john coates financial disclosure

Sydney Olympics were bought 'to a large extent', said Australian Professor of Law and Economics Harvard Law School 1875 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02138, United States phone: 617-496-4420 e-mail: jcoates@law.harvard.edu *Corresponding Author Electronic copy available at : http ://ssrn.com /abstract = 2375396 COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL REGULATION: CASE STUDIES AND IMPLICATIONS The Commission is charged with protecting investors generally, and even if a subset of investors believe that they do not (or do) want or need particular information, their views should not necessarily control the Commission in the exercise of its expert judgment. [13] Nor is the safe harbor available unless forward-looking statements are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Credit quality of loan portfolios requires expertise to understand in detail, which is typically found in bank regulatory agencies. As regards climate change, environmental agencies might do well to focus on global activities as well, but it is unclear how EPA could with its existing legal authority impose requirements on companies not operating in the US. Information should be cost-effective and reliable, and not materially misleading, in every securities transaction. AOC's annual report details $40,000 pay rise for John Coates - the Guardian The information, including financial statements, relevant to evaluating the investment changes dramatically in the de-SPAC because the private target has operations unlike the SPAC; and initial SPAC investors commonly have the right to and do sell or have their shares redeemed. That possibility further calls into question any sweeping claims about liability risk being more favorable for SPACs than for conventional IPOs. It cannot fairly be argued that losing production or even permanent asset impairments due to weather damage are not financial risks for companies with property, plant and equipment in flood plains or otherwise exposed to climate-related weather events. Financial risks importantly include physical risks, such as those arising from severe weather events, such as floods, hurricanes, and wildfires. Coates was angry because he believed Wylie was behind moves to unseat him at the then upcoming AOC election - an allegation Wylie denied. These higher costs can be particularly burdensome for smaller and more capital constrained companies, and yet if these companies do not provide ESG disclosures, they risk higher costs of capital. Prior to joining the SEC, John was the John F. Cogan Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard University, where he also served as Vice Dean for Finance and Strategic Initiatives. Surveys of institutional investors published in peer-reviewed financial journals confirm this evidence. Statement (PDF) . People often think of mandatory disclosure in a way that suggests that there is nothing more than an on/off switch between mandatory and voluntary disclosure. It would not itself force any company to shut down greenhouse-gas-emitting factories. Disclosures - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK What is the best way to verify or provide assurance about disclosures? With all these changes, the appeal of understanding and developing law around economic substance over form may be greater than ever. [1],[2] Shareholder advocates as well as business journalists and legal and banking practitioners, and even SPAC enthusiasts themselves[3] are sounding alarms about the surge. Or they argue without evidence about secret motivations, socialist agendas, and political goals to cripple industries and to reduce our nations energy security. SEC to Move 'Promptly' on ESG Rulemaking in 2021, Official Says Aside from the elementary fact that the Commission has no authority to edit Congressionally adopted statutes, the concept release actually says precisely the opposite. The brief historical review in Annexes A and B (and much more detail could be added) shows that nothing about the current proposed rules contents (discussed more below) should be legally surprising in any meaningful way, to Congress or to companies or their investors. Rather, they are faced with numerous, conflicting and frequently redundant requests for different information about the same topics. Because the rule is an investor-oriented disclosure rule, it is within the Commissions expertise. Investors and owners commonly view forward-looking information as decision-useful and relevant. If that risk drives choices about what information to present and how, it should not in my view be different in the de-SPAC process without clear and compelling reasons for and limits and conditions on any such difference. For investors, despite an abundance of ESG data, there is often a lack of consistent, comparable, and reliable ESG information available upon which to make informed investment and voting decisions. To view this content, please continue to their sites. John Coates - Keynote Speaker | London Speaker Bureau Snowman producer John Coates dies - BBC News He had been serving as the independent monitor for the U.S. Justice Department in the prosecution of Boston-based State Street Corp. Surveys of individual investors by firms such as Morgan Stanley confirm this evidence. (IOC) (AOC) 2020IOC ICAS . They argue that the disclosures required by the fictional new rule would be opinions, not facts, so it would violate the First Amendment. It does not say, for example, annual financial reports, but simply annual reports. As with the 1933 Act, the authority is not unboundedit is limited by the phrase appropriate for the proper protection of investors, with the gloss that the rules also be appropriate to insure fair dealing in the security, a reflection of the fact that the 1934 Act was designed to govern securities that were already trading on securities markets. From an environmental policy perspective, prioritizing based on environmental impact might make sense. 