Publications

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October 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission

By: Aiyesha Dey, Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah Gulick

February 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission

By: Aiyesha Dey and Krishna G. Palepu

Teaching Note for HBS No. 119-046. View Details

10 Feb 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Government Preferences and SEC Enforcement

Keywords: by Jonas Heese

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

SSRN

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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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

SSRN

26 Apr 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Is the SEC Captured? Evidence from Comment-Letter Reviews

Keywords: by Jonas Heese, Mozaffar Khan, and Karthik Ramanna

February 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Theranos: The Unicorn That Wasn't

By: Joseph B. Fuller and John Masko

In 2003, 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes founded a startup dedicated to making blood testing easier and more affordable. By 2015, her company, Theranos, was worth $9 billion. It boasted a star-studded board and contracts with national pharmacy and supermarket chains... View Details

Keywords: Theranos; Blood; Lab Testing; Fraud; Holmes; Balwani; Shultz; Carreyrou; Securities And Exchange Commission; Food And Drug Administration; FDA; SEC; Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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 View Details

03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

see which clinicians, hospitals, insurers, and others provide the best value." Even if the Trump rules hold up, they cannot provide the full accounting of prices and outcomes the health care system... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

12 Nov 2012
News

The SEC vs. J.P. Morgan

April 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Technical Note

Whistleblower Legislation in the Context of Financial Reporting

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

This note provides an overview of U.S. federal legislation relating to whistleblowing, Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank (including the Office of the Whistleblower), and the False Claims Act. View Details

Keywords: Whistleblower; Sarbanes-Oxley; Dodd-Frank; False Claims Act; Securities And Exchange Commission; Government Legislation; Financial Reporting; United States

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

2015
Working Paper

Integrated Reporting for a Re-Imagined Capitalism

By: Robert G. Eccles and Birgit Spiesshofer

An essential element of capitalism is corporate reporting. Today's capitalism is supported by financial reporting. Critics of today's capitalism argue that it is too short-term oriented and rewards companies for creating negative externalities. Integrated reporting can... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Reporting; Materiality; Securities And Exchange Commission; European Union; Information And Transformation Function; Integrated Corporate Reporting; United States; European Union

SSRN

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24 Feb 2022
Op-Ed

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

responsibilities—engender the required transparency? In contrast to approaches that rely on HHS, our recommendation for building hospital capacity uses the power of the Securities and View Details

Keywords: by Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer; Health

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

November 2005 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Bally Total Fitness (A): The Rise, 1962–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

From a single, modest club in 1962, Bally Total Fitness had grown to become—in management’s words—the “largest and only nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers” in the United States in 2004. Bally had faced its share of challenges, but the last couple of... View Details

Keywords: Bally Total Fitness; Fitness; Gyms; Health Clubs; Chain; Securities And Exchange Commission; Paul Toback; Weight Loss; Exercise; Contracts; Personal Training; Retention; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Finance; Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Public Equity; Financing and Loans; Revenue; Revenue Recognition; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Trends; Cost Management; Profit; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Five Forces Framework; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

2013
Chapter

Who Chooses Board Members?

By: Ali Akyol and Lauren Cohen

We exploit a recent regulation passed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to explore the nomination of board members to US publicly traded firms. In particular, we focus on firms’ use of executive search firms versus allowing internal members (often... View Details

Keywords: Boards; Boards Of Directors; Executive Search Firms; Governance; SEC Regulation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Succession; Executive Compensation

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