One of the hallmarks of the SEC's investigative process is that it is shrouded in secrecy––only the SEC staff, high-level managers of the company being investigated, and outside counsel are typically aware of active investigations. We obtain novel data on all investigations closed by the SEC...

As part of the goal of enhancing the quality of information available to investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviews filings to identify disclosures or accounting applications that may be materially deficient or require additional clarification. Because of an increasing...

We examine whether a shock to the enforceability of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) limited its ability to restrict the flow of private information between managers and investors. Prior work provides evidence that Reg FD reduced managers' selective disclosure of material information...

This study examines the impact of cross-firm financial statement comparability on theregulatory oversight of financial reporting quality. Consistent with the notion that cross-firmcomparable accounting systems enhance the regulators' ability to evaluate financial reportingquality, we find that...

This paper examines how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intervention in 2003 regarding non-GAAP disclosures affects the reporting of Funds from Operations (FFO), an industry-guided non-GAAP performance measure commonly reported by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT). We find...

The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law on July 21, 2010 (DFA 2010). The Act extended the role and protection of whistleblowers by providing awards to whistleblowers who gave relevant information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission...

Under SEC Rule 14a-8, shareholders have the right to petition management to include a topic for vote on the annual proxy statement. In response, management may request no-action relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff to exclude unwelcome proposals. Using a sample of 3,040...

Using the SEC’s 2004 decision to begin publicly disclosing its comment letters, we study the consequences of increased regulatory transparency on the banking industry. Because the SEC only issues comment letters to public banks, we exploit a difference-in-differences design to examine the...

One key challenge of regulatory oversight is information asymmetry between the regulator and the regulated. We investigate this issue through a unique setting in which the SEC uses firms’ voluntary disclosures to bridge the information gap during their periodic reviews of mandatory...

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has a long-standing policy to keep formal investigations confidential. In this study, we examine the extent to which compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides investors with information about on-going SEC investigations. We exploit a...