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

Using Bank Performance in 1998 to Explain Bank Performance During the Recent Financial Crisis

Rudiger Fahlenbrach, Robert Prilmeier and I have made available a paper on SSRN titled This Time Is the Same: Using Bank Performance in 1998 to Explain Bank Performance During the Recent Financial Crisis. In this paper, we show that banks that performed poorly during the Russian crisis of 1998 also performed poorly during the recent […]

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The SEC’s First Deferred Prosecution Agreement

The SEC recently announced its first use of a deferred prosecution agreement, one of the initiatives announced in January 2010 (and discussed in our previous memo here) to encourage greater cooperation in enforcement investigations.  See SEC Press Release.  The announcement of this agreement with Tenaris S.A. follows the agency’s first non-prosecution agreement in December 2010 […]

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Delaware Court of Chancery Refines Rules for Mixed-Consideration Mergers

The Delaware Court of Chancery last week provided fresh guidance on the standards of director conduct applicable to part-cash, part-stock mergers and reaffirmed the rules of the road for board process and deal protection provisions in strategic mergers. In re Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. S’holder Litig., C.A. 6164-VCP (May 20, 2011). In a merger agreement announced […]

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Should Size Matter When Regulating Firms?

In our paper, Should Size Matter When Regulating Firms? Implications from Backdating of Executive Options [15 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol’y (forthcoming Winter 2011)], we present a data point relevant to significant issues of policy concerning areas of law where small firms have either been granted exemption from regulations or not investigated for violations […]

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June 2011 Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Progress Report

This posting, the Davis Polk Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Progress Report, is the third 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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Strine Nominated for Chancellor

The HLS Forum was pleased to learn that Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, Jr., a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance, has been nominated for the position of Chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court. Vice Chancellor Strine is the author of many important and influential decisions, as well as numerous insightful […]

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The Role of Earnings Guidance in Resolving Sentiment-driven Overvaluation

In our paper, The Party’s Over: The Role of Earnings Guidance in Resolving Sentiment-driven Overvaluation, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we show that an important link between investor sentiment and firm overvaluation is optimistic earnings expectations, and that management earnings guidance aids in resolving sentiment-driven overvaluation. Understanding the underlying process linking investor […]

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Clawbacks Under Dodd-Frank and Other Federal Statutes

As used in this post, “clawback” means a repayment of previously received compensation required to be made by an executive to his or her employer. Three federal statutes that provide for clawbacks are discussed in this post. They are: 1. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOA) §304; 15 U.S.C. §7243(a); 2. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of […]

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Posted in Executive Compensation, Financial Crisis, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Supreme Court Holds “Loss Causation” Not a Prerequisite to Class Certification in Fraud Cases

In Erica P. John Fund Inc. v. Halliburton Co., No. 09-1403 (June 6, 2011), the Supreme Court of the United States decided that in seeking class certification, a plaintiff in an action under the federal securities laws is not required to prove facts demonstrating loss causation. [1] In so holding, the Supreme Court rejected a […]

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Preventing the Next Financial Crisis

We have weathered the worst of the financial crisis of 2008-9. Time for renewed optimism? Unfortunately not. The next financial crisis is already programmed. It’s somewhat like an earthquake in Southern California. We cannot predict exactly when it will happen, but we know that it will. Yet unlike earthquakes, financial crises are man-made. They need […]

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Posted in Academic Research, Financial Crisis, Financial Regulation, Op-Eds & Opinions | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments