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

Carried Interests: Current Developments

The tax status of so-called “carried interests,” held by private equity fund sponsors (and benefitting, in particular, the individual managers of those sponsors) is the subject of this post. A decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit holding that a private equity fund was engaged in a trade or business for […]

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Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards

Gender quotas for corporate boards of directors have attracted attention in Europe, where a number of countries have enacted mandatory or voluntary quotas. In the United States, some activists, scholars, and policy makers have advocated quotas as a way to shatter the glass ceiling for women in business and (possibly) to improve corporate decisionmaking. The […]

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Update on the Halliburton Fraud-on-the-Market Case

As we have described in our prior posts and memos (here and here), in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., No. 13-317, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to abandon the “fraud on the market” presumption of reliance that has facilitated class-action treatment of claims brought under Section 10(b) of the […]

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Regulation A+ Offerings—A New Era at the SEC

December 18, 2013 may well mark an historic turning point in the ability of small business to effectively access capital in the private and public markets under the federal securities regulatory framework. On that day the Commissioners of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission met in open session and unanimously authorized the issuance of proposed […]

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Managerial Risk Taking Incentives and Corporate Pension Policy

In our paper, Managerial Risk Taking Incentives and Corporate Pension Policy, forthcoming in the Journal of Financial Economics, we examine whether the compensation incentives of top management affect the extent of risk shifting versus risk management behavior in pension plans. The employee beneficiaries of a firm’s defined benefit pension plan hold claims on the firm similar to those […]

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Statement on the SEC’s Issuance of Certain Exemptive Orders Related to Rule 17g-5(c)(1)

Rule 17g-5(c)(1) (the “Rule”) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 addresses nationally recognized statistical rating organization (“NRSRO”) conflict of interest concerns by prohibiting an NRSRO from issuing a credit rating where the person soliciting the rating was the source of 10% or more of the total net revenue of the NRSRO during the most […]

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NY Court: Claims for Breach of RMBS Representation & Warranties Accrue on Issuance

In an important decision last week, a New York appellate court ruled that claims for breach of representations and warranties made in connection with residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) accrue when the representations and warranties are made, which typically occurs when the securitization closes. ACE Securities Corp. v. DB Structured Products, Inc., No.650980/12 (N.Y. App. Div. […]

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A Theory of Debt Maturity

In our paper, A Theory of Debt Maturity: The Long and Short of Debt Overhang, forthcoming in the Journal of Finance, we study the effects of the debt maturity on current and future real investment decisions of an owner of equity (or a manager who is compensated by equity). Our analysis is based on debt overhang first […]

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Bebchuk Leads SSRN’s 2013 Citation Rankings

Statistics released publicly by the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) indicate that, as was the case for each of the six preceding years, Professor Lucian Bebchuk led SSRN citation rankings at the end of 2013. As of the end of December 2013, Bebchuk ranked first among all law school professors in all fields both in […]

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Interlocking Board Seats and Protection for Directors after Schoon

In a new paper, Interlocking Board Seats and Protection for Directors after Schoon, we examine how interlocking board seats propagated corporate governance change in the aftermath of a surprising change in law. We identify firms’ response to the Delaware case Schoon v. Troy Corp which permitted a board to alter indemnification arrangements for a former […]

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