Tomorrow (6/25/20) at 9am EST, Colin Mayer (Oxford) will debate Lucian Bebchuk (Harvard) on the topic of stakeholder v. shareholder capitalism.
Oxford is streaming the debate for free here.
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights- Nov. 25-27. Registration Open
I had planned to write about the Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation signed by 200 top CEOs. If you read this blog, you’ve likely read the coverage and the varying opinions. I’m still reading the various blog posts, statements by NGOs, and 10-Ks of some of the largest companies so that I can gather my thoughts. In the meantime, many of these same companies will be at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights touting their records. I’ve been to the Forum several times, and it’s worth the trip. If you’re interested in joining over 2,000 people, including representatives from many of the signatories of the Statement, see below. You can register here:
The UN annual Forum on Business and Human Rights is the global platform for stock-taking and lesson-sharing on efforts to move the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from paper to practice. As the world’s foremost gathering in this area, it provides a unique space for dialogue between governments, business, civil society, affected groups and international organizations on trends, challenges and good practices in preventing and addressing business-related human rights impacts. The first Forum was held in 2012. It attracts more
Is Boycotting a Bust?
Last week, I led a “legal hack” for some of the first year students during orientation. Each participating professor spoke for ten minutes on a topic of our choice and then answered questions for ten minutes. I picked business and human rights, my passion. I titled my brief lecture, “Are you using a product made by slaves, and if you are, can you do anything about it”?
In my ten minutes, I introduced the problem of global slavery; touched on the false and deceptive trade practices litigation levied against companies; described the role of shareholder activists and socially responsible investors in pressuring companies to clean up supply chains; raised doubts about the effectiveness of some of the disclosure regimes in the US, EU, and Australia; questioned the efficacy of conscious consumerism; and mentioned blockchain as a potential tool for provenance of goods. Yes. In ten minutes.
During the actual hack later in the afternoon, I had a bit more time to flesh out the problem. I developed a case study around the Rana Plaza disaster in which a building collapse in Bangladesh killed over 1,000 garment workers six years ago. Students brainstormed solutions
Managing Compliance Across Borders Conference at the University of Miami- June 26-28
Join me in Miami, June 26-28.
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June 26-28, 2019 Managing Compliance Across Borders is a program for world-wide compliance, risk and audit professionals to discuss current developments and hot topics (e.g. cybersecurity, data protection, privacy, data analytics, regulation, FCPA and more) affecting compliance practice in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Latin America. Learn more |
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Summer Opportunity for Business Law Students – Hofstra Law
This from our friend Heather Johnson at Hofstra Law:
This May and June, Hofstra Law will offer a three-credit or five-credit study abroad program on International Financial Crimes and Global Data Regulation. Both programs will begin Sunday, May 19; the three-credit program will conclude on June 1, 2019 and the five-credit program will conclude on June 13, 2019. The courses will be taught by Hofstra University School of Law Professor Scott Colesanti and Professor Giovanni Comande from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.
It will be held in Pisa, Italy, and is co-sponsored by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. This year, we have added a dinner with the Dean of our Law School, Gail Prudenti and an excursion to Milan to visit the Borsa headquarters!
The deadline is Friday, March 29, 2019 — those interested should apply as soon as possible!
The course is open to law students around the country; students must have completed their full-time 1L course work by the start of this program. Attached to this e-mail you’ll find the up-to-date application, a poster about the program as well as the tentative schedule. Interested students should apply by AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Students joining us from other universities
Do Investors Really Care About Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors?
In January 2018, Larry Fink of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, shocked skeptics like me when he told CEOs:
In the current environment, these stakeholders are demanding that companies exercise leadership on a broader range of issues. And they are right to: a company’s ability to manage environmental, social, and governance matters demonstrates the leadership and good governance that is so essential to sustainable growth, which is why we are increasingly integrating these issues into our investment process. Companies must ask themselves: What role do we play in the community? How are we managing our impact on the environment? Are we working to create a diverse workforce? Are we adapting to technological change? Are we providing the retraining and opportunities that our employees and our business will need to adjust to an increasingly automated world? Are we using behavioral finance and other tools to prepare workers for retirement, so that they invest in a way that will help them achieve their goals?
