On May 4, 2017, The Weinberg Center hosted a discussion on blockchain technology, and specifically the State of Delaware’s Blockchain Initiative. Participating in the discussion moderated by the Center’s Associate Director, Ann Mulé, were the following three individuals who are leading the Delaware Blockchain Initiative:
Andrea Tinianow is the Director of Global Delaware and also Director of the Division of Corporate and International Development for the Delaware Department of State. The Delaware Blockchain Initiative was conceived by Global Delaware and Andrea directs the Initiative.
Caitlin Long is the Chairman and President of Symbiont, the market-leading smart contracts platform for institutional uses of distributed ledger technology. Symbiont is partnering with Global Delaware in the Delaware Blockchain Initiative.
Marco Santori is a Partner at Cooley LLP and leads Cooley’s fintech practice, and is an authority in the law of blockchain technology. He is the Legal Ambassador for the Delaware Blockchain Initiative.
For more information about blockchain and the Delaware Blockchain Initiative, together with related materials and the bios of the discussion participants, go here.
On October 6, 2016, the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance hosted “The Climate-Competent Board” Roundtable, which was co-sponsored by the KPMG Board Leadership Center. The topic was very timely as investors, boards and companies are starting to focus more on ESG and sustainability issues. The Directors & Board magazine’s First Quarter 2017 issue included the following articles about the panel: “Climate change and the corporate board: Too hot not to handle?” by Charles M. Elson and Nicholas J. Goossen, and “Panel on climate risk: It’s real, it’s material, it’s a board issue.”
At the John L Weinberg Center’s Corporate Governance Symposium on March 7, 2017, the featured luncheon speaker was Joann S. Lublin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and Management News Editor at The Wall Street Journal. She spoke about her book, Earning It:Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World, which tells the stories of more than 50 executive women who broke the glass ceiling and reached the top rungs of the corporate ladder in a variety of industries.
For more information about the Symposium, go HERE.
On November 1, 2016, the John L. Weinberg Center hosted Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik, and David Pitt-Watson, the three authors of What They Do With Your Money: How the Financial System Fails Us and How to Fix It. They were joined by John Bogle, legendary founder of Vanguard, and Jennifer Taub, professor of law, Vermont Law School, for a robust, provocative discussion of how to fix our financial/investing institutions so that they serve individual citizen investors and the real economy.
Ionut Florescu, Khaldoun Khashanah, Steve Yang – Monday, September 1, 2014
This white paper informs on the state of high frequency trading (HFT) mainly in the U.S. The paper addresses three major issues: First, it addresses HFT as it is seen from various market agents’ perspectives, traders, institutional investors, regulators, academicians, and the public, collectively referred to as stakeholders. The paper establishes a survey to get information on aspects of HFT. An examination of a HFT dataset verifies known trends and claims of HFT volume, price efficiency and liquidity. Second, the paper examines the imminent problems and risks seen by various stakeholders from their vantage point. An assessment of sources of risk posed by HFT to institutional investors and other components of the financial system reveals two types of risks to be examined more carefully: the first is HFT-driven systematic risk and the other is a potential HFT systemic risk. Third the paper examines possible solutions to existing issues of HFT along with recent claims. We find that there are two classes of claims of unfair practices facing HFT: one is the insider information through asymmetric access to information flows and the other is price manipulation claim. The paper introduces the concepts of information transmission distance and systemic latency. We propose a new solution based on information transmission zoning concept, which requires minimum financial information flow re-architecting and no major changes in regulation NMS.
IRRC Institute, PwC’s Investor Resource Institute – Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Companies are increasingly vulnerable to incoming cybersecurity threats from new directions and adversaries. Attacks in the form of “hacktivism,” corporate espionage, insider and government threats, terrorism, and criminal activity can cost an organization time, resources, and irreparable harm to their reputation if not handled appropriately. Investors can examine corporate disclosures and engage with management to better consider the potential implications of Cybersecurity when assessing investment options. It’s more than a technology issue in the back office; it’s a critical business issue that can dramatically impact company’s competitive position.
