Aiyesha Dey (University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management), and Abbie J. Smith (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) at"/>

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

CEO Materialism and Corporate Social Responsibility

Fortune Global 500 firms spend over $15 billion a year on corporate philanthropy and countless hours and dollars on a host of social responsibility (CSR) activities. Corporate social responsibility refers to “managements’ obligation to set policies, make decisions and follow courses of action beyond the requirements of the law that are desirable in terms of […]

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The HLS Forum is Now on LinkedIn and Facebook

The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation is pleased to announce that readers can now access our daily blog posts on LinkedIn and Facebook. Readers are encouraged to follow us on LinkedIn or to like the Forum’s page on Facebook to receive updates on our daily posts and stay up to date on the […]

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Expansion of the BJR to Stockholder Approval of “Medium Form” Mergers

In In re Volcano Corporation Stockholder Litigation, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the acceptance of a first-step tender offer by fully informed, disinterested, uncoerced stockholders representing a majority of a corporation’s outstanding shares in a two-step merger under Section 251(h) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) had the same cleansing effect as […]

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Brexit—What Now for Fund Managers?

The UK referendum of June 23 will have historic implications for the UK and the EU as a whole. We have attempted here to look at some issues for financial services businesses, and in particular fund managers, transacting with the UK and EU. It is difficult to be definitive because although the vote to leave […]

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Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, Financial Regulation, International Corporate Governance & Regulation, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Brexit—What Now for Fund Managers?

Institutional Investors and Class Action Tolling

Stock fraud, accounting scandals, and predatory behavior by investment banks have long plagued our nation’s financial markets. Fortunately, for over forty years, investors’ individual claims for recovery of damages under the U.S. securities laws have been protected and preserved by the filing of a securities class action. In 2013, however, a split emerged among the […]

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Does Combining the CEO and Chair Roles Cause Poor Firm Performance?

Considerable disagreement exists on the merits of CEO-Chair duality. In recent years, there has been growing regulatory and investor pressure to split the titles of CEO and Chairman of the Board. In fact, there is a significant trend towards separation of the two titles. However, the empirical evidence in the literature is inconclusive on the […]

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DOJ Declination Letters and the FCPA

The Department of Justice has publicly released its first declination letters since the launch of its FCPA Pilot Program two months ago. [1] The letters were sent to two companies, home-security and thermostat systems-maker Nortek, Inc. and internet-services provider Akamai Technologies, Inc., respectively, on June 3 and June 6. [2] Each company had been under […]

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Pillars of Sustainability Leadership

Business leaders increasingly recognize the sustainability imperative. They understand that the companies they lead cannot expect to be successful in the long term without considering the communities they work in and with and the natural environment they operate in and depend on. They understand global trends will ultimately reward companies that successfully balance their natural, […]

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Court’s Limitation of Timetable for SEC’s Claims for Disgorgement

In SEC v. Graham, No. 14-13562 (11th Cir. May 26, 2016), the Eleventh Circuit held that the five-year statute of limitations applicable to SEC enforcement proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 2462 applies to disgorgement and declaratory relief claims, but not to injunctive relief claims. The Eleventh Circuit reasoned that the backward-looking remedies of disgorgement and […]

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Dell: Appraisal Award and Merger Price

In Appraisal of Dell Inc. (May 31, 2016), the Delaware Court of Chancery awarded an appraisal amount ($17.62) that was 30% higher than the price that was paid in the $25 billion merger ($13.75) in which Michael Dell (the founder, CEO, and 16% stockholder of Dell) and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners took Dell […]

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