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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
The 2018 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index
In response to a variety of pressures—including an increasingly complex business environment with an unprecedented pace of change and disruption; a growing number and variety of business risks; and intensifying investor focus on the composition, diversity and quality of the boardroom—S&P 500 boards are reshaping, slowly. The 2018 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index (SSBI), our […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, Comparative Corporate Governance & Regulation, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Board composition, Board performance, Board turnover, Boards of Directors, Director nominations, Director qualifications, Diversity, Risk management, Surveys
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Private Equity Indices Based on Secondary Market Transactions
In recent decades, private equity has become an important asset class for institutional investors. A 2017 survey of institutional investors finds that 88% are invested in private equity, with nearly a third having an allocation greater than 10%. A typical private equity investment begins with capital commitments at the fund’s creation and ends with the […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Empirical Research, Institutional Investors, Private Equity
Tagged Buyouts, Capital markets, Fund performance, Institutional Investors, Private equity, Venture capital firms
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The SEC’s New Shareholder Proposal Guidance
On October 23, 2018, the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14J (SLB 14J), which provides important guidance concerning shareholder proposals. Specifically, SLB 14J addresses: board analyses that may be provided in the context of certain “ordinary business” or “relevance” no-action requests; the […]
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Posted in Boards of Directors, Corporate Elections & Voting, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation
Tagged Boards of Directors, Director compensation, Executive Compensation, No-action letters, Rule 14a-8, SEC, Securities regulation, Shareholder proposals, Shareholder voting, SLB 14J
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Asking the Right Question: The Statutory Right of Appraisal and Efficient Markets
Appraisal proceedings drag financial economics from the classroom into the courtroom. In Delaware, by statute, shareholders are “entitled to an appraisal by the Court of Chancery of the fair value” of their shares. Del. Code. Ann. tit. 8, § 262 (a) (2018). In that proceeding, courts are required to take into account “all relevant factors.” […]
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Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, Comparative Corporate Governance & Regulation, Mergers & Acquisitions
Tagged Accounting, Acquisition agreements, Appraisal rights, Arbitrage, Bidders, Fair values, Market efficiency, Merger litigation, Mergers & acquisitions, Shareholder suits, Target firms
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Investment Bank Liability for M&A Services
Introduction To err is human but there is often no divine or other forgiveness for investment banks in Delaware litigation when their misconduct rises to the level of aiding and abetting the board’s breach of fiduciary duty to its shareholders. In this article, we consider recent Delaware case law on investment banker liability that has […]
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Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, Mergers & Acquisitions, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement
Tagged Banks, Boards of Directors, Delaware articles, Delaware law, Fiduciary duties, Financial institutions, Investment banking, Liability standards, Merger litigation, Mergers & acquisitions
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The Limits of Mutual Fund Obligation to Shareholders
In a victory for the mutual fund industry, a federal district court in New York rejected the attempt of fund shareholders to assert a breach of contract claim against the fund for a purported violation of an investment policy contained in part of the fund’s prospectus. In doing so, Judge George B. Daniels of the […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Court Cases, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement, Securities Regulation
Tagged Contracts, Disclosure, Mutual funds, Securities litigation, Securities regulation, Shareholder suits, U.S. federal courts
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Decoding Quant ESG
Interest in ESG investing has exploded in recent years. However, despite increased demand for this type of strategy, asset owners still have many questions regarding ESG and best practices for constructing optimal investment portfolios. These questions include: What exactly is ESG investing? Do I sacrifice alpha if I invest in ESG portfolios? How does quant […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Corporate Social Responsibility, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Asset management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Disclosure, Environmental disclosure, ESG, Impact investing, Investment banking, Profitability, Risk, Shareholder value, Sustainability
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Emerging Practice in Long-Term Plans
Executive Summary The information asymmetry between corporations and investors is particularly severe regarding long-term strategic plans: existing market infrastructure for disclosure is very short-term focused and underserves sources of long-term value creation. The CEO-delivered long-term plan gives corporations an opportunity to reorient disclosures to the long-term. The Strategic Investor Initiative provides comprehensive guidance to CEOs […]
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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Boards of Directors, Practitioner Publications
Tagged Board monitoring, Capital allocation, Disclosure, Engagement, ESG, Human capital, Information asymmetries, Information environment, Long-Term value, Management, Risk management, Shareholder value, Short-termism, Stakeholders
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