Publicly listed corporations in the US typically have investor relations (IR) programs that involve providing information to and interfacing with external firm stakeholders. IR encompasses various activities, including preparing and issuing corporate disclosures, managing relationships with current and prospective investors, organizing non-deal roadshows to improve visibility with the street, interfacing with sell-side analysts to evaluate… Read More »
In 2019, approximately 200 CEOs from the Business Roundtable made headlines by declaring a shift in corporate priorities. They asserted that companies should not focus solely on maximizing shareholder gains but should also consider the well-being of employees, environmental sustainability, and fair treatment of suppliers. Thus, a natural question arises: does this commitment to social… Read More »
In recent decades, there has been a marked increase in concerns about the adverse environmental impacts of corporate production activities. This heightened awareness stems from the growing threats posed by climate change, resource depletion, and ecological degradation. As companies continue to prioritize profit maximization and shareholder value, their toxic emissions have come under scrutiny. These… Read More »
The system for managing corporate insolvency varies in fundamental ways between countries, with important effects on economic outcomes. Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code forms the legal basis of the successful American regime, which can handle distress in a formal process without liquidating assets, closing businesses, and with limited job losses. Many countries aim… Read More »
With nearly 2.7 million U.S. businesses owned by baby boomers,1 succession planning for these businesses has become critically important. For some owners, the next generation of the family has both the interest and the ability to continue to manage the business. For other owners, the sale of the business to a third party will be… Read More »
Law firms are distinctive creatures. The worker-owned governance structure, mandated by law’s professional responsibility rules, accidentally enables a distinctive type of business collapse known as a “partner run.” Partner runs are total liquidations, never reorganizations, and deeply feared by any law firm of scale. In my recent paper, I test whether a partner run can… Read More »
Green bonds are fixed-income securities issued by private corporations or public bodies (such as central banks or governments) to finance environmentally beneficial (“green”) projects. They are a relatively novel creation of international finance (what is considered the first ever green bond, the European Investment Bank’s “Climate Awareness Bond”, was created in 2007), but one that… Read More »
There is a consensus that compliance is a critical issue in corporate governance. Yet there remains a gaping hole in our understanding of what determines the effectiveness of compliance programs. Specifically, we know relatively little about the role of third-party compliance advisors. Nowadays, virtually every large law firm or accounting firm sells various “compliance… Read More »
Australia’s corporate and securities regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has extensive enforcement powers that it can use to ensure compliance with the law. One of these is the power to issue infringement notices. An infringement notice is an administrative mechanism that ASIC can use as a response to misconduct. It is issued… Read More »
The March 2023 bank run on Credit Suisse (CS) has received much attention. As a result of this bank run, the Swiss banking regulator (FINMA) pushed for the merger of CS with UBS, another large Swiss bank, thus creating one of the biggest banking unions in history. The demise of CS shook faith in a… Read More »
