Law Commons^™

Trust And The Reform Of Securities Regulation, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

Trust is a critically important ingredient in the recipes for a successful economy and a well-functioning securities market. Due to scandals, ranging in nature from massive incompetence, to massive irresponsibility, to massive fraud, investor trust is in shorter supply today than in years past. This is troubling, and commentators, policy makers, and industry leaders have all recognized the need for trust's restoration.

As in times of similar crises, many have turned to law and regulation for the answers to our problems. The imposition of additional regulatory oversight, safeguards, and remedies, some advocate, can help resuscitate investor trust. These advocates have …

Trust And The Reform Of Securities Regulation, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

Trust is a critically important ingredient in the recipes for a successful economy and a well-functioning securities market. Due to scandals, ranging in nature from massive incompetence, to massive irresponsibility, to massive fraud, investor trust is in shorter supply today than in years past. This is troubling, and commentators, policy makers, and industry leaders have all recognized the need for trust's restoration.

As in times of similar crises, many have turned to law and regulation for the answers to our problems. The imposition of additional regulatory oversight, safeguards, and remedies, some advocate, can help resuscitate investor trust. These advocates have …

Exposing The Myth Of Homo Economicus, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

The prevalence of the "homo economicus" model of humanity has crowded out considerations of important noneconomic aspects of human nature - most importantly, the moral dimension of human thought and conduct. As a result, our understanding of the present ills besetting the business world and the market economy is incomplete, and the policy prescriptions flowing therefrom are often suboptimal (if not counterproductive).

This book review situates "Moral Markets" within this larger debate over human nature generally. I show how, through the presentation of biological evidence and evolutionary theory, "Moral Markets" repudiates the "homo economicus" model of humankind, and supports the …

Ownership, Limited: Reconciling Traditional And Progressive Corporate Law Via An Aristotelian Understanding Of Ownership, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

Concern over issues of corporate social responsibility and corporate governance persists, fueled, in large part, by recent (and ongoing) corporate scandals of one sort or another. The debate over the nature of the corporation – and, consequently, the proper role of directors, shareholders, and other stakeholders – plays an important role in the consideration of such concerns. If one conceptualizes the corporation as an entity owned by the shareholders, then one would probably be more likely to view directors as mere agents, tasked with maximizing the wealth of their principals (the shareholders). On the other hand, rejecting such a conceptualization …

Buy, Sell Or Hold? Analyst Fraud From Economic And Natural Law Perspectives, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

Investor protection and healthy capital markets are commonly acknowledged as the objectives historically driving U.S. federal securities legislation and policy. Less commonly appreciated, or perhaps intentionally neglected, is the critical role that virtue was understood to play in realizing these objectives by the architects and original enforcers of the securities laws. This understanding has largely been lost, in no small part, due to the success that “law and economics” has had in dominating securities law thinking. This Article posits that this original understanding can be rediscovered, and the role of virtue restored to its rightful place in securities regulation, via …