In October 2018, Blackrock declared, “sustainable investing is becoming mainstream investing.” The firm bundled six existing ESG EFT funds and launched six similar funds in Europe and looked like the model corporate citisen.
So does Blackrock
5th Conference of the French Academy of Legal Studies in Business – June 20-21 – Paris
5th Conference of the French Academy of Legal Studies in Business (Association Française Droit et Management)
June 20 and 21, 2019 – emlyon – Paris Campus
CALL FOR PAPERS 2019 Social Issues in Firms
Social issues and fundamental rights occupy an increasingly important space in the governance of today’s companies. Private enterprises assume an increasingly active role not only in a given economy but also in society as a whole. Firms become themselves citizens. They recognize and support civic engagement by the men and women who work for them. Historically, the role of the modern firm that resulted from the Industrial Revolution has been torn between two opposing viewpoints.
[More information under the break.]
Temple University Faculty Development in International Business Program
I posted about this program last year, too, and it looks like another good program this year. Hard to beat good wine and learning about international business, I would think, but I can’t make it again this year. It overlaps with the AALS Annual Meeting, and I have plans for New Orleans. But, if it’s your thing, it looks like a neat opportunity.
Temple University’s Center for International Business Education (CIBE) presents
A Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB): Santiago, Chile
January 5-11, 2019
Chile: The Global Star of Latin America
Understanding the International Business Environment through Innovation in Chile
Chile is often considered to be the place where great Latin American wines come from. Some may even know that Chile is also the hub of the global copper industry. But what many people are unaware of is how Chile became the only South American country invited to join the OECD, or how it is a country that has signed 21 free trade agreements and is one of the most open economies in the world, or the fact that it is rapidly attracting foreign innovators and entrepreneurs through a unique start-up incubator program for investors worldwide. Chile serves
Has the Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals Rule Really Made a Difference and is Blockchain The Answer?
Last week Dr. Denis Mukwege won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This short video interview describes what I saw when I went to DRC in 2011 to research the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank disclosure rule and to do the legwork for a non-profit that teaches midwives ways to deliver babies safely. For those unfamiliar with the legislation, U.S. issuers must disclose the efforts they have made to track and trace tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold from the DRC and nine surrounding countries. Rebels and warlords control many of the mines by controlling the villages. DRC is one of the poorest nations in the world per capita but has an estimated $25 trillion in mineral reserves (including 65% of the world’s cobalt). Armed militia use rape and violence as a weapon of war in part so that they control the mineral wealth.
The stated purpose of the Dodd-Frank rule was to help end the violence in DRC and to name and shame companies that do not disclose or that cannot certify that their goods are DRC-conflict free (although that labeling portion of the law was struck down on
Should Corporate Lawyers and Business Law Professors Be Talking About DAOs?
Did I lose you with the title to this post? Do you have no idea what a DAO is? In its simplest terms, a DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization, whose decisions are made electronically by a written computer code or through the vote of its members. In theory, it eliminates the need for traditional documentation and people for governance. This post won’t explain any more about DAOs or the infamous hack of the Slock.it DAO in 2016. I chose this provocative title to inspire you to read an article entitled Legal Education in the Blockchain Revolution.
The authors Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, and Erik P. M. Vermeulen discuss how technological innovations, including artificial intelligence and blockchain will change how we teach and practice law related to real property, IP, privacy, contracts, and employment law. If you’re a practicing lawyer, you have a duty of competence. You need to know what you don’t know so that you avoid advising on areas outside of your level of expertise. It may be exciting to advise a company on tax, IP, securities law or other legal issues related to cryptocurrency or blockchain, but you could subject yourself to discipline for doing so