Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings

There is a little landmine hidden in the law just waiting to trap the unsuspecting business journalist. Jail could be the result.

The law and journalism are so closely connected that students pursing a journalism degree are almost always exposed to take at least one course on the law. Topics often include covering government and the courts, avoiding obstacles like subpoenas and defamation claims, and the basics of intellectual property, both the use of others’ and the protection of your own.

But for the business reporter, a not-so-well-known aspect of securities law poses a very real risk. This is the insider trading rule which bans the trading of securities “on the basis of” material, non-public information.

My blog continues at the Reynolds Center….

Bonds gets no respect. It’s not clear why. For many companies, institutions and investors, bonds are the vehicle of choice.
Companies generally issue stock to the public to raise money. In issuing stock, companies give up ownership of the firm to shareholders, who share in future profits and growth. They also share in the risk the company will fail, or at least not live up to expectations. Not every investor is comfortable with that prospect.

Continue reading at the Reynolds Center….

Prior to an IPO, a company can offer its shares only to investors deemed to be “sophisticated” under the law and therefore able to handle their own due diligence. These are known as private placements. By process of elimination it is apparent that public stock exchanges serve “unsophisticated investors.” That means most of us. The law imposes fairly stringent reporting requirements on companies which list their shares on public exchanges. And the exchanges themselves, which are considered “self-regulating,” impose their own listing requirements on the firms.

The lesson continues at the Reynolds Center….

A look at the career of Vicki Hanson, an American computer scientist noted for her research on human-computer interaction and accessibility.

Vicki Hanson is Professor of Inclusive Technologies at the University of Dundee, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and Research Staff Member Emeritus from IBM Research. She has been working on issues of inclusion for older adults and disabled people throughout her career, first as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. She joined the IBM Research Division in 1986 where she founded and managed the Accessibility Research group. She has been at the University of Dundee since 2009 and at RIT since 2013.

Continued at The Network….