Paper Presentation: “Why SPACs: An Apologia” by Usha Rodrigues, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and University Professor, University of Georgia, and M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, University of Georgia School of Law; with discussants Charles W. Allen, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Michael Klausner ’81, Nancy and Charles Munger Professor of Business and Professor of Law, Stanford Law School; and moderator, Sven Riethmueller, YLS Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Clinic, and Robert Todd Lang ‘47 Entrepreneurship Fellow. 

Paper Presentation: “Protecting the Sovereign’s Money Monopoly” by Gary B. Gorton, Frederick Frank Class of 1954 Professor of Management & Finance, Yale School of Management; with discussants Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee & Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley and Daniel K. Tarullo, Nomura Professor of International Financial Regulatory Practice, Harvard Law School; and moderator, Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law.

Afternoon Discussion: Sustainable Investing

Keynote remarks on The Economics of Climate Change by William Nordhaus, Sterling Professor of Economics and Professor in the School of the Environment, Yale University.

Panel Discussion: “Is Sustainable Investing Sustainable?” with Ulrich Atz, Research Fellow, NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, Jill E. Fisch ’85, Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law and Co-Director, Institute for Law and Economics, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Robert H. Sitkoff, Austin Wakeman Scott Professor of Law and John L. Gray Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and moderator, Nancy Liao ‘05, John R. Raben/Sullivan & Cromwell Executive Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law and YLS Senior Research Scholar in Law. 

Paper Presentation I: “Augmented Lawyering” by John Armour ‘96 (LLM), Hogan Lovells Professor of Law and Finance, University of Oxford Faculty of Law, Richard Parnham, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford Saïd Business School, and Mari Sako, Professor of Management Studies, University of Oxford Saïd Business School.

Discussants: Martin Korman ‘89, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and John Morley ’06, YLS Professor of Law.

Moderator: Ian Ayres ’86, YLS Deputy Dean and Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law.

Paper Presentation II: “Socially Responsible Investments: Costs and Benefits for University Endowment Funds” by George Aragon, Associate Professor of Finance, Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business, Yuxiang Jiang, Assistant Professor, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Juha Joenväärä, Assistant Professor of Finance, Aalto University School of Business, and Cristian Tiu, Chair, Department of Finance and Associate Professor of Finance, University at Buffalo.

Discussants: Jonathan Macey ‘82, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law and Laura Starks, Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Regents Chair in Finance and Co-Executive Director of Social Innovation@McCombs, The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

Moderator: Yair Listokin ’05, YLS Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law.

Panel Discussion: “Central Bank and Corporate Board Responses to COVID-19”

Panelists: William English, Professor in the Practice of Finance, Yale School of Management; Bengt Holmstrom, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics; Andrew Metrick, Janet L. Yellen Professor of Finance and Management, Yale School of Management; and Jack “Rusty” O’Kelley III ‘92, Co-leader, Board and CEO Advisory Partners, Russell Reynolds Associates.

Moderator: Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law.

Ten Years after the Global Financial Crisis: An Assessment

Paper Presentation: “Leverage Caused the 2007-09 Crisis” by John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor of Economics, Yale University; with discussants William B. English, Professor in the Practice of Finance, Yale School of Management and Steven L. Schwarcz, Stanley A. Star Professor of Law & Business, Duke University School of Law; and moderator Yair Listokin ‘05, YLS Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law

Paper Presentation: “The Regulatory Effect” by Paul G. Mahoney ‘84, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law; with discussants Gary B. Gorton, Frederick Frank Class of 1954 Professor of Management & Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management and Michael Simkovic, Professor of Law and Accounting, University of Southern California Gould School of Law; and moderator Jonathan R. Macey ‘82, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law

Panel Discussion: “Ten Years after the Global Financial Crisis: An Assessment” with panelists Randall D. Guynn, Partner, Financial Institutions Group, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP; Andrew Metrick, Janet L. Yellen Professor of Finance and Management, Yale School of Management; Daniel K. Tarullo, Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and former Governor of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Member of the Federal Open Market Committee; and Sir Paul Tucker, Chair of the Systemic Risk Council, Research Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School, and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England; and moderator Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Blockchain:  The Future of Finance and Capital Markets?

