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Full-Text Articles in Law

Is Our Economy Safe? A Proposal For Assessing The Success Of Swaps Regulation Under The Dodd-Frank Act, Michael Greenberger Oct 2010

Is Our Economy Safe? A Proposal For Assessing The Success Of Swaps Regulation Under The Dodd-Frank Act, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

On July 21, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law. The central goal of the Dodd-Frank Act is to ensure that all standardized derivates products are regulated. The Act requires these trades be fully transparent and backed by adequate capital. The central question for evaluating the success of the Dodd-Frank Act is simple but profound: Has the Dodd-Frank Act made the economy any safer from the threat of another economic meltdown? This paper introduces a number of metrics that can be used to assess the success of the Dodd-Frank Act.


Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle Harner Jun 2010

Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle Harner

Michelle M. Harner

“As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.”** This now infamous quote by Charles Prince, Citigroup’s former Chief Executive Officer, captures the high-risk, high-reward mentality and overconfidence that permeates much of corporate America. These attributes in turn helped to facilitate a global recession and some of the largest economic losses ever experienced in the financial sector. They also represent certain cognitive biases and cultural norms in corporate boardrooms and management suites that make implementing a meaningful risk culture and thereby mitigating the impact of future economic downturns a challenging proposition. The …


Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle M. Harner Jun 2010

Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

“As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.”** This now infamous quote by Charles Prince, Citigroup’s former Chief Executive Officer, captures the high-risk, high-reward mentality and overconfidence that permeates much of corporate America. These attributes in turn helped to facilitate a global recession and some of the largest economic losses ever experienced in the financial sector. They also represent certain cognitive biases and cultural norms in corporate boardrooms and management suites that make implementing a meaningful risk culture and thereby mitigating the impact of future economic downturns a challenging proposition. The …


Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle M. Harner Jun 2010

Barriers To Effective Risk Management, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

“As long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance. We’re still dancing.”** This now infamous quote by Charles Prince, Citigroup’s former Chief Executive Officer, captures the high-risk, high-reward mentality and overconfidence that permeates much of corporate America. These attributes in turn helped to facilitate a global recession and some of the largest economic losses ever experienced in the financial sector. They also represent certain cognitive biases and cultural norms in corporate boardrooms and management suites that make implementing a meaningful risk culture and thereby mitigating the impact of future economic downturns a challenging proposition. The …


Case Study Of The Bank Of America And Merrill Lynch Merger, Robert J. Rhee Apr 2010

Case Study Of The Bank Of America And Merrill Lynch Merger, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This is a case study of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch merger. It is based on the article, Fiduciary Exemption for Public Necessity: Shareholder Profit, Public Good, and the Hobson’s Choice during a National Crisis, 17 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 661 (2010). The case study analyzes the controversial events occurring between the merger signing and closing. It reviews in depth the circumstances under the federal government threatened to fire the board and management of Bank of America unless it consummated the Merrill Lynch acquisition. Among other issues, this case study raises the questions: (1) what is the role …


How "Big" Became Bad: America's Underage Fling With Universal Banks, Lawrence G. Baxter Mar 2010

How "Big" Became Bad: America's Underage Fling With Universal Banks, Lawrence G. Baxter

Lawrence G. Baxter

In little more than a decade gigantic new financial institutions have emerged in America. These organizations are quite different from their predecessors in that they share the highly complex, diversified characteristics of foreign “universal banks.” They are still in the process of developing experienced and mature operational and risk management systems. During this same period, the regulatory framework necessary to match the size, power and hazards generated by these new universal banks remains underdeveloped, and the primary framework around which the system is being constructed, namely Basel II, lies in tatters in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-08. …


Financial Crisis Containment And Its Implications For Institutional And Legal Reform, Seraina N. Gruenewald Mar 2010

Financial Crisis Containment And Its Implications For Institutional And Legal Reform, Seraina N. Gruenewald

Seraina N. Gruenewald

This article analyzes financial crisis containment from a governance perspective. It depicts containment decision making by governments as a complex technical process of different stages. Deviating from the existing well-worn paradigms, the article argues that efficient crisis containment requires a clear allocation of responsibilities with explicit objectives and powers, proper channels of accountability and more transparency. It models a governance framework, the core of which is a crisis containment council. Shared responsibility and accountability on the part of the council members as they seek crisis containment would incentivize them to collaboratively decide on containment policies that correspond to the greatest …


Fiduciary Exemption For Public Necessity: Shareholder Profit, Public Good, And The Hobson's Choice During A National Crisis, Robert J. Rhee Jan 2010

Fiduciary Exemption For Public Necessity: Shareholder Profit, Public Good, And The Hobson's Choice During A National Crisis, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This Article is written as two discrete, independently accessible topical sections. The first topical section, presented in Part I of this Article, is a case study of Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch and the impact of a flawed merger execution on the board’s subsequent decisions. The second topical section, presented Parts II-IV of this Article, advances a theoretical basis for fiduciary exemption during a public crisis. The financial crisis of 2008 was the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. It nearly resulted in a collapse of the global capital markets. A key event in the history of …


Black Tuesday And Graying The Legitimacy Line For Governmental Intervention: When Tomorrow Is Just A Future Yesterday, Donald J. Kochan Dec 2009

Black Tuesday And Graying The Legitimacy Line For Governmental Intervention: When Tomorrow Is Just A Future Yesterday, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Black Tuesday in October 1929 marked a major crisis in American history. As we face current economic woes, it is appropriate to recall not only the event but also reflect on how it altered the legal landscape and the change it precipitated in the acceptance of governmental intervention into the marketplace. Perceived or real crises can cause us to dance between free markets and regulatory power. Much like the events of 1929, current financial concerns have led to new, unprecedented governmental intervention into the private sector. This Article seeks caution, on the basis of history, arguing that fear and crisis …