5-min read. Do particular disclosures, procedures, and liability rules reduce the all-in costs of capital? As noted above, subsequent to the initial passage of the securities laws, but after the passage of the initial Clean Air Act and in the same year EPA was created (1970), Congress directed the Commission (along with all other agencies of the federal government) to consider environmental protection in its rulemakings. Financial Disclosures | The White House The SEC should help lead the creation of an effective ESG disclosure system so companies can provide investors with information they need in a cost effective manner. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Financial Regulation: Case Studies and - SSRN I think it is only about 30 pages, while the British Companies Act is over 300 pages. John M Coates Mark Gurnell Zoltan Sarnyai Little is known about the role of the endocrine system in financial decision-making. Customer Service| About Us| Our existing disclosure regime, however, is already more nuanced than that, and there is no reason an ESG disclosure system would need to be less nuanced. The 1933 Act does not limit additional disclosures to those that are related or similar to the items in Schedule A, or material, or financial, despite the fact that Congress frequently used those very qualifiers elsewhere in the statute. As customary, and in keeping with the Division of Corporation Finances ordinary practices, staff are reviewing these filings, seeking clearer disclosure, and providing guidance to registrants and the public. Fund v. KCG Holdings, Inc., No. The multiple places the statutes give the Commission authority to go beyond its text (to create exemptions, tailor its requirements, and add to them). The institutions included both passive index funds and actively managed funds, as well as pension funds and other kinds of institutions. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, where he also serves as the Vice Dean for Finance and Strategic Initiatives, and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. Moreover, state law, such as in Delaware, may require disclosure of projections used by the boards or their advisors in these transactions. Finally, a coordinated global disclosure system has great potential benefits, but achieving one will take careful attention to institutional design. If an officeholder has filed their annual financial disclosure statement, then a pdf of the filing will be posted. However, it is also commonly understood that it is the de-SPAC and not the initial offering by the SPAC that is the transaction in which a private operating company itself goes public, i.e., engages in its initial public offering. It is not a rule requiring or limiting opinions or controversial speech, and raises no First Amendment concerns. Tokyo 2020: John Coates response to Annastacia - dailytelegraph [13] See, e.g., In re Quality Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, 865 F.3d 1130, 1142, (9th Cir. 11, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (December 22, 2020). Part of the difficulty is in the fact that ESG is at the same time very broad, touching every company in some manner, but also quite specific in that the ESG issues companies face can vary significantly based on their industry, geographic location and other factors. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives It would not affect how mutual funds and other collective investment vehicles market themselves, even as to the climate risks in their portfoliosthat topic is within the Commissions authority, but it is not addressed in this proposed rule. Rather, as long as the Commission considers that question in good faith and follows appropriate process, Congress has directed that the Commission make that decision, not the courts. 'Horrendous enemy, terrific friend': What drives AOC head John Coates? In this way, SPACs offer private companies an alternative pathway to go public and obtain a stock exchange listing, a broader shareholder base, status as a public company with Exchange Act registered securities, and a liquid market for its shares. . What disclosures do investors need to make informed investment and voting decisions? The Commission has always required information about a U.S. public companys consolidated subsidiarieswherever located. SEC's Coates Calls for "Adaptive and Innovative" Policy on ESG Disclosure Biography. The Commission cannot shirk its duty to protect investors even if that duty to an extent overlaps with EPAs duty to protect the environment. It only specifies disclosures, and does not regulate climate change, or regulate climate emissions. Efforts by critics to dismiss these votes ignore the fact that most shareholder proposals fail due to well-known collective action problems affecting public company governance. Join Facebook to connect with John Coates and others you may know. This statement creates no new or additional obligations for any person. Mr Coates told Channel 7's Sunrise he "overruled" Ms Palaszczuk after she initially said she would not be among the 1000 or so VIPs to attend the Opening Ceremony, which - like most of the . See also Rodriguez v. Gigamon Inc., 325 F. Supp. Moreover, the landscape is changing rapidly so issues that yesterday were only peripheral today are taking on greater importance. However, many legal questions have clear answers. [7] This, such observers assert, is the reason that sponsors, targets, and others involved in a de-SPAC feel comfortable presenting projections and other valuation material of a kind that is not commonly found in conventional IPO prospectuses. 14, 2014) (setting forth special procedures required in mergers involving control shareholders, without which heightened entire fairness must be shown by interested fiduciaries); Olenik v. Lodzinski, 208 A.3d 704 (Del. During the hearings, it was explicitly noted by a former FTC Commissioner and an advisor to President Roosevelt that: We are trying not to have this bill be too long. ESG problems are global problems that need global solutions for our global markets. L. Sch. John Coates has few regrets on his way out the AOC door [14], But, lest the safe harbor swallow the entire securities disclosure regime, the PSLRA specifically excludes from the safe harbor statements made in connection with specified types of securities offerings. Financial Disclosure - United States Department of Justice It is true that the subject matter of the financial risks and opportunities raised by climate change are complex, and climate experts have specialized knowledge about climate science. The Commissions authority, to reiterate, includes discretion to promulgate rules governing corporate disclosure. US Steel abandoned plans to expand its Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania, because it had expanded our understanding of steelmakings future in a rapidly decarbonizing world, resulting in $56 million write-off in 2021. