July 8, 2023 In-Person Chapter Meeting & Webinar

The Valuation Treadmill:
How Securities Fraud Threatens the Integrity of Public Companies

Announcements:

• Our speaker has graciously agreed to join us for lunch at a local restaurant. RSVP to [email protected] if you are interested in joining us.

Professor James Park will discuss his book on the history of securities fraud regulation. He will describe case studies of major securities frauds from the 1970s to the present involving companies such as Penn Central, Apple, Enron, and General Electric. The presentation covers the different ways that public companies commit fraud, why they commit securities fraud, how securities fraud can be detected, and how regulation addresses the problem of securities fraud. Professor Park will also discuss recent cases involving FTX, Theranos, and Nikola.

Main points:

• Public companies face constant pressure to meet investor expectations; the typical public company must continually deliver strong performance every quarter to maintain its stock price.
• This valuation treadmill creates incentives for corporations to deceive investors.
• The Valuation Treadmill shows how securities fraud became a major regulatory concern.
• Corporations now have an incentive to issue unrealistically optimistic disclosure to convince markets that their success will continue.
• Securities regulation must do more to protect the integrity of public companies from the pressure of the valuation treadmill.

Meeting Details:

Date: Saturday, July 8, 2023

Time: 10:00 a.m. ET (mix and mingle starts at 9:30)

Location: Barwell Road Community Center: 5857 Barwell Park Drive Raleigh, NC 27610

Virtual access: To register to attend the Zoom webinar, please purchase a ticket on our chapter’s Square account

Cost: $7 cash (in-person) or electronic payment (webinar)

Before attending in person, please read:

• the AAII Protocol for In-Person Meetings

If you feel sick, please join us virtually.

About Our Speaker

Mr. Park is Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law. He teaches Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Securities Regulation, and a seminar on Advanced Topics in Corporate and Securities Law.

Professor Park’s research examines the public and private enforcement of the securities laws, as well as federal regulation of governance in public corporations. His scholarship has appeared in the California Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Michigan Law Review, and UCLA Law Review.

After graduating from Yale Law School, Professor Park clerked for Judge John G. Koeltl of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and then for Judge Robert A. Katzmann, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He practiced law in New York at a law firm and then as an Assistant Attorney General in the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

He holds a B. A. from Miami University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and has been on the UCLA faculty since 2013.