About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

112 Harv. L. Rev. 1197 (1998-1999)
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Corporate Social Transparency

handle is hein.journals/hlr112 and id is 1221 raw text is: THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND CORPORATE SOCIAL TRANSPARENCY Cynthia A. Williams TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1199 I. MANDATORY DISCLOSURE UNDER THE FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS ....................... 1207 II. DISCLOSURE AS A REGULATORY MECHANISM ............................................................... 1209 A. Intellectual Background of the Securities Laws ...................................................... I2I1 I. Louis D. Brandeis .............................................................................................. 1212 2. Adolf A. Bele and Gardiner C. Means ............................................. 1215 3. Felix Frankfurter .............................................................................................. 1221 B. Historical Context of the Securities Acts ................................................................. 1223 C. Legislative History of the Securities Act of 1933 ..................................................... 1227 MI. SECTION 14(a) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 ..................................... 1235 A. The Statutory Language of Section 14(a) ................................................................. 1235 B. Legislative History of Section 74(a) .......................................................................... 1238 I. Senate Proceedings ........................................................................................... 1239 2. House Proceedings ............................................................................................. 1242 3. Implications ........................................................................................................ 1245 IV. PRIOR SEC PROCEEDINGS CONCERNING EXPANDED SOCIAL DISCLOSURE ............ 1246 A. The NRDC Proceedings ............................................................................................. 1246 I. NRDC I: 1974 ..................................................................................................... 1248 2. SEC Proceedings on Remand: 1974 to 1975 ................................................... 1250 3. NRDC II: 1977 ................................................................................................... 1254 4. NRDC 1II: 1979 ................................................................................................. 1256 5. SEC Corporate Accountability Proceedings: 1976 to I98O ........................... 1258 B. Analysis of the NRDC Proceedings .......................................................................... 1263 1. Economic Materiality ........................................................................................ 1264 2. Corporate Governance ...................................................................................... 1269 3. Public Interest Disclosure ................................................................................. 1271 V. EXPANDED SOCIAL DISCLOSURE ..................................................................................... 1273 A. Categories of Social Disclosure ................................................................................. 1273 B. The SEC and Expanded Social Disclosure .............................................................. 1276 1. Disclosure About Compliance with the Law .................................................. 1277 (a) Economic Investors ................................................................................... 1277 (b) Social and Economic Investors: Reflections on Management Integrity 1282 2. Disclosure Beyond Compliance with the Law ............................................... 1284 (a) Economic Investors ................................................................................... 1284 (b) Social Investors ....................................................................................... 1287 3. Problems with the Current Disclosure Regime .............................................. 1289 (a) Differential Access ..................................................................................... 1289 (b) Incomplete Information ............................................................................ 1291 (c) Noncomparable Information .................................................................... 1292 C. Social Disclosure as a Mechanism to Promote Corporate Accountability ........... 1293 D. Criticisms of Expanded Social Disclosure ............................................................... 1296 1. Interference with the Market ............................................................................ 1296 2. The Corporate Management Constraint ...................................................... 1297 (a) Congress's Use of Disclosure to Enhance Corporate Accountability.. 1298 (b) The SEC's Promotion of Corporate Accountability .............................. 1298 1197

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most