The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) has made good on a promise it made over four years ago to criminally charge companies that agree not to solicit each other’s employees in so-called “no poach” agreements or that agree not to compete on wages or salaries in so-called “wage-fixing” agreements. In the waning days of the Obama administration, the DOJ announced it would begin criminally prosecuting collusive conduct affecting labor markets;[1] now, in…

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) (collectively, “regulators”) have expressed concern over “disclosure overload,” or the concern that the sheer volume of disclosure in annual reports makes it difficult for investors to identify and incorporate relevant information into their decisions (White 2013). While academic research finds that annual reports have become longer and less readable (e.g., Dyer et al. 2017), regulators attribute disclosure overload in part to high levels…

Here’s a familiar story for litigators. A client calls you with a strong legal claim, but she can’t afford to pay your hourly rates. And your firm won’t let you take the case on contingency. You feel hard-pressed to tell your client to look elsewhere. Enter litigation finance: the practice where a third party provides capital to a litigant or law firm in connection with a legal claim, frequently to help claimholders finance their lawsuits…

[Editor’s Note: This and the piece that immediately follows offer a point/counterpoint on litigation finance.] The past decade has witnessed a steady stream of innovative capital markets products.   Among these developments is litigation finance – a transaction form where a non-party to a dispute provides capital to finance a litigation.  Litigation finance seeks efficiently to transfer the financial risk of litigation from those who cannot (or do not wish to) bear it, to capital providers …

On December 28, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued five new frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) that clarify the scope of Executive Order (“E.O.”) 13959, the basis for OFAC’s new Chinese Military Companies sanctions program. These FAQs define key terms and clarify how OFAC will interpret E.O. 13959’s prohibition against U.S. investment in the securities of Communist Chinese Military Companies (“CCMCs”), which goes into effect on January 11, 2021.…

Investor conferences are an important component of a firm’s investor relations efforts. Conferences provide managers with the opportunity for face-to-face interactions with investors and analysts. Managers can use these interactions to increase firm visibility and shape external perceptions of the firm’s business operations and strategy. Prior academic research finds that conferences are important information events that are accompanied by positive price and volume reactions, increases in institutional investor and analyst following, and improvements in liquidity.…