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Full-Text Articles in Law
Does Board Independence Reduce The Cost Of Debt?, Michael Bradley, Dong Chen
Does Board Independence Reduce The Cost Of Debt?, Michael Bradley, Dong Chen
Faculty Scholarship
Using the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the associated change in listing standards as a natural experiment, we find that while board independence decreases the cost of debt when credit conditions are strong or leverage low, it increases the cost of debt when credit conditions are poor or leverage high. We also document that independent directors set corporate policies that increase firm risk. These results suggest that, acting in the interest of shareholders, independent directors are increasingly costly to bondholders with the intensification of the agency conflict between these two stakeholders.
The Crucial But (Potentially) Precarious Position Of The Chief Compliance Officer, Deborah A. Demott
The Crucial But (Potentially) Precarious Position Of The Chief Compliance Officer, Deborah A. Demott
Faculty Scholarship
This Article, written for a symposium on compliance issues in financial-services firms, focuses on the role of the chief compliance officer (“CCO”). Contrasting the position with that held by a firm’s general counsel or Chief Legal Officer (CLO), the article argues that a CCO’s position holds distinct challenges. Additionally, although internal compliance systems and personnel may be characterized as functional substitutes for external regulation, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of internal compliance requires a willingness to look deep within firms. The article argues that the law and regulation may enhance firms’ incentives to invest in effective internal compliance but may …