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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Case For Empowering Quality Shareholders, Lawrence A. Cunningham
The Case For Empowering Quality Shareholders, Lawrence A. Cunningham
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
Abstract Anyone can buy stock in a public company, but not all shareholders are equally committed to a company’s long-term success. In an increasingly fragmented financial world, shareholders’ attitudes toward the companies in which they invest vary widely, from time horizon to conviction. Faced with indexers, short-term traders, and activists, it is more important than ever for businesses to ensure that their shareholders are dedicated to their missions. Today’s companies need “quality shareholders,” as Warren Buffett called those who “load up and stick around,” or buy large stakes and hold for long periods. While scholars in recent years have extensively …
The Sec's Global Accounting Vision: A Realistic Appraisal Of A Quixotic Quest, Lawrence A. Cunningham
The Sec's Global Accounting Vision: A Realistic Appraisal Of A Quixotic Quest, Lawrence A. Cunningham
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In the most revolutionary securities law development since the New Deal, the SEC is poised to jettison rules requiring companies to apply recognized US accounting standards by inviting use of a new set of international ones created by a private London-based organization. This radical shift follows decades of gradual movement towards international standards that has gained momentum since 2005 when all listed companies in the European Union were required to use them. For the US, the SEC could give companies the option to use either or establish a medium-term plan to move US companies to international standards within a decade. …
Sharing Accounting's Burden: Business Lawyers In Enron's Dark Shadows, Lawrence A. Cunningham
Sharing Accounting's Burden: Business Lawyers In Enron's Dark Shadows, Lawrence A. Cunningham
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
A familiar pass-the-buck pas de deus in deal meetings occurs when the accountant says, after an impasse, "that's a legal problem" while the lawyer says "that's an accounting problem." The truth is, both are right; the trouble is, as Enron shows, prevailing professional cultures create a crack between law and accounting that resolute fraud artists exploit, not cultures that emphasize the intersection of law and accounting that should foil would-be fraudsters. As policymakers rush to respond to Enron, this perspective on law and accounting should be appreciated, as should Enron's place in soecity's parade of corporate debacles. At Enron's core …