Panel Discussion I:  ”Increasing Payment Efficiency​,” with panelists Jessie Cheng, Deputy General Counsel, Ripple; Rob Hunter, Executive Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel, The Clearing House; Joseph Torregrossa, Counsel and Assistant Vice President, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and moderator Nancy Liao ’05, John R. Raben/Sullivan & Cromwell Executive Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law and YLS Associate Research Scholar in Law

Panel Discussion II:  ”Post-Trade Clearing and Settlement,” with panelists Chris Church​, Chief Business Development Officer, Digital Asset Holdings; Maureen O’Hara, Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University; Rebecca Simmons​, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Mark Wetjen, Head of Global Public Policy, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation; and moderator Roberta Romano ’80, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Keynote address by Jerome Powell, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

Panel Discussion III:  ”Smart Contracts,” with panelists Christian Catalini​, Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship and Assistant Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management, MIT Sloan School of Management; Charley Cooper​, Managing Director, R3; Nina Kilbride, Head of Legal Engineering, Monax Industries, Ltd.; Scott O’Malia, Chief Executive Officer, International Swaps and Derivatives Association; and moderator Alexander Dyck, Professor in Corporate Governance and Professor of Finance and Business Economics, the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management, Academic Director of the Director’s Education Program, and YLS Visiting Senior Research Scholar

Panel Discussion IV:  ”The Central Bank Perspective,” with panelists William Goetzmann, Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies, Yale School of Management and Director, the International Center for Finance; Andrew Hauser, Executive Director, Banking, Payments and Financial Resilience, the Bank of England; Ross Leckow, Deputy General Counsel, the International Monetary Fund; Carolyn Wilkins, Senior Deputy Governor, the Bank of Canada; and moderator Gregory Fleming ‘88, YLS Senior Research Scholar in Law, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law, and YLS Visiting Lecturer in Law

Paper Presentation: “Corporate Control and Credible Commitment,” by Alan Schwartz ’64, YLS Sterling Professor of Law; with discussants Albert Choi ’01, Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law; Alexander Dyck, ICPM Professor of Pension Management and Professor of Finance and Business Economics, University of Toronto Rotman School of Management; and moderator, Henry Hansmann ’74, YLS Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law

Paper Presentation: “Corporate Inversions and the Unbundling of Regulatory Competition,” by Eric Talley, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Law and Director, Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy, University of California Berkeley Law School; with discussants Edward B. Rock, Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School; Mihir A. Desai, Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, Harvard Business School; and moderator Yair Listokin ’05, YLS Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law

Panel Discussion: ”Where Capital Markets Are Heading in the 21st Century,” with panelists Robert W. Cook, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and former Director, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Trading and Markets; Charles M. Jones, Robert W. Lear Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School; Matt Levine ’04, Columnist, Bloomberg View; Edward Nicoll ’97, Former Chief Executive Officer, Instinet Group, Inc. and Datek Online Holdings Corp.; and moderator Roberta Romano ’80, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Paper Presentation: “The Institutional Evolution of the Investor-State Arbitration Regime: Judicialization and Governance,” by Alec Stone Sweet, YLS Leitner Professor of International Law, Politics and International Studies; with discussants Florian Grisel LLM ’10, Associate, Dechert LLP, Paris; Andrew T. Guzman, Professor of Law and Associate Dean, International and Graduate Programs, Berkeley Law School, University of California; and Anthea Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Law, London School of Economics

Paper Presentation: “Commercial Arbitration Agreements Among Sophisticated Parties: An Empirical View,” by Sarath Sanga ‘14, Yale Law School, and Richard Brooks, YLS Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law; with discussants Erin O’Hara O’Connor, Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law and Director of Graduate Studies, Law and Economics PhD Program, Vanderbilt University; Jennifer Tobin, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute; and Anne Marie Whitesell, Of Counsel, Dechert LLP

Paper Presentation: “The Potential Value of ‘Menu’ and ‘More Reasonable Offer’ Arbitration,” by Ian Ayres ‘86, YLS William K. Townsend Professor of Law; with discussants James F. Ring, CEO, Fair Outcomes, Inc.; Andrew Verstein ‘09, John R. Raben/Sullivan & Cromwell Executive Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law; Abraham Wickelgren, Bernard J. Ward Centennial Professor in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law; and Florence Rogatz, YLS Visiting Professor of Law

Paper Presentation: “Four Means of Assurance for Trade: Self-Governance, Reputation Entrepreneurs, Courts and Arbitrators,” by Bruno Deffains, Professor of Economics, University Paris 2 Panthéon Assas and Richard Brooks, YLS Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law; with discussants Avinash K. Dixit, John J. F. Sherrerd ‘52 University Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Princeton University; Henry B. Hansmann ‘74, YLS Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law; and Susan Rose-Ackerman, YLS Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence

