Law Commons^™

What Would We Do Without Them: Whistleblowers In The Era Of Sarbanes-Oxley And Dodd-Frank, Sean Griffith, Jane A. Norberg, Ian Engoron, Alice Brightsky, Tracey Mcneil, Jennifer M. Pacella, Judith Weinstock, Jason Zuckerman

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Whistling Loud And Clear: Applying Chevron To Subsection 21f Of Dodd–Frank, Shaun M. Bennett

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Note addresses a circuit court split arising from a portion of the anti-retaliation provisions in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Subsection 21F’s retaliation prohibitions apply to those employers whose employees make required or protected disclosures under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) or any other rule or regulation under the SEC’s jurisdiction. SOX provides anti -retaliation protections — similar to those available under Dodd–Frank — for employees of publicly traded companies who report misconduct. However, SOX expressly affords protections to those who provide information to “a Federal regulatory or law enforcement agency; any Member of …

Collaborative Gatekeepers, Stavros Gadinis, Colby Mangels University Of California - Berkeley

Stavros Gadinis

In their efforts to hold financial institutions accountable after the 2007 financial crisis, U.S. regulators have repeatedly turned to anti-money-laundering laws. Initially designed to fight drug cartels and terrorists, these laws have recently yielded billion-dollar fines for all types of bank engagement in fraud and have spurred an overhaul of financial institutions’ internal compliance. This increased reliance on anti-money-laundering laws, we argue, is due to distinct features that can better help regulators gain insights into financial fraud. Most other financial laws enlist private firms as gatekeepers and hold them liable if they knowingly or negligently engage in client fraud. Yet, …

Collaborative Gatekeepers, Stavros Gadinis, Colby Mangels University Of California - Berkeley

Washington and Lee Law Review

In their efforts to hold financial institutions accountable after the 2007 financial crisis, U.S. regulators have repeatedly turned to anti-money-laundering laws. Initially designed to fight drug cartels and terrorists, these laws have recently yielded billion-dollar fines for all types of bank engagement in fraud and have spurred an overhaul of financial institutions’ internal compliance. This increased reliance on anti-money-laundering laws, we argue, is due to distinct features that can better help regulators gain insights into financial fraud. Most other financial laws enlist private firms as gatekeepers and hold them liable if they knowingly or negligently engage in client fraud. Yet, …

The Lawyer's Duty Of Disclosure Ethics And Sarbanes-Oxley The New Conundrum For Patent Lawyers, Abraham C. Reich, Steven J. Rocci

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

The general purpose of this paper is to sensitize intellectual property lawyers to the potential impact on their practice created by Sarbanes-Oxley. At a more detailed level, and because of the unique challenges facing them, this paper addresses Sarbanes-Oxley's potential impact on patent lawyers who practice before the PTO, even when it is the patent lawyer's sole practice. To that end, this paper will highlight relevant portions of Rule 56, the relevant ethical code sections, and the pertinent considerations under Sarbanes-Oxley.

Conflicted Counselors: Retaliation Protections For Attorney-Whistleblowers In An Inconsistent Regulatory Regime, Jennifer M. Pacella

Jennifer M. Pacella, Esq.

Attorneys, especially in-house counsel, are subject to retaliation by employers in much the same way as traditional whistleblowers, often experiencing retaliation and loss of livelihood for reporting instances of wrongdoing about their clients. Although attorney-whistleblowing undoubtedly invokes ethical concerns, attorneys who “appear and practice” before the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are required by federal law to act as internal whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) and report evidence of material violations of the law within the organizations that they represent. An attorney’s failure to comply with these obligations will result in SEC-imposed civil penalties and disciplinary action. Recent federal …

4th And 205: How A Rush Of Global Comments Blocked The Sec’S First Attempted Punt Of Attorney-Client Privilege Under Sarbanes-Oxley, John Paul Lucci

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Downstream Securities Regulation, Anita Krug

All Faculty Scholarship

Securities regulation wears two hats. Its “upstream” side governs firms in connection with their obtaining financing in the securities markets. That is, it regulates firms’ and issuers’ offers and sales of securities, whether in public offerings to retail investors or in private offerings to institutional investors. Its “downstream” side, by contrast, governs financial services providers, who assist with investors’ activities in those markets. Their services include providing advice regarding securities investments, as investment advisers do; aggregating investors’ assets for purposes of enabling those investors to invest their assets collectively, as mutual funds do; and acting as “middlemen” between buyers and …

A Comparative Study Of Monitoring Of Management In German And U.S. Corporations After Sarbanes-Oxley: Where Are The German Enrons, Worldcoms, And Tycos?, Florian Stamm

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002: Are Stricter Internal Controls Constricting International Companies?, Jennifer K. Coalson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Sec And Accounting, In Part Through The Eyes Of Pacioli, Matthew J. Barrett

Matthew J. Barrett

As part of a symposium marking the seventieth anniversary of the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, this article pulls together two threads, namely Luca Pacioli's prominence in accounting and the importance of the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) requirements that seek to give investors an opportunity to view a public company through the eyes of management, to evaluate the SEC's record on certain accounting issues. Because writers in legal journals have largely ignored Pacioli's efforts, the article begins by highlighting some of the friar's contributions to accounting precepts. The article next applies some of those precepts in a …

Striking The Right Balance: Investor And Consumer Protection In The New Financial Marketplace: Introduction, Lisa Fairfax, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr

