Commercial Law Commons^™

Fair Lending For Cannabis Banking Justice, Benjamin T. Seymour

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

This Comment offers a fair lending solution to promote racial equity in cannabis banking reform: amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to ensure individuals previously arrested, charged, or convicted for selling, cultivating, or possessing marijuana will not therefore be precluded from loans to start legal cannabis businesses. Given disparities in the criminal enforcement of marijuana laws, this amendment would provide racial justice benefits, while also encouraging entrepreneurship. As a market-based social justice effort, this amendment offers a bipartisan approach to one of the most vexing and contentious issues in marijuana banking reform.

Part II of this Comment briefly surveys the …

The Cfpb’S Endaround, Chris O'Brien

Catholic University Law Review

The financial crisis of 2008 led Congress to enact the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to better protect consumers. Although Dodd-Frank and the CFPB introduced sweeping changes to many areas of financial lending, automobile dealers and financers were expressly excluded from oversight by the CFPB. Despite this express limitation on the CFPB’s authority, the Bureau nonetheless expanded its definition of “larger participants” to encompass automobile dealers and financiers. This action has resulted in duplicative regulatory oversight and increased costs to consumers, which in turn, imposes additional burdens on those …

Mutual Fund Capital Structure, A. Joseph Warburton

Marquette Law Review

The Investment Company Act of 1940 regulates the capital structure of mutual funds in order to restrain their leverage and speculative character. It is often (mistakenly) assumed that the law prohibits open-end mutual funds from borrowing money. This Article (I) analyzes the law governing mutual fund capital structure to reveal when (and to what extent) borrowing is allowed and (ii) examines a novel dataset on mutual fund capital structure that shows borrowing is an unexpectedly common practice.

Using data on all registered investment companies in the U.S. from 1998 to 2013, I find that nearly 8% of open-end mutual funds, …

The Challenge Of Fiduciary Regulation: The Investment Advisors Act After Seventy-Five Years, Roberta S. Karmel

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Seventy-five years after its enactment the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 has advanced from a relatively weak statute merely registering advisers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to a more robust law imposing fiduciary responsibilities on advisers. Over the years, the number of investment advisers and the number of their clients have increased greatly. The SEC therefore has been pressured by Congress to develop a harmonized fiduciary standard for broker-dealers and advisers and also to develop and enforce a greater degree of oversight over the advisory industry. These developments have raised the questions of how to fund such efforts …

Evaluating The Performance And Accountability Of Regulators, Colin Scott

Seattle University Law Review

The global financial crisis came in the wake of significant reforms to the structures, processes, powers, and rules of the regulatory regimes for financial markets in many of the countries adversely affected by the crash. The global financial crisis came in the wake of significant reforms to the structures, processes, powers, and rules of the regulatory regimes for financial markets in many of the countries adversely affected by the crash. In this Article, I follow the logic of an argument that regulation necessarily has political dimensions, even where it may appear technical. I am asking questions about how we might …

Financial Innovation In East Asia, Ross P. Buckley, Douglas W. Arner, Michael Panton

Seattle University Law Review

Finance is important for development. However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997–1998 and the global financial crisis of 2008 highlighted the serious risks associated with financial liberalization and excessive innovation. East Asia’s strong focus on economic growth has necessitated a careful balancing of the benefits of financial liberalization and innovation against the very real risks inherent in financial sector development. This Article examines the role of regulatory, legal, and institutional infrastructure in supporting both financial development and limiting the risk of financial crises. The Article then addresses a series of issues with particular developmental significance in the region: trade finance, …

Culture Wars: Rate Manipulation, Institutional Corruption, And The Lost Normative Foundations Of Market Conduct Regulation, Justin O'Brien

Seattle University Law Review

The global investigations into the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) have raised significant questions about how conflicts of interest are managed for regulated entities contributing to benchmarks. An alternative framework, which brings the management of the rate process under direct regulatory supervision, is under consideration, coordinated by the International Organization of Securities Commissions taskforce. The articulation of global principles builds on a review commissioned by the British government that suggests rates calculated by submission can be reformed. This paper argues that this approach is predestined to fail, precisely because it ignores the lessons of history. In revisiting …

Costing A Pretty Penny: Online Penny Auctions Revive The Pestilence Of Unregulated Lotteries, David R. Konkel

Seattle University Law Review

Penny auctions, an online phenomenon imported from Europe, operate by the hundreds in the United States without meaningful oversight from consumer protection agencies. In a penny auction, consumers compete for items one penny at a time. To date, no significant inquiry, either academic or practical, into the legitimacy of the penny auction has occurred. Although marketed as auctions, online penny auctions may actually qualify as lotteries. Unlike the multifarious and confusing definitions of gambling, the long-accepted definition of a lottery consists of three elements: prize, consideration, and chance. If a penny auction satisfies this definition then, under well-established case law …