TheCorporateCounsel.net

To say that we are in a state of uncertainty is one of the few certainties I know. But I would say that the odds of at least a partial repeal of Dodd-Frank certainly improved, whether it be in the form of the “Financial Choice Act” (see this Cooley blog for a summary of the provisions) – or perhaps even a stronger rebuke to Dodd-Frank. Here are other open questions:

– How fast would a repeal come? Companies are preparing to comply with the adopted pay ratio rules now – even though disclosure wouldn’t be seen until 2018.

– What will be the fate of the SEC’s disclosure effectiveness project? It’s seemingly non-partisan. But the SEC may be busy with rulemakings mandated by this shift in power to deal with projects they started themselves for quite some time…

– Does the sole sitting GOP SEC Commissioner – Mike Piwowar – become the SEC Chair? There is precedent for a non-lawyer in that role (ie. Arthur Levitt; Piwowar is an economist). Piwowar almost certainly will become interim Chair once Chair White vacates her seat. It might take a while for a Trump Presidency to tap new agency heads, as that is the norm. As noted in this WSJ article, former Commissioner Paul Atkins is heading up the President-elect’s transition team that oversees the SEC, CFTC & other financial regulators that historically operate independently of the White House…

– I used to think a “risk factor” for political instability & unrest was reserved only for non-US jurisdictions. Will we see some in the US now?

Poll: A Dodd-Frank Repeal?

Please participate in this anonymous poll:

– Broc Romanek