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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
- 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
Confronting Climate Risk
After more than 10,000 years of relative stability—the full span of human civilization—the Earth’s climate is changing. Since the 1880s, the average global temperature has risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius, driving substantial physical impact in regions around the world. As average temperatures rise, acute hazards such as heat waves and floods grow in frequency […]
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Posted in ESG, Institutional Investors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Climate change, Environmental disclosure, ESG, Institutional Investors, Risk, Risk management, Sustainability
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Using ESG Tools to Help Combat Systemic Racism and Injustice
Events of recent weeks and months have starkly illuminated the effects of systemic racism and injustice on Black Americans, including threats to physical safety, psychological trauma and economic disparity. CEOs worldwide and across industries have spoken out, expressing their horror and outrage, as well as their resolve to do more. Companies have announced significant financial […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Boards of Directors, Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Corporate culture, Corporate Social Responsibility, Disclosure, Diversity, Engagement, ESG, Human capital, Sustainability
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ESG and the Earnings Call
The information shared through quarterly reporting moves markets. Institutional investors highly value the transparency and outputs of frequent periodic reporting. Investor Relations Officers (IROs) consistently identify the earnings call as the most important venue through which to communicate their story to the capital markets. Within the C-suite, preparing for the earnings call—and its associated package […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, ESG, Institutional Investors
Tagged Accounting, Disclosure, Earnings announcements, ESG, Financial reporting, Institutional Investors, Long-Term value, Short-termism, Sustainability
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Unanticipated Costs of Paycheck Protection Program Loans in M&A Transactions
Two mutually exclusive programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) designed to encourage workforce retention during the COVID-19 pandemic—the Paycheck Protection Program and the Employee Retention Credit—clash in the case of an M&A deal involving a buyer that has received one benefit and a target that has received the other. […]
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Posted in Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications
Tagged CARES Act, COVID-19, Employee Retention Credit, Mergers & acquisitions, Paycheck Protection Program, Small firms
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SEC Improves Financial Disclosure Relating to Business Acquisitions and Dispositions
The SEC’s long-expected reforms to Regulation S-X regarding financial disclosure for business acquisitions and dispositions were published as final amendments on May 21, 2020. Most of the final amendments are substantially in line with the SEC’s May 2019 proposing release, on which we commented in our May 2019 Sidley Update. Part of the SEC’s overall […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation
Tagged Acquisitions, Disclosure, Filings, Financial reporting, Information environment, Mergers & acquisitions, Regulation S-X, SEC, Securities regulation, Target firms
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How A Reconceived Compensation Committee Can Help Tackle Inequality
In the three decades after World War II, workers and stockholders shared equitably in the nation’s growing wealth. But, during the last several decades, this fair gainsharing has diminished as the power of the stock market, in the form of institutional investors, has grown, and the comparative voice and leverage of workers has declined. As […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Boards of Directors, Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG, Executive Compensation, HLS Research, Institutional Investors
Tagged Board monitoring, Boards of Directors, Compensation committees, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employees, ESG, Executive Compensation, Incentives, Institutional Investors, Management, Shareholder value, Stakeholders, Sustainability
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Boards Need to Stay Vigilant and Keep Stockholders Informed Towards Closing
It’s a natural human phenomenon. After a period of intense activity, it’s perfectly understandable to relax, take a step back and catch one’s breath. M&A deals are no different. The push to get a deal signed is often marked by long days and, sometimes, long nights for all involved. Once the deal is signed, it’s […]
Click here to read the complete postThe Forum Attracts Numerous Citations from Courts, Legislators, Regulators, and National Organizations
In the past fifteen years, Forum posts have had considerable influence on the corporate governance field. In an earlier post (see here), I discussed the vast number of citations that Forum posts have attracted from articles by academics and practitioners. This post, in turn focuses on the numerous citations that Forum posts have received from […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Program News & Events
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Renewed Interest by Public Companies in NOL Rights Plans
As we reported in COVID-19: Revisiting Shareholder Rights Plans, the turmoil in U.S. equity markets created by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many companies facing depressed stock prices, leaving them vulnerable to unsolicited acquisition proposals or activist activity, which has led to heightened interest in shareholder rights plans (also known as “poison pills”). Such […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, Corporate Elections & Voting, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Boards of Directors, Hostile takeover, Internal Revenue Code, NOLs, Ownership, Poison pills, Section 382, Takeover defenses
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Redesigning Corporations: Incentives Matter
The Birth of the Corporation: Public Interest Organizations The evolution of the modern corporation is the fascinating story of a series of self-serving legal and societal mutations over hundreds of years, which have morphed the original concept and endowed corporations with freedom of activity, rights, and limitations on liability that would shock their original “inventors”. […]
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