Tag: International Developments
-
United States Supreme Court considers a corporation’s ‘principal place of business’
An important question, with significant implications for contemporary corporate law theory will be heard by the United States Supreme Court on November 10. The matter in question is Hertz Corp. V. Friend (08-1107), which poses the question of which State can be considered to be a corporation’s ‘principal place of business’. The issue has arisen
-
Corporate Governance Accreditation
In Singapore, there is a proposal for listed companies to seek voluntary accreditation of their corporate governance processes and framework from an independent body. This is akin to the ISO certification process. As this report suggests, while such accreditation will better inform retail investors regarding corporate governance practices followed in a company, this could also
-
The Insider Trading Debate Resurfaces
With the SEC recently charging hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam and others for insider trading, the debate regarding the scope of insider trading and its (un)desirability in capital markets has resurfaced. SEC’s complaint filed in the District Court in New York indicates that Rajaratnam, through his hedge fund Galleon, had traded in stocks of 10
-
Regulating Derivatives
According to one school of thought, the excessive use of derivatives, particularly credit default swaps (CDSs) was a key cause of the global financial crisis. Related to this is the argument that progressive liberalisation of rules governing derivatives accelerated their downfall. In an interesting debate titled Regulate OTC Derivatives by Deregulating Them, Professor Lynn Stout
-
Fiduciary Duties and Non-Executive Directors
An earlier post had discussed a recent Australian judgment on the role and duties of a non-executive director, Australian Securities and Investment Commission v. MacDonald. More recently, according to a report on the Corporate Law and Governance blog, the Inner House of the Court of Session of Scotland has again commented on the role of
-
Corporate Frauds and Regulatory Shortcomings: SEC’s Madoff Report
A few days ago, the U.S. SEC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report (over 450 pages) identifying various lapses that led to SEC’s failure to uncover Madoff’s Ponzi scheme much earlier than December 2008 when the scandal broke out. To the interested reader, the executive summary might be more manageable given the length
-
Swiss Accounts and Banking Secrecy: Contrasting Outcomes
After prolonged discussions, the US and Swiss authorities came to an agreement earlier this month whereby UBS would disclose details of certain US account holders who are suspected of evading US taxes. The Time Magazine outlines the terms: Under the terms of the new agreement, the IRS will submit a request to Swiss tax authorities
-
SEC Issues Permanent Ban on Abusive Short Sales
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued a temporary ban on the practice of “naked” short sales. By way of a recent press release, SEC has now made the ban permanent. The Press Release defines a “naked” short sale as one where “the investor sells shares
-
The Efficacy of Conventional Corporate Governance Instruments
Each time there is a corporate governance scandal (whether in India or elsewhere), the response has been to use a set of instruments (implemented through regulation or best practices) to avoid a repetition of such occurrences. It appears that these instruments have not always been successful as they come with certain innate limitations, but they
-
The Tale of the Resigning Director
In the aftermath of events that occurred at Satyam and Nagarjuna Finance, there has been a mass exodus of independent non-executive directors from boards of Indian listed companies. More often that not, there is no apparent reason offered for resignation by such directors. As we had discussed in an earlier post, the SGX in Singapore
