Law Commons^™

Limits Of Disclosure, Steven M. Davidoff, Claire A. Hill

Steven Davidoff Solomon

One big focus of attention, criticism, and proposals for reform in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis has been securities disclosure. Many commentators have emphasized the complexity of the securities being sold, arguing that no one could understand the disclosure. Some observers have noted that disclosures were sometimes false or incomplete. What follows these issues, to some commentators, is that, whatever other lessons we may learn from the crisis, we need to improve disclosure. How should it be improved? Commentators often lament the frailties of human understanding, notably including those of everyday retail investors—people who do not understand or …

Is Fractional Reserve Banking Necessarily Immoral?, Ryan T. Beach, Jeffrey E. Haymond

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

When Deposits are made to a bank, the bank can loan out most of it, while claiming they have the money to pay you back. When you deposit money in a bank, only a fraction of it stays on deposit; the rest is loaned out. When the person receives the loan spends it, money goes to another bank, repeating the process. Ultimately, if the central bank puts $100 of reserves into the FRB system, $1000 of money could enter the economy.

The Self-Regulation Of Investment Bankers, Andrew F. Tuch

Scholarship@WashULaw

As broker-dealers, investment bankers must register with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and comply with its rules, including the requirement to “observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.” As the self-regulatory body for broker-dealers, FINRA functions as the equivalent of the self-regulatory bodies governing other professionals, such as lawyers and accountants. Unlike the self-regulation of these professionals, however, the self-regulation of investment bankers has thus far attracted scant scholarly attention.

This Article evaluates the effectiveness of this self-regulatory system in deterring investment bankers’ misconduct. Based on a hand-collected data set of every disciplinary …