Donnelley Financial Solutions [NYSE:DFIN], a risk and compliance solutions company, could seek partnerships to further build out its technology offering, said Craig Clay, president of global capital markets.

The Chicago-based company could turn to partnerships rather than acquisitions as assets can be “pretty expensive,” Clay said. On its path to becoming a one-stop shop for transactions, it could, for instance, consider partnering with a market leader in US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals, he added.

The adoption of technology for M&A due diligence has already been on the rise since the pre-Covid times. The Covid-19 global pandemic has forced dealmakers globally to accelerate the adoption of technology such as drones, cloud-computing and AI to enable virtual due diligence. A growing number of M&A professionals understand and appreciate the benefits of technology for their transactions, and advanced technologies such as cloud-based solutions is now allowing 24/7 access to crucial deal documents from anywhere in the world.

The Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure, (TCFD) are fast becoming the standard and framework for reporting Environmental, Social and Governance data to stakeholders including customers, employees, suppliers, communities and regulators.

Human capital resources, climate change and sustainability reporting are critical topics this year across a diverse group of stakeholders including investors, employees, customers, communities, and regulators.

On December 11, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC") adopted a new Rule 15 under Regulation S-T regarding the administration of the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (“EDGAR") system.  Rule 15 was designed to promote the reliability and integrity of EDGAR submissions. 

The SEC has not yet provided full disclosure about the specific processes required to achieve these actions, but the new rule includes actions for the following items:

Investment Outlook: 2021 Looks Bright – a blog by Craig Clay, President of Global Capital Markets, DFIN

Despite the pandemic, 2020 was the biggest year for IPOs since 2014, and I am confident that the positive trend will continue in 2021.

2020 Review and 2021 Outlook – an exclusive interview with Craig Clay, President of Global Capital Markets, DFIN with DealStreetAsia

In conversation with DealStreetAsia (DSA), Craig Clay, President of Global Capital Markets, DFIN discussed how the US election will impact dealmaking, the rise of SPACs, virtual due diligence and how having a risk and compliance solutions partner can smoothen the path to an IPO and beyond. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

The 2021 proxy season is anticipated to feature unprecedented levels of scrutiny from a range of investors and other stakeholders. During last year’s proxy season, investors understood that many companies had to temporarily switch from “sustainable” to “survival” mode, and they provided some forbearance about company performance, executive pay, meeting formats and other issues.

Board oversight of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues has come to the fore as public and private companies evolve their stakeholder communications to include company-specific ESG metrics and targets, designed to identify risk and long-term value creation. Unlike public companies, private entities are not obliged to make specific ESG disclosures to satisfy regulators and the ratings agencies that monitor actions on the ESG front.

Deal-making has traditionally been and is likely to remain dependent on interpersonal relationships. But technology is playing an increasingly critical role in helping private equity and venture capital firms to not only take quicker, more informed decisions on deals, but also obtain a more thorough understanding of the target company’s business, assets, financial performance and risks in acquisitions. COVID-19 has shown few signs of abating but new waves are still impacting many parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

Creating a data-centric future driven by the latest advances in RegTech and artificial intelligence may sound like a lofty goal. Yet that is precisely what the Data Foundation is attempting to facilitate when it recently issued a set of eight recommendations to help create a platform for reporting government data in standardized and structured formats.