John Coffey’s blueprint for a shadow SEC and further regulations under a new Trump Administration

In just a few days the second Trump administration will be sworn in to the office of the presidency. There has already been a lot of debate around security regulations and what that might mean for institutional investors. Could we see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies go higher, how will carbon emissions be regulated and reported to investors, and how will active, index, and quantitative investors be impacted by this new administration.

In our first 2025 episode of the Improving Alpha podcast, host Michael Oliver Weinberg sits down with John C. Coffee, Jr., Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, Columbia Law School to explore these issues while presenting case examples covering Elon Musk’s compensation battles, SouthWest Airlines, and more.

John further highlights his insights on: 

• The formation and purpose of a shadow SEC to advise on current securities regulation issues and hopefully keep Congress from legislating in a manner that disrupts the actual SEC.
• The three major institutional investment groups holding over 70% of US public corporations’ stocks and how they approach policy changes and systemic risk.
• what is the right amount of institutional investment intelligence regarding carbon emissions today?
• the Delaware Court’s competence on rulings in governance, and corporate law versus other state court approaches.
• activist investing and how he came to write, The Wolf at the Door: The Impact of Hedge Fund Activism on Corporate Governance.
• And more