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Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Securities Law
Is 'Pay-To-Play' Driving Public Pension Fund Activism In Securities Class Actions? An Empirical Study, David H. Webber
Is 'Pay-To-Play' Driving Public Pension Fund Activism In Securities Class Actions? An Empirical Study, David H. Webber
Faculty Scholarship
The recent emergence of public pension funds as frequent lead plaintiffs in securities class actions has prompted speculation that the funds’ litigation activism is driven by “pay-to-play”. “Pay-to-play” posits that public pension funds are driven by politician board members to obtain lead plaintiff appointments in securities class actions because of campaign contributions made by plaintiffs’ lawyers to those board members. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the securities litigation activity of 111 such funds from the years 2003 through 2006. Three of the paper’s findings cast doubt on the “pay-to-play” theory, including that: (1) politicians and political control negatively …
Private Ordering And The Proxy Access Debate, Scott Hirst, Lucian A. Bebchuk
Private Ordering And The Proxy Access Debate, Scott Hirst, Lucian A. Bebchuk
Faculty Scholarship
This Article examines two “meta” issues raised by opponents of the SEC’s proposal to provide shareholders with rights to place director candidates on the company’s proxy materials. First, opponents argue that, even assuming proxy access is desirable in many circumstances, the existing no-access default should be retained and the adoption of proxy access arrangements should be left to opting out of this default on a company-by-company basis. This Article, however, identifies strong reasons against retaining no-access as the default. There is substantial empirical evidence indicating that director insulation from removal is associated with lower firm value and worse performance. Furthermore, …
Let The Securities And Exchange Commission Outsource Enforcement By Litigation: A Proposal, Tamar Frankel
Let The Securities And Exchange Commission Outsource Enforcement By Litigation: A Proposal, Tamar Frankel
Faculty Scholarship
The stories of Stanford's suspected Ponzi scheme, and Madoff s proven scheme, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission's lenient settlements with very large suspected violators, and its focus on the numerous, small accused, have raised questions about the Commission's enforcement resources. This Article suggests that the Commission outsource civil cases against very large defendants when the examination of the defendant finds signs of wrongdoing under the securities acts. The Commission already outsources two types of legal services and the United States government practices extensive outsourcing. This article suggests that with appropriate limitations and controls outsourcing of enforcement litigation …