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

Guide to Public ADR Offerings in the U.S.

I. Introduction In the United States, the shares of many foreign corporations are traded in the form of American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) that represent the underlying foreign shares on a share-for-share, partial-share or multiple-share basis. ADSs are usually issued by a U.S. commercial bank (the “Depositary”), which holds the underlying foreign shares directly or through […]

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Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism

In our paper, Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism, forthcoming at the Journal of Accounting Research, we provide evidence on the relation between CEO overconfidence, an important managerial trait, and the aggressiveness of financial reporting. Building on a growing literature in finance which shows that overconfidence can distort investment, financing, and dividend policies, we demonstrate that […]

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Contributing to the Declassification of 21 S&P 500 Companies: Final Tally of the Results of the ACGI’s 2011 Work

Editor’s Note: Lucian Bebchuk is Professor of Law, Economics and Finance at Harvard Law School, and Scott Hirst is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School; both were affiliated with the American Corporate Governance Institute (ACGI) during the period discussed in this post. Their earlier posts about the work of the ACGI are available […]

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Innovation and Institutional Ownership

In our forthcoming American Economic Review paper, Innovation and Institutional Ownership, we examine the incentives to innovate at the firm level by studying the relationship between innovation and institutional ownership. Innovation is the main engine of growth. But what determines a firm’s ability to innovate? Innovating requires taking risk and forgoing current returns in the hope of future […]

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Disclosure of Certain Iran-Related Activities

On August 10, 2012, President Obama signed the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (ITR Act) into law. Section 219 of the ITR Act (Section 219) requires companies that file public reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose certain additional information in their annual and quarterly reports, […]

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Posted in Accounting & Disclosure, Banking & Financial Institutions, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Disclosure of Certain Iran-Related Activities

October 2012 Dodd-Frank Progress Report

This posting, the October 2012 Davis Polk Dodd-Frank Progress Report, is one in a series of Davis Polk presentations that illustrate graphically the progress of the rulemaking work that has been done and is yet to occur under the Dodd-Frank Act. The Progress Report has been prepared using data from the Davis Polk Regulatory Tracker™, […]

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Interbank Discipline

In the paper Interbank Discipline, recently posted on SSRN and forthcoming in the UCLA Law Review, I examine the increasingly important role that banks play monitoring and disciplining other banks. As a result of the transformation of banking over the last three decades, today’s complex banks typically have numerous relationships with other banks. As a […]

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Under Control

Editor’s Note: Bart Chilton is a Commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. This post is based on Commissioner Chilton’s remarks at a recent G-20 AMIS roundtable in Rome, Italy, available here. People often complain and ask why nobody went to prison for taking a wrecking ball to the economy. Well, what was done […]

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IRS Regulations Affecting Liability Management Transactions

I. Highlights On September 13, 2012, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) published final regulations that will affect the U.S. federal income tax treatment of debt restructurings, amend-and-extend agreements, debt exchange offers, further issuances of outstanding debt, and other liability management transactions. These “publicly traded” regulations will increase the tax […]

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Time for a Fresh Look at Equity Market Structure and Self-Regulation

Editor’s Note: Daniel M. Gallagher is a Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This post is based on a statement from Commissioner Gallagher, available here. The views expressed in the post are those of Commissioner Gallagher and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the other Commissioners, or the […]

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