shareholder activism have been generally welcomed by the financial markets of Paris. They have been judged by most operators to be appropriate and balanced, although they supplement a legal system that […]
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Posted in Academic Research, International Corporate Governance & Regulation, Securities Regulation
Tagged EU, Europe, France, International governance, Securities regulation, Shareholder activism, Short sales, Transparency
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Weekly Roundup: June 19–June 25, 2020
Back to Work: Protect Directors Too Posted by William Regner and Jeffrey Rosen, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, on Friday, June 19, 2020 Tags: Board oversight, Boards of Directors, Compliance and disclosure interpretation, COVID-19, Delaware cases, Delaware law, Fiduciary duties, In re Caremark, Risk oversight, Securities litigation Making Corporate Purpose Tangible—A Survey of Investors Posted by Edouard Dubois and Ali Saribas, SquareWell Partners Ltd, on Friday, June 19, […]
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Posted in Weekly Roundup
Tagged Weekly Roundup
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The Board’s Impact on Long-term Value
Taking a long-term approach in business leads to superior performance. Companies that orient themselves around a long-term time horizon while also delivering against short-term objectives have been shown to outperform their peers on several key business measures, including revenue, earnings, economic profit, market capitalization and job creation. These companies were hit hard during the last […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, Comparative Corporate Governance & Regulation, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Board independence, Board performance, Boards of Directors, Director compensation, Director qualifications, Long-Term value, Managmenet, Short-termism
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Coalitions Among Plaintiffs’ Attorneys in Securities Class Actions
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) revolutionized the competitive landscape for plaintiffs’ attorneys in securities class actions. By creating a presumption that the lead plaintiff will be the shareholder or group of shareholders with the largest financial interest, the PSLRA gives law firms a strong incentive to form coalitions of shareholders to aggregate losses. […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Securities Litigation & Enforcement
Tagged Attorneys' fees, Class actions, PSLRA, Securities litigation, Settlements
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Artificial Intelligence and Ethics: An Emerging Area of Board Oversight Responsibility
Introduction The unprecedented situation the entire world finds itself in due to the COVID-19 pandemic presents fundamental challenges to businesses of all sizes and maturities. As the thinking shifts from crisis response to recovery, it is clear that there will be a greater need for scenario planning in a world remade by COVID-19. Artificial Intelligence […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Boards of Directors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Artificial intelligence, Board oversight, Compliance & ethics, Cybersecurity, Human capital, Oversight, Privacy, Risk management
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