Securities Law Commons^™

The Panuwat Snowball: Correlation Does Not Equal Materiality, Tanner Gattuso

Catholic University Law Review

Insider trading is a term of art referencing the fraudulent practice of trading securities in a company on the basis of material, nonpublic information about that same company in breach of some duty owed to another. The practice erodes the public’s trust in the integrity of our capital markets for a reason that is rather intuitive: it is inherently unfair to allow an individual to make a quick and certain profit by exploiting material, nonpublic information to which he privy due solely to his position in a company or some other relationship of trust and confidence. In this context, unrelenting …

Conflicts Of Interest At An Organization’S Highest Authority: How The District Of Columbia’S Rules Of Professional Conduct Can Fail To Protect Private Organizations, Christopher Deubert

Catholic University Law Review

This Article examines how the District of Columbia’s incomplete incorporation of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct into its own Rules of Professional Conduct has created a scenario in which wrongdoing inside a private organization can flourish. In 2002, following the Enron scandal, the American Bar Association (ABA) revisited and revised its Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The ABA nevertheless took a conservative route, rejecting rules long proposed by experts which would have permitted attorneys aware of corporate crimes, fraud, and other wrongdoing to report their concerns to individuals or entities outside the organization’s reporting structure. Additional scandals unfolded contemporaneous …

Can The Liquidity Rule Keep Mutual Funds Afloat? Contextualizing The Collapse Of Third Avenue Management Focused Credit Fund, Nicolas Valderrama

Catholic University Law Review

In 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Rule 22e-4 (the “Liquidity Rule”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and related reporting and disclosure requirements. One industry analyst described the Liquidity Rule’s objective as making sure that mutual funds implement “effective liquidity risk management programs,” especially in light of mutual funds’ prevalence in the economy and in American households. Yet, as one Reuters analyst suggested, the SEC also seemed to have adopted these liquidity regulations, to avoid a “repeat of the kind of problems that surfaced with the collapse of the [mutual fund] Third Avenue Focused Credit …

To Innovate Or Regulate: How To Regulate Cloud Service Providers Within Financial Institutions, Morgan Willard

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The purpose of this article is to analyze whether cloud service providers should be considered Systemically Important Financial Market Utilities (SIFMU), subjecting them to increased oversight. It also considers the risks and benefits associated with the use of the technology by financial institutions, as well as potential alternatives. Overall, this article argues that cloud service providers do not fall under the current SIFMU framework, and any regulation of the technology should strive to strike a balance between innovation and safe regulation.

Missing The Role Of Property In The Regulation Of Insider Trading, Kevin R. Douglas

Catholic University Law Review

For decades, legal scholars have evaluated the law and practice of insider trading through a property lens. Some have debated whether a property rationale is useful for explaining past cases or might make a useful framework for deciding tough cases in the future. Others have explored which market actors should be allocated property rights in inside information in order to increase the efficiency or liquidity of U.S. securities markets. Yet scholars seem to have missed the fact that officials have consistently relied on the violation of some party’s property rights to justify imposing liability for insider trading—including in classical theory …

Investments And Security: Balancing International Commerce And National Security With Expanded Authority For The Committee On Foreign Investment In The United States, Christopher Jusuf

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

What happens when the interests of international trade conflict with those of national security? This article analyzes this question within the context of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an obscure but increasingly powerful executive panel that exercises the president's broad authority to unilaterally interfere with and stop international mergers and acquisitions. With the passage of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), CFIUS is more powerful now than it has ever been, and should be a key consideration for any company seeking to do business with foreign investors. This is especially true as America …

Has Regulation Affected The High Frequency Trading Market?, Kevin O'Connell

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

As technology rapidly advances society, there are a few industries that have not been drastically impacted by disruptive technology. The financial markets are no different. Over the past ten years, algorithmic trading has quickly revolutionized the financial markets and continues to dominate an industry that for many years remained largely uninfluenced by society’s technological advances. Algorithmic trading is “a type of trading done with the use of mathematical formulas” and market data “run by powerful computers” to execute trades. One of the most commonly used platforms of algorithmic trading is high frequency trading. High frequency trading (“HFT”) uses a computerized …

Over-The-Counter Derivatives In A Global Financial Marketplace: The Case For Uniform Global Identifiers And Compatible Reporting Requirements In Substituted Compliance Comparability Determinations, Kimberly R. Thomasson

Catholic University Law Review

The 2008 financial crisis prompted a global regulatory overhaul of over-the-counter derivative markets. The Dodd-Frank Act mandated the CFTC and SEC to issue new rules and regulations to bring the majority of the OTC derivative market out of the dark on onto regulated exchanges. Similar action was taken in the European Union and other G20 nations. There has been a push to harmonize rules for OTC derivatives across jurisdictions to make the market more efficient and eliminate regulatory arbitrage. This Comment focuses on the process for a regulated entity in the US and EU to “substitute compliance” with its home …