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1979: the Commission has been vested by Congress with broad discretionary powers to promulgate (or not to promulgate) rules requiring disclosure of information beyond that specifically required by statute. It has never been EPAs job. As stressed by Justice Alito, when he was a Judge on the Third Circuit: Because the materiality standards for Rule 10b-5 [the Commissions primary anti-fraud rule] and SK-303 [an affirmative disclosure requirement for known trends and uncertainties, among other things] differ significantly, the demonstration of a violation of the disclosure requirements of Item 303 does not lead inevitably to the conclusion that such disclosure would be required under Rule 10b-5.. By contrast, the focus of traditional environmental regulationincluding EPA reporting rulesis solely the reversethe impact of companies on climate change. But that, too, is uncertain at best. Importantly, supporting letters came from many public companies (e.g., Adobe; Bank of America; BNP Paribas; Chevron; Dow Credit Suisse; Etsy; Microsoft; Paypal; Salesforce.com). John Coates named fellow of American College of Governance Counsel It is authorized by clear statutes, is consistent with settled understandings, and addresses disclosure topics covered by rules adopted long ago by the Commission and ratified by Congress. A company in possession of multiple sets of projections that are based on reasonable assumptions, reflecting different scenarios of how the company's future may unfold, would be on shaky ground if it only disclosed favorable projections and omitted disclosure of equally reliable but unfavorable projections, regardless of the liability framework The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Renee Jones has been appointed Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. The idea that the SEC can go out and do more research on these issues, however, was dismissed by former SEC general counsel John Coates, now a professor at Harvard Law School, who wrote in his. For EPA, those emissions may not be a priority. Statement (PDF) . The proposal is well within the Commissions authority to adopt. Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards 2023, Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards 2023, WORKERS COMPENSATION ATTORNEY - Hartford, CT, Offering an Opportunity of a Lifetime for Personal Injury Lawyers, What Does Your Business Agreement Really Mean? [7] See, e.g., Chris Bryant, Why Chamath Palihapitiya Loves SPACs So Much, Bloomberg Opinion (January 28, 2021) (citing Haystack, Alignment Summit Chats: SPACS (w/ Chamath Palihapitiya), YouTube (Dec. 2, 2020) (statement of Chamath Palihapitiya) (Because the SPAC is a merger of companies, youre all of a sudden allowed to talk about the future. Imposing further limiting principles may for some be appealing from a policy standpoint, but doing so has no basis whatsoever in the statutes text.. Rep. No. 2019-0100-KSJM, 2019 WL 1313408 (Del.Ch. The major questions doctrine has no role to change the plain text of the 1933 and 1934 Acts. Finally, companies generally are mandated to make disclosures as needed to prevent other disclosures from being materially misleading. This demonstrates that the broader direction was consciously added during the legislative process. Those authorities are general in nature, not limited to specific topics. The financial disclosure that John Coates filed also offered a rare public peek into the costs of corporate compliance monitors. That is, the rules perspective of that of investors and companiestheir strategies, risk management, governance and metricswithout regard to whether a given company independently creates a climate impact that is large or small for the overall environment, or whether it is more or less exposed than other companies to physical risks of climate change. But critics claim that EPA authority repealed the Commissions authority is even more basically addressed by noting the significant differences in the two agencies organic statutes as applied to climate-related financial risk. The National Law Journal Elite Trial Lawyers recognizes U.S.-based law firms performing exemplary work on behalf of plaintiffs. New investors buy these shares in the aftermarket or participate in a new offering by the combined entity. Specifically, Section 7 gives the Commission unambiguous authority to specify the contents of disclosure documents used to register securities for sale to the public. The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States shall be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth in this chapter, and (2) all agencies of the Federal Government shall make available to States, counties, municipalities, institutions, and individuals, advice and information useful in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of the environment. Congress both expanded authorities and limited which and how specific types of companies and transactions are covered by its disclosure regime. 1 Twitter 2 Facebook 3RSS 4YouTube At the same time, the risk of misuse of such information should also be carefully evaluated in light of the economic realities of the capital formation process. John C. Coates - Harvard Law School In the nature of corporate investment, investors in multinational US public companies bear climate-related financial risks and have opportunities to profit from their global activities. But Coates will have his own financial . To be effective, he said, new SEC rules "must produce results that are useful, consistent, and comparable." The plain language could not be clearer in directing the Commission to do what it is proposing to do: specify the details of disclosure appropriate to protect investors, based on its fact-finding and expert judgment. The statute refers to the Commissions rules defining blank check company and to the Exchange Acts definition of penny stock.