AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi will be participating in a lunch symposium hosted by the Center for Security Policy (CSP) at the National Press Club regarding the imminent U.S.-based initial public offering (IPO) by Alibaba, China’s largest online commerce company and a growing force in the world tech market. Mr. Yerushalmi is also general counsel to CSP, an expert on securities law, and a commercial litigator representing public and private corporations in domestic and international matters.
After it goes public, Alibaba is expected to be one of the most valuable tech companies in the world, surpassing Facebook and Samsung. According to initial reports, Alibaba’s proposal is expected to raise over $20 billion through the New York Stock Exchange, making it one of the largest initial public stock offerings in U.S. history.
However, the U.S. – China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent agency directed by Congress, issued a report last month warning that investors face “major risks” if they buy shares in Chinese companies like Alibaba. The commission criticized Alibaba’s legal structure, describing it as “a complex and highly risky scheme of legal arrangements” which could lead to losses by U.S. shareholders. (In fact, the Hong Kong exchange refused to accept Alibaba’s legal structure, which is why the tech giant chose the U.S.). Based on its response to Alibaba’s proposal, the federal government is seemingly ignoring the report, and federal securities regulators are facing criticism for failing to adequately assess the national security risks.
Tomorrow’s lunch symposium will feature a wide-ranging panel of experts who will analyze the various risks behind Alibaba’s IPO, including risks affecting shareholder insecurity; the privacy rights and proprietary information of users of Alibaba’s services; violations of U.S. securities law and procedures; and most important, national security. Other topics include Chinese intelligence operations, economic warfare, and cyber espionage. The panel of experts includes:
- Frank Gaffney, President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, Moderator
- David Yerushalmi, Securities law expert, commercial litigator, and Co-Founder and Senior Counsel of the American Freedom Law Center
- Michelle Van Cleave, Former U.S. National Counter-Intelligence Executive
- Kevin Freeman, Chartered Financial Analyst and Founder, National Security Investment Counselor Institute and author of Secret Weapon: How Economic Terrorism Brought Down the U.S. Stock Market and Why It can Happen Again and Game Plan: How to Protect Yourself from the Coming Cyber Economic Attack
- Fred Fleitz, CIA Analyst and former Professional Staff Member, House Intelligence Committee