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

UK and European Remuneration Reform: Year in Review

In the past three years, international regulatory focus on remuneration has gripped the globe. The heart of the debate which arose in the context of remuneration structures in investment banking and their contribution to global financial crisis has extended past this into remuneration across a broad range of industries. This past year has seen a […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, International Corporate Governance & Regulation, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Private Equity in the 21st Century

In the paper, Private Equity in the 21st Century: Cash Flows, Performance, and Contract Terms from 1984-2010, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we use a large, proprietary database of private equity cash flows and management contract terms over the period 1984-2010, comprising close to 40% of the U.S. Venture Economics universe, to […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, Empirical Research, Private Equity | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report

Editor’s Note: Byron Georgiou, a member of the Program on Corporate Governance’s Advisory Board, is one of ten members nationally appointed to serve on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. After a year’s work reviewing millions of documents, interviewing over 700 witnesses, and conducting 19 days of hearings throughout America, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission issued […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, Bankruptcy & Financial Distress, Financial Crisis, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Regulators Materials | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

FSOC Study on Implementing the Volcker Rule: Missed Opportunities and Some Surprises

On January 18, 2011, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) issued its long-awaited report on a key provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act known as the “Volcker Rule,” which generally prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and from investing in or sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds. […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, Financial Crisis, Financial Regulation, Legislative & Regulatory Developments, Practitioner Publications, Securities Regulation | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on FSOC Study on Implementing the Volcker Rule: Missed Opportunities and Some Surprises

Camouflaged Earnings Management

In the paper, Camouflaged Earnings Management, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we argue that cash management (in particular one that converts accruals into cash or vice versa) may reduce the transparency of possible earnings management. In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny of financial reporting and greater analysts and investors attention […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, Empirical Research, Legislative & Regulatory Developments | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Camouflaged Earnings Management

Extraterritorial Application of Section 10(b) to Security-Based Swap Agreements

On December 30, 2010, Judge Harold Baer, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion dismissing with prejudice six complaints seeking more than $2.5 billion in damages against Porsche Automobil Holding SE (“Porsche”) and two of its former executives. In so doing, the Court held in […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Court Cases, Derivatives, International Corporate Governance & Regulation, Practitioner Publications, Securities Litigation & Enforcement | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Extraterritorial Application of Section 10(b) to Security-Based Swap Agreements

Shareholder Voting and Corporate Governance Around the World

In the paper, Shareholder Voting and Corporate Governance around the World, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we study the votes cast by U.S. institutional investors in elections to assess the impact of internal (firm-level) and external (country-level) corporate governance on shareholder voting patterns. The right to vote is arguably the most fundamental […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Academic Research, Corporate Elections & Voting, Empirical Research, Institutional Investors, International Corporate Governance & Regulation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Shareholder Voting and Corporate Governance Around the World

Regulating Systemic Risk: Towards an Analytical Framework

Our paper, Regulating Systemic Risk: Towards an Analytical Framework, forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review, attempts to construct an analytical framework that both captures the systemic transmission of economic shocks and explains the behavioral and other market failures that justify regulatory intervention. The paper starts by describing two otherwise independent correlations that can combine […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Academic Research, Bankruptcy & Financial Distress, Empirical Research, Financial Regulation, Legislative & Regulatory Developments | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Regulating Systemic Risk: Towards an Analytical Framework

Compensation Season 2011

For many public companies, the new year marks the beginning of compensation season. Setting pay and targets for the new year, determining achievement of performance objectives for the past year and preparing the annual proxy statement contribute to a busy first quarter for compensation committees and management teams working with them. In 2011, companies will […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Executive Compensation, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Board Interlocks and Earnings Management Contagion

In the paper, Board Interlocks and Earnings Management Contagion, which was recently made publicly available on SSRN, we test whether earnings management (like a virus) spreads from firm to firm via board connections of shared directors (virus carriers). We use earnings restatements to identify firms that managed earnings and to identify the period when these […]

Click here to read the complete post
Posted in Academic Research, Accounting & Disclosure, Boards of Directors, Mergers & Acquisitions | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Board Interlocks and Earnings Management Contagion