Commercial Law Commons^™

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 …

Corporate Governance And The Global Social Void, Lee A. Tavis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article argues that the components of globalization--economic integration, democratization, and global governance networks--are changing the nature of corporate governance and the prospects for peace. Multinational enterprises are the instruments of economic integration. As such, multinationals as a group deserve credit for the positive productivity-related wealth effects of the process. As the implementing institutions, these enterprises are also inextricably related to the inequality--the social void--resulting from globalization that threatens peace.

Hyper competition in the global product markets and the demands of the financial markets determine, to a large extent, the activities of the multinational. Alternatively, there is an evolving opportunity …

Massachusetts, Myanmar, Market Participation, And The Federal Shutdown Of Selective Purchasing Laws: Is The Power To Purchase Really The Power To Regulate , Scott Sommers

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article does not discuss whether intentionally giving companies an incentive to withdraw from Burma is economically or politically desirable for the people of Burma. The First Circuit did not concern itself with this subject either in rejecting the Massachusetts Burma Law. The question of interest to the court, and which should be of interest to any state citizen or global corporation interested in doing business with state agencies, was whether Massachusetts had the discretion to make a purchasing law directly concerning the business involvement of suppliers in foreign countries. While legitimate legal and practical arguments may be made that …

U.S. Supreme Court Subordinates Enforcement Of Regulatory Statutes To Enforcement Of Arbitration Agreements, Christine L. Davitz

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Through a series of cases culminating with Vimar Seguros Y Reaseguros v. M/V Sky Reefer, the U.S. Supreme Court has developed a strong pro-arbitration stance regarding disputes arising out of international commercial contracts. This Note analyzes the Court's reasons for this stance and compares those reasons with the history and purposes of the Federal Arbitration Act and the New York Convention. The author concludes that the Court's reasons are at odds with the FAA and the New York Convention. The Note further articulates the dangers posed to U.S. public policies that are created by allowing arbitration of statutory claims. The …

Book Review: The Law And Regulation Of International Finance, Ian F.G. Baxter

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Law of International Finance, as its opening states, revolves around "the law and regulation affecting the raising of finance in the international financial markets." Thus, the book is about a very specialized area of finance and law-an area that has come into prominence, or even existence, only during the last two decades. As a solicitor in a large London firm that does substantial work related to financial business in the London international capital markets, Ravi Tennekoon has had considerable practical experience in legal work related to Eurobond issues and transactions and international syndications. London is, of course, the main …