Top 10 Posts from 2014: Dual-Class Shares, Bank Performance Reporting, “Flash Boys”

From the Alibaba IPO to Michael Lewis’ controversial book on high-frequency trading, it’s been an eventful year for financial markets.

A list of the top 10 most-read blog posts from Market Integrity Insights in 2014:

1. Dual-Class Shares: From Google to Alibaba, Is It a Troubling Trend for Investors?
   Dual-class shares have been making a comeback, with Google, Groupon, Facebook, and other tech firms adopting the structure.
2. What Has the Financial Crisis Taught Us about Bank Performance Reporting?
   The financial crisis provided a watershed moment for enhancing the transparency of banks.
3. The Great Unwind: What Will Rising Interest Rates Mean for Bank Risk Exposures?
   Low interest rates can’t last forever, and growing research predicts rising rates will strain bank profitability and capital levels.
4. Debating Michael Lewis’ “Flash Boys”: High-Frequency Trading Not All Bad
   There’s more emphasis on banks and brokers who allegedly step in front of clients’ orders for their own benefit, and less attention to market structure changes that have contributed to tighter spreads, lower trading costs.
5. Credit Rating Agencies Again Playing a Vital Role in the Marketplace?
   Investor survey: 84% more cautious today about credit ratings than seven years ago.
6. New Revenue Recognition Accounting Standard: What Investors Need to Know
   New revenue recognition rules will bring sweeping changes to company accounting practices and create a learning curve for investors.
7. MiFID II: Agreement Finally Reached, Implementation Challenges Ahead
   The genesis of MiFID II was to bring greater transparency to financial markets and strengthen investor protection. Despite political agreement, the process is far from over.
8. Short-Selling Investment Research Firms like Muddy Waters: Manipulating or Aiding the Market?
   Short seller Muddy Waters LLC and similar research firms have broken out from obscurity by exposing alleged fraud and false accounting.
9. “Say on Pay”: How Voting on Executive Pay Is Evolving Globally — and Is It Working?
   The increased emphasis on “say on pay” begs this question: Is it effective?
10. 2014 Market Outlook Americas: Optimistic, but Ethical Culture Needed to Build Trust
    Gauging the health of the markets, world and local economies, and the state of financial market integrity around the globe.

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