Gary Cohn in New York Times on the Risks of Regulatory Outsourcing

April 27, 2023

Pallas Advisors Board Chairman Gary Cohn today published a New York Times op-ed with former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton on the risks of regulatory outsourcing: the growing trend of U.S. authorities deferring to European standards on mergers and acquisitions.

Using the disputed Microsoft-Activision deal as an example, Cohn argues that the Federal Trade Commission and Securities Exchange Commission are "outsourcing" their authority to European regulators—with dangerous implications for U.S. sovereignty and competitiveness.

“The Europeans are our allies, but they also are our competitors," write Cohn and Clayton. "Shouldn’t we expect European regulation of U.S. matters to favor European interests over the interests of U.S. citizens? What will U.S. regulators say in the future when European regulators, citing the Microsoft and Illumina examples, assert jurisdiction over a U.S.-centric transaction where U.S. and European interests are at odds? What if Chinese regulators make similar assertions?"

Read the full article here.