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

SEC Releases Initiative to Foster Cooperation

The SEC yesterday formally released an anticipated new initiative designed to encourage individual and company cooperation with SEC investigations and enforcement actions. [1] The initiative, laid out in a new section of the enforcement manual for the Division of Enforcement entitled “Fostering Cooperation,” (the “Initiative”) establishes incentives for early, substantial, robust cooperation with the stated […]

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Capital Allocation and Delegation of Decision-Making Authority

In our paper Capital Allocation and Delegation of Decision-Making Authority within Firms, which was recently published on SSRN, we examine the allocation of capital and the delegation of decision-making authority within firms. Theoretical research examines how decision-making authority is delegated within groups. While the theoretical implications are far-ranging, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence […]

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Risk Oversight: A Board Imperative

Risk oversight is a high priority for today’s boards of directors. The risk oversight playbook is likely to evolve as boards refine their processes into 2010 and beyond. There are signs that legislators and regulators have risk oversight in their line of sight. For example, in the United States, the SEC proposed new proxy disclosures […]

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Posted in Boards of Directors, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Compensation Season 2010 – Issues to Consider

For many public companies, the new year marks the commencement 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 2010, companies will […]

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Implications of the “Volcker Rules” for Financial Stability

Editor’s Note: Hal Scott is the Director of the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. This post is based on Professor Scott’s recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs, omitting footnotes. Professor Scott’s testimony is in his own capacity and does not purport to represent the views […]

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Posted in Banking & Financial Institutions, Financial Crisis, Financial Regulation, Speeches & Testimony | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Commentaries on Critical Legal Issues in 2010

For the second year in a row, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP has published a collection of commentaries addressing what we see as critical legal issues and areas of focus by businesses and industry sectors likely to be in the forefront of the matters considered by the U.S. and global financial and business […]

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Dividend and Corporate Taxation in an Agency Model of the Firm 

In our paper Dividend and Corporate Taxation in an Agency Model of the Firm, which is forthcoming in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, we propose a simple model based on the agency theory of the firm (Jensen and Meckling 1976) that provides an alternative to the two leading theories of corporate taxation – the […]

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Seven Law Firms Comment on “Opt-Out” Under SEC’s Proposed Proxy Access Rules

Seven major law firms — Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Latham & Watkins, LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — collaborated on a 17-page comment letter  in response to a request by the SEC […]

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Posted in Corporate Elections & Voting, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Combating Insider Trading: What Works

Last year’s headlines were filled with announcements of major new insider trading prosecutions. The DOJ and SEC have promised there will be more such cases to come in 2010, including through the use of more aggressive investigative techniques such as wiretaps and wired informants. The question is what can a firm practically do to stop […]

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Posted in Financial Regulation, Practitioner Publications | Tagged , | 1 Comment

HLS Forum Publishes 1,000th Post

Last week the Forum on Corporate governance and Financial Regulation published its 1,000th post.  The Forum started operating with support from the Corporation Service Company in December 2006. In addition to posts from Harvard Law School faculty and fellows and posts by members of the Program on Corporate Governance’s Advisory Board, the Forum has featured […]

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