Recent high-profile cyberattacks on companies including Sony, Home Depot, Target, and Yahoo underscore how important effective cybersecurity has become to a corporation’s stakeholders, including shareholders and customers. Given the serious threat hacks pose, oversight in this area has become a key duty of the corporation’s board of directors. Yet evidence shows that boards may not…
Month: March 2017
Change is in the Air at the S.E.C.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) is about to undergo a significant change under President Donald J. Trump. On Monday, November 14, 2016, Mary Jo White announced her plan to step down from her post as the 31st Chair of the S.E.C. Not long after her announcement, then-President-elect Trump nominated Wall Street lawyer…
Vaccine Bonds: Invest and Save Lives
Gavi the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) is a public-private partnership that was created as an alliance between the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others, to provide vital vaccines to children in the poorest countries of the world.1 Since its inception, Gavi has helped immunize more than 580 million…
The Rise of Behavioral Health Startups
There has been a boom in the behavioral health industry, evidenced by the steep increase in the number of behavioral health startups founded in the past two years.1 Currently, there are 326 companies and 534 investors registered as mental health startups on AngelList.2 Innovation in the behavioral health space matters because in the United States,…
Investment Opportunities in Mexico’s Denationalized Energy Industry
In December 2013, Mexico passed Constitutional amendments to reopen its energy industry after decades of protectionism and stagnation.1 Ernst & Young estimated in 2014 that total investments in Mexico with objectives to increase production, to improve the midstream network, and to promote energy sustainability would cost between US$35 billion and US$100 billion over a…
President Trump’s Potential Changes to NAFTA
In January 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law.1 The agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, was created to facilitate free trade across the North American countries by eliminating tariffs and making it easier for companies to move from the U.S. to Mexico.2 The agreement was controversial during…
SPAC: The Mechanics of a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Part IV of IV)
Editor’s Note: This blog series is presented in four parts.1 In this fourth edition, the author presents an analysis of the reality of SPAC performance, and its causes. Given the potential advantages to parties involved in a SPAC transaction, it becomes necessary to consider whether these advantages translate into an actual benefit in the real…
Tax Uncertainty for Businesses After the Regulatory Freeze
President Trump’s new executive leadership is likely to bring increasing uncertainty for businesses in the area of tax law as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) struggles to make sense of the reach and intent of some of the President’s recent orders on federal rulemaking. In one of his first major acts after taking office, President…