Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Securities Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Securities Law

Hedge Funds In Corporate Governance And Corporate Control, Marcel Kahan, Edward B. Rock May 2007

Hedge Funds In Corporate Governance And Corporate Control, Marcel Kahan, Edward B. Rock

All Faculty Scholarship

Hedge funds have become critical players in both corporate governance and corporate control. In this article, we document and examine the nature of hedge fund activism, how and why it differs from activism by traditional institutional investors, and its implications for corporate governance and regulatory reform. We argue that hedge fund activism differs from activism by traditional institutions in several ways: it is directed at significant changes in individual companies (rather than small, systemic changes), it entails higher costs, and it is strategic and ex ante (rather than intermittent and ex post). The reasons for these differences may lie in …


A Perspective On Federal Corporation Law, Mark J. Loewenstein Jan 2007

A Perspective On Federal Corporation Law, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

No abstract provided.


Sarbanes-Oxley: The Delaware Perspective, Chief Justice Myron T. Steele Jan 2007

Sarbanes-Oxley: The Delaware Perspective, Chief Justice Myron T. Steele

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Financial Journalists In Corporate Governance, Michael J. Borden Jan 2007

The Role Of Financial Journalists In Corporate Governance, Michael J. Borden

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article pursues the important theme of disclosure, but focuses on a feature that has remained almost entirely overlooked by corporate and securities law scholars: the role of financial journalists in corporate governance. This omission is perhaps due to the fact that journalists do not fit easily into a legal discussion because they are largely unregulated. They are, in a sense, not legal actors, and, therefore do not comfortably become the subject of a legal prescription. Nevertheless, journalists contribute in many ways to the legal system at large and the system of corporate governance in particular.This Article uses case studies …


The Incoherence Of American Corporate Governance And The Need For Federal Standards, Timothy De Lizza Jan 2007

The Incoherence Of American Corporate Governance And The Need For Federal Standards, Timothy De Lizza

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment suggests that the U.S. Congress should expand the SEC’s mandate so that it has clear authority to implement corporate governance standards. Part I provides an overview of problems regarding how much executive pay is given, how pay is set, and how it is disclosed. It then highlights regulatory responses to those problems, including how they provide contradictory incentives and result in unpredictability and over-regulation. Part II considers the current scope of the SEC’s mandate, including courts’ and commentators’ difficulty in defining its boundaries. Part II concludes that this difficulty sometimes makes the SEC’s regulatory actions either ineffective or …


Mickey, Can You Spare A Dime? Disneywar, Executive Compensation, Corporate Governance, And Business Law Pedagogy, Kenneth M. Rosen Jan 2007

Mickey, Can You Spare A Dime? Disneywar, Executive Compensation, Corporate Governance, And Business Law Pedagogy, Kenneth M. Rosen

Michigan Law Review

American business executives are under fire. Recent, notorious difficulties at companies such as the Enron Corporation brought attention to these individuals. Notwithstanding the conclusion of the trials of some of those top executives, skepticism remains about the inner workings of U.S. corporations and the quality of corporate governance. Drawing special scrutiny from some quarters is the compensation granted to corporate officers and directors. For instance, the timing of certain stock option grants, a key component of some compensation packages, raised ire because of those options' supposed backdating and fortuitous proximity to increases in share prices. Further, some questioned more generally …


The Rise Of Independent Directors In The United States, 1950-2005: Of Shareholder Value And Stock Market Prices, Jeffrey N. Gordon Jan 2007

The Rise Of Independent Directors In The United States, 1950-2005: Of Shareholder Value And Stock Market Prices, Jeffrey N. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Between 1950 and 2005, the composition of large public company boards dramatically shifted towards independent directors, from approximately 20% independents to 75% independents. The standards for independence also became increasingly rigorous over the period. The available empirical evidence provides no convincing explanation for this change. This Article explains the trend in terms of two interrelated developments in U.S. political economy: first, the shift to shareholder value as the primary corporate objective; second, the greater informativeness of stock market prices. The overriding effect is to commit the firm to a shareholder wealth maximizing strategy as best measured by stock price performance. …


The Social Construction Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Donald C. Langevoort Jan 2007

The Social Construction Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Donald C. Langevoort

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The closer one looks at SOX and its origins in the financial scandals of the early 2000s, the blurrier the picture, which lets commentators see what they want to see and draw inferences accordingly. That is why social construction is so crucial. My aim in this paper is to illuminate the social nature of SOX's diffusion into practice. I will leave to the reader the judgment about whether this has been or will be good or bad, and for whom. If I seem to challenge SOX's critics more than its supporters, it is because the critics have been more venomous …