Panel Discussion: “Reports on the Restatement, Third, of International Commercial Arbitration,” with panelists George A. Bermann, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law and Walter Gellhorn Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law; Alan S. Rau, Mark G. and Judy G. Yudof Chair in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law; and Catherine Rogers, Paul and Marjorie Price Faculty Scholar, Professor of Law, Penn State School of Law

Panel Discussion I: “Assessing Dodd-Frank: Overview,” with panelists Viral V. Acharya, Professor of Finance, New York University Stern School of Business; John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor of Economics, Yale University; Gary B. Gorton, Frederick Frank Class of 1954 Professor of Management and Finance, Yale School of Management; Lawrence S. Makow, Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and moderator Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Panel Discussion II: “Too Big to Fail” and the New Resolution Authority,” with panelists Thomas C. Baxter, Jr., General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Legal Group, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Jeffrey N. Gordon, Alfred W. Bressler Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law; Randall D. Guynn, Partner and Head of the Financial Institutions Group, Davis Polk & Wardwell; Andrew Metrick, Deputy Dean for Faculty Development, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Corporate Governance, Professor of Finance and Faculty Director of the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance, Yale School of Management; and moderator Alan Schwartz ‘64, YLS Sterling Professor of Law

Panel Discussion III: “Housing and Mortgage Market Reform,” with panelists Christopher J. Mayer, Senior Vice Dean and Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate, Finance & Economics Division, Columbia Business School; Robert J. Shiller, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University; Susan M. Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management and Professor of Real Estate and Finance, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School; Peter J. Wallison, Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute and Member, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission; and moderator Robert C. Ellickson, LL.B ‘66, YLS Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law

Panel Discussion IV: “Assessment,” with panelists Michael S. Barr ‘92, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School and former U.S. Department of Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions; H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Eugene A. Ludwig ‘73, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Promontory Financial Group, LLC and former Comptroller of the Currency; Jonathan R. Macey ‘82, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law; and moderator Shyam Sunder, James L. Frank Professor of Accounting, Economics, and Finance, Yale School of Management

Panel Discussion I: “Crisis Origins and Historical Comparisons,” with panelists Charles Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School; John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor of Economics, Yale University; Anil Kashyap, Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics and Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business; Andrew Metrick, Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management; Frank Partnoy ‘92, George E. Barrett Professor of Law and Finance, University of San Diego School of Law; and moderator Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Panel Discussion II: “Causes of the Crisis: Conflicts, Compensation and Reputation,” with panelists Sanjai Bhagat, Professor of Finance, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder; Edward J. Kane, James F. Cleary Professor in Finance, Boston College; Jonathan R. Macey ‘82, YLS Deputy Dean and Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law; Steven L. Schwarcz, Stanley A. Star Professor of Law & Business, Duke University School of Law; and moderator Richard Brooks, YLS Professor of Law

Panel Discussion III: “Reforming Financial Institution Regulation,” with panelists Lucian A. Bebchuk, William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law, Economics, and Finance, Harvard Law School; John C. Coates, John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics, Harvard Law School; Richard J. Herring, Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking, Professor of Finance and Co-Director, Wharton Financial Institutions; Geoffrey P. Miller, Stuyvesant P. Comfort Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Study of Central Banks and Financial Institutions, New York University Law School; and moderator Melanie L. Fein, Esq. 

Panel Discussion IV: “Reforming Subprime Mortgages,” with panelists William N. Goetzmann, Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies and Director of the International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management; Susan P. Koniak ‘78, Richard L. Godfrey Faculty Research Scholar & Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law; Christopher Mayer, Senior Vice Dean and Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate, Columbia Business School; Susan M. Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management and Professor of Real Estate, Finance and City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School; and moderator Ian Ayres ‘86, YLS William K. Townsend Professor of Law

Paper Presentation: “Transparency and Corporate Governance,” by Benjamin E. Hermalin, Thomas & Alison Schneider Distinguished Professor of Finance, University of California Haas School of Business; with discussants Sanjai Bhagat, Professor of Finance, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder; Alan Schwartz ‘64, YLS Sterling Professor of Law; and moderator Yair Listokin ‘05, YLS Associate Professor of Law

