Eric W. Orts

When I was with you two years ago, I quoted President Franklin Roosevelt when he signed the first of the foundational securities laws in 1933: “This law and its effective administration are steps in a program to restore some old-fashioned standards of rectitude.”

On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, major media outlets announced Donald J. Trump as the winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This alert discusses the potential impact of Mr. Trump's election on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the regulation of asset managers more generally.

The 2024 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) were born from an atypical period of acrimony and controversy among the corporate bar, stockholder advocates, and corporate law academics, including harsh public criticism of members of the Court of Chancery. Just when we hoped the Delaware waters would calm, an

On October 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit cleared the way, at least for the time being, for betting on the outcome of U.S. elections.

The modern economy is fueled by personal data. Described as the “new gold” or “new oil” of today's digital economy, data are being monitored, collected, and analyzed by public and private entities for strategic and economic value. Coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning, consumer information and consumer databases have become even more valuable across all industries and around the world.

Bank stocks surged the day after Donald J. Trump won election to a second presidential term, recording double-digit gains on a widespread view that financial regulation under the new administration will be more industry friendly than in the current one. Although financial regulation did not feature prominently in the campaign, and it remains to be seen how the second Trump administration will approach many issues, one thing is certain: change is coming. It is safe to assume, moreover, that a de-regulatory approach will prevail—as a candidate, President-elect Trump pledged to eliminate 10 existing regulations for every new regulation his administration enacts.

The corporate purpose debate pits shareholder profit maximization (SPM) against stakeholderism: Corporations should only serve the financial interests of their shareholders versus corporations should also serve the interests of other stakeholders. Other stakeholder interests prominently include environmental, social, and governance (ESG) interests. In a new paper, I address this debate and argue that real-world SPM, as distinguished from idealized SPM, cannot claim instrumental superiority over stakeholderism, and that the distinction between SPM and stakeholderism is significantly overstated.

As November comes to an end, the busy annual reporting and proxy season begins for many public companies. In this Client Update, we highlight key considerations for public companies when preparing their annual reports on Form 10-K or Form 20-F, including a new exhibit filing requirement for insider trading policies. For a checklist covering these considerations, see the Annex to this update.

The election of Donald Trump to a second term as President signals the potential for a fundamental shift in the U.S. regulatory landscape for users of crypto assets and blockchain technology across a variety of sectors, including gaming, art and entertainment, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), social media, and perhaps most importantly, financial services. Under a second Trump Administration, with anticipated Republican control of key agencies, the Senate, and a potential GOP majority in the House, we expect a marked departure from the Biden Administration's approach to crypto asset regulation and banking supervision. This could include a revival of more open-minded stances toward crypto similar to those seen during Trump's first term.