OECD - Who Cares? Corporate Governance in Today’s Equity Markets

There are two main sources of confusion in the public corporate governance debate. One is the confusion about the role of public policy intervention. The other is a lack of empirical knowledge about the corporate landscape where rules are supposed to be implemented and the functioning of today’s equity markets, where voting rights and cash flow rights are traded. To mitigate some of this confusion, this paper provides both an analytical framework for the role of public policy and a description of the empirical context that influences the conditions for that policy.
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The Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel Dials it Back

In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., No. 10-1491 (U.S. Apr. 17, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Consequently, there is no federal court jurisdiction under the ATS for torts in violation of the law of nations that occur in a foreign country.
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Setting the Record (Date) Straight

A record date, often viewed in the merger context as a mere mechanic to be quickly checked off a “to do” list, creates a frozen list of stockholders as of a specified date who are entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at, a stockholders’ meeting.
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Appellate Division Decision Favors MBIA Against Its Remaining Bank Policyholders

n the continuing fight between MBIA and a bank group that has dwindled to two members, it appears that, due to another court decision, MBIA is ahead on points; however, some believe the insurer is running out of gas. On April 2, 2013, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the trial court's decision holding that an underlying loan does not need to be in default to trigger the policyholder's repurchase obligation to MBIA if the insurer can prove that inaccurate information provided by the policyholder materially and adversely affected the insurer's interest.
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First Distribution Expected in Dutch Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V. (“LBT”)

Sanctioning of LBT Composition Plan Becomes Final: Following a consent solicitation process (unprecedented in the Netherlands) which ended on 25 January 2013, the LBT Composition Plan, as proposed by the debtor LBT in its Dutch bankruptcy, was accepted by an overwhelming majority (of 99 percent in number and 96 percent in amount) at the so-called Claims Admission Meeting (verificatievergadering) (“CAM”) held in the Amsterdam District Court on 7 March 2013.
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