All Faculty Scholarship

On March 2, 2012, The George Washington University Law School's Center for Law, Economics & Finance and The George Washington Law Review jointly hosted a symposium entitled "Striking the Right Balance: Investor and Consumer Protection in the New Financial Marketplace."' The symposium focused on two principal topics. First, participants analyzed the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank") on investors and consumers in three areas of federal regulation-securities markets, derivatives markets, and consumer financial products. Second, the symposium evaluated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("Sarbanes-Oxley") on its tenth anniversary and considered whether Sarbanes-Oxley's legacy might …

Corporate Actors, Corporate Crimes And Time-Inconsistent Preference, Manuel A. Utset

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Evolving Regulation Of Corporate Governance And The Implications For D&O Liability: The United States And Australia, Joan T.A. Gabel, Nancy R. Mansfield, Paul Von Nessen, Austin W. Hall, Andrew Jones

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article compares the modern corporate regulatory environments in the United States and Australia, including an analysis of the climate for Directors & Officers (D & O) liability coverage. Comparing these regulations across two large markets with similar historical bases for assessing director and officer liability allows us to explore which reforms may be more effective as new scandals emerge.

Placebo Ethics, Usha Rodrigues, Mike Stegemoller

Scholarly Works

While there are innumerable theories on the best remedy for the current financial crisis, there is agreement on one point, at least: increased transparency is good. We look at a provision from the last round of financial regulation, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), which imposed disclosure requirements tailored to prevent some of the kinds of abuses that led to the downfall of Enron. In response to Enron's self-dealing transactions, Section 406 of SOX required a public company to disclose its code of ethics and to disclose immediately any waivers from that code the company grants to its top …

Securities Fraud, Officer And Director Bars, And The "Unfitness" Inquiry After Sarbanes-Oxley, Jon Carlson

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Executive Compensation: The New Executive Compensation Disclosure Rules Do Not Result In Complete Disclosure, Sean M. Donahue

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Still "Ain't No Glory In Pain": How The Telecommunications Act Of 1996 And Other 1990s Deregulation Facilitated The Market Crash Of 2002, André Douglas Pond Cummings

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

A Social Defense Of Sarbanes-Oxley, James Fanto

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

From Lapdog To Watchdog: Sarbanes-Oxley Section 307 And A New Role For Corporate Lawyers, Peter C. Kostant

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Internal Whistleblowing And Sarbanes-Oxley Section 806: Balancing The Interests Of Employee And Employer, Kevin Rubinstein

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Digital Consumption Tax (D-Ct), Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Modern technology is dramatically changing the way consumption taxes are collected, but it is also changing the way policymakers assess the operation and impact of these taxes. Whether the design is a standard credit-invoice value added tax (VAT) of European design, or a retail sales tax (RST) of American design, or the credit subtraction VAT without invoices type of consumption tax (CT) of Japanese design, technology is having a profound impact.

Government certified transaction software is in place in the United States. The Streamlined Sales Tax offers taxpayers in 18 states the option of having their retail sales tax determined …

Attorneys As Gatekeepers: Sec Actions Against Lawyers In The Age Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Lewis D. Lowenfels, Alan R. Bromberg, Michael J. Sullivan

ExpressO

Following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on July 30, 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission has substantially increased the number of actions it has initiated against lawyers. And a substantial number of these recent SEC actions against counsel to public companies (both internal and external) have highlighted the SEC’s resolve to hold lawyers accountable for not performing adequately their SEC-conceived role as “gatekeepers” to prevent fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws. This “gatekeeper” concept has been and is being implemented through SEC actions addressing a wide variety of alleged transgressions in a wide diversity of factual …

The New Regulatory Regime For Hedge Funds: Has The Sec Gone Down The Wrong Path?, Jacob Preiserowicz

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Digital Vat And Development: D-Vat And D-Velopment, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

This article suggests that the time is right for developing countries to consider adopting a comprehensive, fully digital VAT, (complete with certified software and trusted third party intermediaries who could assume all of the taxpayer's VAT responsibilities) within the limited group of enterprises encompassed by the large taxpayer group.

Since the e-commerce revolution began in the 1990's, tax policy discussions in developed economies have enlisted "e-solutions" to streamline consumption tax administration, as well as to resolve technical problems.

Inspiration came from the marketplace. Policy-makers observed widespread, business-initiated e-solutions to consumption tax compliance problems in a wide spectrum of jurisdiction. There …

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Choosing The Right Vehicle For Federal Corporate Governance Initiatives, Joan Macleod Heminway

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Breach Of Fiduciary Duty As Securities Fraud: Sec V. Chancellor Corp., Carl W. Mills

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Sarbanes-Oxley And The Inch-Thick Contract, Colin P.A. Jones

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

The Sec And Accounting, In Part Through The Eyes Of Pacioli, Matthew J. Barrett

Journal Articles

As part of a symposium marking the seventieth anniversary of the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, this article pulls together two threads, namely Luca Pacioli's prominence in accounting and the importance of the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) requirements that seek to give investors an opportunity to view a public company through the eyes of management, to evaluate the SEC's record on certain accounting issues. Because writers in legal journals have largely ignored Pacioli's efforts, the article begins by highlighting some of the friar's contributions to accounting precepts. The article next applies some of those precepts in a …

A Comparative Assessment Of Eu, Uk, French, Australian And Japanese Responses To Auditor Independence: The Case Of Non-Audit Tax Services, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Auditor independence was a global concern of financial regulators in the 1990's. Some observers saw this in a positive light, a natural development. Adjusting auditor independence rules was a manifestation of global convergence in corporate governance structures. New rules, especially rules leaning toward a harmonized system were welcome.

There was a more sobering view. This view held that global regulators were less concerned with convergence than they were with a sense of impending disaster. Things had gone too far. Significant, maybe even radical change was needed. The independence of corporate auditors had eroded; trust had been fundamentally compromised in the …