Law Commons^™

A Novel Approach To Defining "Whistleblower" In Dodd-Frank, Ian A. Engoron

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Following the Financial Crisis of 2008, trust in the financial industry was at an all-time low as the American taxpayer was forced to bailout the very same institutions responsible for their suffering. In response, Congress passed Dodd-Frank in 2010 to ensure another crisis like 2008 never happen again. Section 78u-6 of the Act provides incentives and protections for whistleblowers who report violations of securities laws. In recent years there has been a divide among circuit courts over the question of whether employees who report violations internally to their bosses—and not directly to the SEC—are protected by the Act. Currently, the …

The Costs Of Bailouts In The 2007-08 Financial Crisis, Xiaoxi Liu

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The 2007-08 bailout programs were initially created under the emergent situation of financial crisis. Despite their effectiveness in stopping the collapse of financial system, those bailouts have been criticized as ill-planned governmental intervention. Nonetheless, based on the calculation of both the dollar amount of return and the rate of return of each program, this Comment argues that the bailouts are in fact good investments. Furthermore, since Dodd-Frank was invented with the primary purpose of curtailing future bailouts, this Comment also argues that Dodd-Frank reflected an unwise, overhasty decision by Congress.

Dodd-Frank And The Spoofing Prohibition In Commodities Markets, Meric Sar

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Commodity Exchange Act and adopted an explicit prohibition regarding activity commonly known as spoofing in commodities markets. This Note argues that the spoofing prohibition is a necessary step towards improved market discipline and price integrity in the relevant commodities markets. It fills an important gap in the CEA in relation to an elusive form of price manipulation activity by providing an explicit statutory authority on which regulators and market operators may rely in policing suspect trading strategies falling under the spoofing umbrella.

Congress’ explicit denouncement of spoofing as an illegal act has ramifications not only …

A Regulatory Retreat: Energy Market Exemption From Private Anti-Manipulation Actions Under The Commodity Exchange Act, Meric Sar

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In order to facilitate greater reform in energy markets, Dodd-Frank granted the CFTC wide-ranging powers as part of the greater mandate given to the CFTC in relation to OTC-swaps and the daily derivatives trading activity in commodities futures and options markets. As a result, Dodd-Frank subjected electricity market transactions—which traditionally occur under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in markets organized around independent system operators and regional transmission organizations—to the anti-manipulation prohibitions of the Commodity Exchange Act. Thus, differently from FERC’s regime, the post-Dodd-Frank statutory framework opened the way for enforcement of market discipline in electricity markets through …

An Overview Of The Sec's Whistleblower Award Program, Michael H. Hurwitz, Jonathan Kovacs

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In 2010, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in response to the stock market collapse and economic downturn as well as the Bernard Madoff scandal and other well-publicized frauds perpetrated against investors. Among its numerous provisions, the Dodd-Frank Act amended the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to add a new section—Section 21F—entitled “Securities Whistleblower Incentives and Protection.” The Dodd- Frank Act also directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish an Office of the Whistleblower to administer the provisions of the new section. The Commission subsequently adopted regulations that went into effect on August 12, …

Qualified Mortgages & Government Reverse Redlining: How The Cfpb's Qualified Mortgage Regulations Will Handicap The Availability Of Credit To Minority Borrowers, Patrick T. O'Keefe

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Imprudent underwriting and mortgage origination in the years leading up to the Global Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008 was determined to be one of its predominant causes. As a result, partly in an effort to protect consumers and ensure that lending institutions did not relapse into poor mortgage origination practices, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This Note examines the qualified mortgage rule promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. This rule is intended to ensure that borrowers receive loans that are not unfair, deceptive, or abusive, and to …

Informational Failures In Structured Finance And Dodd-Frank’S “Improvements To The Regulation Of Credit Rating Agencies”, Steven Mcnamara

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This article analyzes the credit rating agency reform provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act’s “Improvements to the Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies” in light of the massive failures in the ratings of structured finance securities leading up to the 2008 credit crisis. The primary cause of ratings failure was the flawed quantitative ratings models used by the rating agencies; conflicted behavior on the part of the rating agencies was also an important but secondary cause. The key mechanical flaw in the ratings models was the method used to determine correlation, a measure of the likelihood that one borrower would default in …

The End Of The Internal Compliance World As We Know It, Or An Enhancement Of The Effectiveness Of Securities Law Enforcement? Bounty Hunting Under The Dodd-Frank Act's Whistleblower Provision, Justin Blount, Spencer Markel

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In the wake of Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme and the recent economic crisis stemming largely from loosely regulated subprime lending and mortgage-backed securities, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010, signaling loudly and clearly that change is coming to Wall Street. But Wall Street is not the only one receiving a message. Buried deep within the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Act, companies can find Section 922, the whistleblower provision, which provides a bounty for whistleblowers who report securities violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission.These bounty provisions and …

Burning Down The House Or Simply Rolling The Dice: A Comment On Section 621 Of The Dodd-Frank Act And Recommendation For Its Implementation, Joshua R. Rosenthal

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Section 621 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act modifies the Securities Act of 1933 to prohibit the underwriter, placement agent, initial purchaser, or sponsor, or any affiliate or subsidiary of any such entity of an asset-backed financial product from betting against that very product for one year after the product’s initial sale. The rule prohibits anyone who structures or sells an asset-backed security or a product composed of asset-backed securities from going short, in the specified timeframe, on what they have sold, and labels such transactions as presenting material conflicts of interest. This Comment discusses traces …

Morrison V. National Australia Bank: Life After Dodd-Frank, Meny Elgadeh

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Note examines the background of foreign-cubed litigation,1 including its development over the past four decades, its abrogation by the Supreme Court, and its potential future under recently enacted legislation. The Note examines the tests developed by the Court of Appeals in order to determine whether a United States court could adjudicate foreign-cubed litigation. Additionally, it reviews the Supreme Court opinion in Morrison v. National Australia Bank and its ultimate rejection of the predominant Second Circuit test for applicability. Finally, the Note discusses “The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” a provision of which was specifically included to …