Publications

14 Feb 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Does It Pay to Be a Whistleblower?

Keywords: Re: Jonas Heese; Banking

Article

Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations

By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon

When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates firms for financial fraud, investors learn about the investigation only if managers disclose it, or regulators sanction the firm. We investigate the effects of such disclosures using confidential records on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Fraud; Corporate Disclosure; Performance; Outcome or Result

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April 2018 (Revised December 2018)
Case

The Whistleblower at International Game Technology

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Robert Mayhem, a senior manager at International Game Technology, had filed a whistleblower report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the company had misstatements in its financial reports. Mayhem’s report involved IGT’s practice of... View Details

Keywords: Whistleblower; Financial Reporting; Governance Compliance; Ethics

May 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Accounting for Bitcoin at Tesla

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Siyu Zhang

On February 8, 2021, Tesla revealed, through its 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that it had purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, totaling 7.5% of the company’s cash, and that it planned to accept payments in the cryptocurrency soon. These... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Accounting; Currency; Communication Intention and Meaning; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Value Creation

September 2019
Article

The Effect of Enforcement Transparency: Evidence from SEC Comment-Letter Reviews

By: Miguel Duro, Jonas Heese and Gaizka Ormazabal

This paper studies the effect of the public disclosure of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) comment-letter reviews (CLs) on firms’ financial reporting. We exploit a major change in the SEC’s disclosure policy: in 2004, the SEC decided to make its CLs... View Details

Keywords: Disclosure; SEC Comment-Letter Reviews; Public Enforcement; Governance; Information Publishing; Policy; Financial Reporting; Capital Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn

Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes; Law Enforcement; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Courts and Trials

August 2003
Case

SEC Proposal for Nomination of Directors by Shareholders

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Describes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's 2003 proposal to allow shareholders to nominate a "short slate" of directors for the board of listed companies. Includes comment letters for and against the proposal. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

Summer 2019
Article

The Political Influence of Voters' Interests on SEC Enforcement

By: Jonas Heese

I examine whether political influence as a response to voters’ interest in employment levels is reflected in the enforcement actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I find that large employers are less likely to experience SEC enforcement actions.... View Details

Keywords: SEC Enforcement; Government Preferences; Voters' Interests; Political Influence; Employment; Public Opinion; Government Administration; Governance Compliance; Political Elections

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20 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

Investors Hurt by Dual-Track Tax Reporting

Since when do the taxman and the shareholder agree? IRS Commissioner Mark Everson and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox (HBS MBA '76) have advanced a simple, but controversial proposal. Companies would be... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

Fast Answer

SEC definitions and requirements

Where do I find definitions of SEC filings and other requirements of the SEC? Go to the SEC Forms List. For tips on creating SEC filings, see A Plain English Handbook:... View Details

01 Apr 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Opting Out of Good Governance

Keywords: by C. Fritz Foley, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Jonathan Greenstein & Eric Zwick

01 Dec 1999
News

Christensen and Vernon Remembered

College of New York, where he received his BA cum laude in 1933. He earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1941 from Columbia University. He then spent 24 years at the Securities and View Details

November 2004 (Revised September 2019)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004

By: John R. Wells, Gabriel Ellsworth and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2004, the $16.8 billion U.S. health club industry continued its strong record of growth. There were almost 27,000 health clubs in the United States, up from 6,700 two decades earlier, and these clubs claimed 41 million members, over 14% of the U.S. population.... View Details

Keywords: Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Obesity; Exercise; Personal Training; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; YMCA; Gold's Gym; Curves; Franchise; Franchising; Subscription; Promotional Sales; Promotions; Fixed Costs; Body; Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Customers; Demographics; Age; Income; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Retention; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Operations; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Expansion; Segmentation; Hardware; Health Industry; United States

November 2010
Case

Lessons Learned? Brooksley Born & the OTC Derivatives Market (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

On May 7, 1998, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, chaired by Brooksley Born, issued a "Concept Release" inviting public comment on the relevance and appropriateness of existing regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market, a market with a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; Public Administration Industry; District of Columbia

Web

Online Leadership and Management Courses | HBS Online

Certificate Negotiation Mastery Professor Michael Wheeler Master negotiation techniques to secure maximum value for yourself and your organization. 8 weeks, 4-5 hrs/week Enroll by June 12 $1,850 Certificate... View Details

01 Jun 2023
News

Alumni and Faculty Books

Edited by Margie Kelley Alumni Books The Boxer of Quirinal By John Barr (MBA 1972) Red Hen Press All animals struggle to survive. In John Barr’s poems, the success of the heron hunting, the albatross breeding, the inchworm spinning give proof of life. But for us that... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

October 2021
Case

Financial Reporting at Mattel

By: Aiyesha Dey, Trung Nguyen, Marshal Herrmann and Julia Kelley

In September 2020, Diana Ferguson was nearing her first Audit Committee meeting as the newly appointed Audit Committee chair of Mattel, Inc. Mattel was just recovering from an accounting scandal which had revealed the company’s poor internal controls and weak board... View Details