Regulating Angels, Heidi Mandanis Schooner

Scholarly Articles

This article examines the current calls for deregulation of community banks and balances those ideas against the long history of community bank regulation, insolvency, and government support. Part II discusses the benefits offered by community banks and the current status of the industry. Part III outlines the justification for community bank regulation and the availability of the government safety net to support these institutions. Part IV addresses the solvency risk of community banks-their rates of failure and the causes of their failure. Part V addresses the reaction by community banks and their supporters to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall …

Sec V. Bauer: If The Glove Fits, It's Insider Trading, Kramer Ortman

Catholic University Law Review

Until SEC v. Bauer, insider trading has never been applied within the context of an open-ended mutual fund. In alleging insider trading against Jilaine Bauer, an account executive of a mutual fund, the SEC originally won summary judgment; however, the case on appeal saw the SEC drop its original theory, the classical theory of insider trading, in favor of the alternative misappropriation theory. This Note argues that the misappropriation theory applies in the context of open-ended mutual funds by recognizing that the policy reasons underlying the prohibitions against insider trading are centered on the principles of fairness, market integrity, …

Putting The “Uniform” Back In The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act Of 1998: The Case For Employing A Reasonable Relationship Approach, Christopher R. Bellacicco

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Crowdfunding For Biotechs: How The Sec’S Proposed Rule May Undermine Capital Formation For Startups, Brian J. Farnkoff

Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy (1985-2015)

No abstract provided.

Resurrecting Court Deference To The Securities And Exchange Commission: Definition Of “Security”, Steven J. Cleveland

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bien Venue: Sec V. Johnson And The Policy For Broad Procedural Requirements In Public Securities Actions, Kelly Kylis

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Generating Precedent In Securities Industry Arbitration, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

The author charts the progress made by the securities industry’s dispute resolution system as it went from judicial litigation to a system that relies almost exclusively on arbitration. Further advances were made by the adoption of the 1989 Rules Amendments, which, by introducing prehearing conferences and setting deadlines for document exchanges, cleared up many procedural issues. However, one serious problem remains: The present system does not provide a means to generate case precedent. The author suggests various ways to cure this defect.

Mandatory Securities Industry Arbitration: The Problems And The Solution, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

Many of the perceived problems with the securities arbitration system do not reflect deficiencies in the operation of the current system, but rather are a result of the very qualities that make arbitration attractive. For example, participants in arbitration have a limited right of appeal from arbitration awards precisely because they contractually agreed to forego judicial litigation and instead have their disputes considered in a more expeditious and less expensive forum. It is reasonable to believe that if arbitration awards were appealable for the full range of reasons for which judicial decisions may be appealed, the efficiency of the arbitration …

Significant 1986 Regulatory And Legislative Developments, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

A Primer On Broker-Dealer Registration, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Significant 1985 Regulation And Legislative Developments, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Governance Of Our Securities Markets And The Failure To Allocate Regulatory Responsibility, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Arbitration In The Securities Industry: Too Much Of A Good Thing?, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

The study upon which this article is based was conducted in response to the explosive growth of the use of arbitration in the securities industry as a means of resolving broker/customer disputes. The study was designed to investigate whether the use that is being made of arbitration is efficient and, if inefficiencies were found, what procedures might be employed to screen out inefficient use.

This article was completed prior to the Supreme Court's recent resolution of the Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd case. In light of that decision, it now appears likely that the concerns raised in the article …

The Sec Or The Exchanges: Who Should Do What And When? A Proposal To Allocate Regulatory Responsibilities For Securities Markets, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

This article will investigate what principles should guide the Commission in allocating decision making authority over regulatory matters between itself and the SROs. When should the SEC initiate the resolution of issues? When should it merely oversee the efforts of the SROs in issue resolution? Finally, can specific market regulatory problems be analyzed pursuant to these principles to determine how decision making authority should be allocated? In addition to providing a model for answering these questions, the guidelines 4 developed in this article will also have relevance to the broader question of allocating decision making responsibility between the government and …

Best Execution: The National Market System’S Missing Ingredient, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

In 1975 Congress enacted legislation designed to foster the establishment of a national system for the trading of securities. Many of the goals of a national market cannot be achieved if brokers are not compelled to seek the best price when executing transactions in multiply traded securities. To date, the Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to adopt a rule either requiring or encouraging a best execution practice.

This article examines the importance of a best execution rule to investors, to the national market system and to the economy. It explores the changes that have evolved in the securities industry …

The Special Study Of The Options Market: Its Findings And Recommendations, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

Since its inception in 1972, listed options trading has become a very important source of income for the securities industry. The total volume of transactions has risen dramatically, but so have investor complaints. The author of this article examines the 1979 study of the options markets issued by the SEC staff, notes its principal recommendations, and discusses the need for greater industry self-regulation. The author notes that the SEC is still considering final rule proposals in the options field, and he suggests that the options/securities industry will probably be altered in the following respects: (1) a restructuring of the existing …