Paper Presentation: “Tradeoffs in Corporate Governance: Evidence from Board Structure and Charter Provisions,” by Laura Starks, Charles E. & Sara M. Seay Regents’ Chair in Business Administration, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin; with discussants Laurence Hazell, Director of Governance Services, Standard and Poor’s; Andrew Metrick, Associate Professor of Finance, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business; and moderator Vic Khanna, Louis and Myrtle Moskowitz Research Professor of Business and Law, University of Michigan Law School

Panel Discussion: “Executive Compensation,” with panelists Paul Hodgson, Senior Research Associate on Executive and Board Compensation, The Corporate Library; Pearl Meyer, Steven Hall & Partners, Consultant on Executive Compensation; Kevin J. Murphy, Kenneth L. Trefftzs Chair in Finance and Executive Vice Dean, University of Southern California Marshall School of Business; John W. White, Director, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Corporation Finance; Gerson Zweifach ‘79, Partner, Williams & Connelly LLP; and moderator Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Paper Presentation: “Down and Out in the Stock Market: The Law and Economics of the Delisting Process,” by Jonathan Macey ‘82, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Securities Law and Corporate Finance and Maureen O’Hara, Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance, Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management and Professor of Economics, Cornell University; with discussant Paul Mahoney ’84, Brokaw Professor of Corporate Law and Albert C. BeVier Research Professor, University of Virginia School of Law

Paper Presentation: “Things I Don’t Know About Finance,” by Stephen A. Ross, Franco Modigliani Professor of Financial Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management; with discussant Owen Lamont, Professor of Finance, Yale School of Management

Panel Discussion: “Securities Law Today: The Emerging Roles of the Exchanges, the SEC, and the States,” with panelists Richard Bernard, General Counsel, New York Stock Exchange; Howard Meyerson, General Counsel, Liquidnet, Inc.; Annette L. Nazareth, Director, U. S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Division of Market Regulation; Hon. Myron T. Steele, Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court; and moderator Alan Schwartz ’64, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Paper Presentation: “Investor Protection and Corporate Governance Around the World,” by Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes, Professor of Finance and Economics, Yale School of Management; with discussant Arturo Bris, Robert B. & Candice J. Haas Associate Professor of Corporate Finance, Yale School of Management; and moderator Harold Hongju Koh, YLS Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law

Paper Presentation: “Legal Entities, Asset Partitioning, and the Evolution of Organizations” by Henry Hansmann ’74, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law; with discussant Barry E. Adler, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; and moderator Henry Smith ‘96, YLS Visiting Professor of Law

Panel Discussion: “The Relation of Corporate Governance to Economic Development,” with panelists Amy Chua, YLS Professor of Law; John C. Coffee, Jr. ’69, Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law; Peter D. Ehrenhaft, Esq., Partner, Miller & Chevalier Chartered, Washington, D.C.; Steven Kargman ’86, Esq., Export-Import Bank of the United States; Pablo Spiller, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics; and moderator Alan Schwartz ’64, YLS Sterling Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law

Paper Presentation: “Less is More: Making Institutional Investor Activism a Valuable Mechanism of Corporate Governance,” by Roberta Romano ‘80, YLS Allen Duffy/Class of 1980 Professor of Law and Director, YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law; with discussants Jonathan Macey ’82, J. DuPratt White Professor of Law, Cornell University School of Law; and Robert Pozen ‘72, Vice Chairman, Fidelity Investments; and moderator Stephen Choi, Roger J. Traynor Professor of Law, University of California School of Law at Berkeley

Paper Presentation: “Explaining Variation in Takeover Defenses: Failure in the Corporate Law Market,” by John Coates, Assistant Professor, Harvard Law School; with discussants David Berger, Partner, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati; Robert Daines ‘92, Associate Professor, New York University School of Law; and Martin Korman ‘89, Partner, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati; and moderator Ian Ayres ’86, YLS William K. Townsend Professor

Panel Discussion: “Corporate Governance and the Demutualization of Securities Exchanges,” with panelists Belinda Blaine, Associate Director, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Market Regulation; T. Grant Callery, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the National Association of Securities Dealers; Robert Todd Lang ’47, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP; Paul Mahoney ’84, Brokaw Professor of Corporate Law and Albert C. BeVier Research Professor, University of Virginia School of Law; Edward Nicoll ‘97, Chairman and CEO of Datek Online Holdings Corp.; S. Craig Pirrong, Assistant Professor of Finance, Washington University Olin School of Business; Harvey Pitt, Partner, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; and moderator Henry Hansmann ’74, YLS Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law