[15], By contrast, however, the PSLRAs exclusion for initial public offering does not refer to any definition of initial public offering. No definition can be found in the PSLRA, nor (for purposes of the PSLRA) in any SEC rule. The financial disclosure that John Coates filed also offered a rare public peek into the costs of corporate compliance monitors. That is true for companies being acquired, as well as for companies going public. John CoatesActing Director, Division of Corporation Finance. I write to comment on legal authority. The Commission has neither approved nor disapproved its content. Clear statement canons play no role when statutes speak clearly. 1 The housing and financial crises of 2008 led to the Dodd-Frank Act, 2 which restructured the financial regulatory agencies, mandated more than 200 new rules, and required changes to many older rules. Our second option allows you to build your bundle and strategically select the content that pertains to your needs. An effective ESG disclosure system does not imply a rigid and soon-to-be outdated set of limited disclosures. The claim that the proposed rules requirements are so unrelated to investor protection as to altogether fall outside the Commissions obligation to specify financial risk disclosures is without merit. LexisNexis and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. As detailed above, the proposed rule could not fairly be viewed as embodying climate change policy generally. A draft of what would become the 1933 Act in the Senate included disclosure items directly in the statute, and did not contain the equivalent language later adopted in Section 7, which directs the Commission to go beyond that list (which is separate from the Commissions general rulemaking authority in Section 19). Concerns include risks from fees, conflicts, and sponsor compensation, from celebrity sponsorship and the potential for retail participation drawn by baseless hype, and the sheer amount of capital pouring into the SPACs, each of which is designed to hunt for a private target to take public. In that section, companies are required to disclose a specified list of financial disclosure and documents set out in Schedule A, to obtain consents from any accountant, engineer, or appraiser or other professional identified in the disclosures, andin a separate sentenceto disclose such other information, and be accompanied by such other documents, as the Commission may by rules or regulations require as being necessary or appropriate for the protection of investors.. For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [emailprotected], Shearman and Hogan Lovells Call Off Merger Talks, Early Reports: 2023 Am Law 200 Financials, Beyond Excess Capacity, Pooled Services and Automation Expedite Staff Layoffs, Dozens of Law Firms Grew Their Equity Partner Tier, Even as Profits and Demand Plummeted. This blog answers some questions about the changes. Multiple paths to dispersed ownership now exist, including not only SPACs, but also direct listings and dual-track IPO/M&A processes. President Thomas Bach. Congress, having made a fundamental policy judgment to require full and fair disclosure to protect investors, directed the Commission to make ongoing subsidiary choices of precisely what details of disclosure to require and when, after engaging in fact-finding and analysis that Congress chose not to try to do itself. Economic analysis and expert fact-finding and assessments may inform choices about how detailed and what the details should be, and the Commission needs to follow its own economic analysis guidance in arriving at its conclusions, as well as comply with administrative law. : John Dowling Coates 1950 57 - . During my tenure as Acting Director of Corporation Finance, I experienced firsthand the unwavering commitment of the SEC staff, and I look forward to serving in a new role as the Commissions General Counsel., STAY CONNECTED Financial Reports. A topic of a disclosure is political, or controversial, or is not uncontroversially for investor protection, any of which would only invite interest groups to politicize a topic in the hopes of later arguing it should be off limits for the Commission to address. Author Page for John C. Coates, IV :: SSRN Does that provide de-SPAC participants with protections in private litigation that are not available in a conventional IPO? John Coates Acting Director, Division of Corporation Finance March 11, 2021 Statement Published in Connection with Remarks at the 33rd Annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute [1] Not long ago, the title of this statement would have needed to unpack "ESG" into Environmental, Social and Governance. John Coates Profiles | Facebook So, too, for mining companies, asset-backed issuers, and other sectors, as also detailed in Annex A. One need not be a strong believer in the efficient market hypothesis to believe that disclosure often aligns market prices with investment risk and returns, albeit sometimes with delays and errors, which makes ongoing refinements in disclosure requirements all the more important to healthy markets. Bloomberg reports that, according to Coates, the new disclosure requirements will focus on three topics: diversity, equity and inclusion; climate change; and human capital management. 6LinkedIn 8 Email Updates, What a SPAC Believer Thinks of SPAC Mania. VIA EMAIL: coatesjo@sec.gov John Coates, Acting Director Division of Corporation Finance U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street NE Washington, DC 20549 April 14, 2021 Re: Guidance Needed to Issuers on the Presentation of Shareholder Proposals Dear Director Coates: I am writing to urge the Division of Corporation Finance to issue