San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company (“Anchor”, “Anchor Brewing”), the oldest craft brewer in the United States, has withstood many hardships, and until now, has been a survivor. (Ansari and Otis, The Wall Street Journal). Over the past 127 years, the brewery has survived catastrophic earthquakes, the national prohibition of alcohol, two world wars, and competition from mass-produced beers. (Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times; Anchor Brewing). Despite a history of resilience, Anchor Brewing recently announced ‘last call’ on July 12, 2023. Due to its inability to recover from the consequences of the pandemic and the failure on its parent company, Japan’s Sapporo, to profitably run the craft brewer, Anchor Brewing Company has been forced to close its doors. (Albeck-Ripka, The New York Times).
Read MoreOn Friday, March 10, 2023, Signature Bank lost 20% of its deposits. (Vivian Giang & Mike Dang, The New York Times; Max Reyes, Bloomberg). Two days later, on Sunday, March 12, 2023, Signature Bank failed and went into receivership. (Vivian Giang & Mike Dang, The New York Times). Signature Bank’s failure was unexpected, so much so that it’s only the second time in over a decade that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) created a bridge bank in response to a bank failure. (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). How and why did Signature Bank fail so quickly? Are more U.S. Banks next? These answers and more, but first, it’s helpful to understand what happens immediately after a bank fails.
Read MoreA public company’s earnings per share (“EPS”) is one of the most used metrics for determining its profitability. (Jason Fernando, Investopedia). EPS is a formula that calculates a company’s profit by dividing its net income by its outstanding shares of stock. Id. A company’s goal is to meet or exceed its consensus EPS estimate, as this demonstrates a successful quarter and shows investors a reliable stock…
Read MoreCongress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) as a direct response to the 2008 Financial Crisis when millions of Americans lost homes due to foreclosure. (SEC). Among myriad findings, a final report on the 2008 Financial Crisis stated that investment transactions with conflicts of interest contributed to the crisis. (Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission). For example, the commission found that financial firms marketed an investment and profited off that investment product’s decline…
Read MoreAfter spending seven years as a proposal in limbo, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted a "Pay Versus Performance" rule in August of 2022, finally meeting the statutory mandate set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act. (Candance Quinn, et. al., Bloomberg Law). As the rule’s name implies, SEC registrants must now disclose the interplay between their executive compensation actually paid and the company's financial performance. (PricewaterhouseCoopers). An additional requirement under the new rule has drawn scrutiny as it opens the door for Environmental Social Governance ("ESG") disclosures to be made…
Read MoreIn February 2016, Congress passed the bipartisan SEC Small Business Advocate Act of 2016 (the “Act”). The Act amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to establish an independent Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation (the “Office”) within the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). (H.R. 3784). Officially established in 2019, the Office aims to assist and advance the interests of small businesses and their investors in securing access to capital and complying with SEC regulations…
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