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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Securities Law
Keep Securities Reform Moving: Eliminate The Sec's Integration Doctrine, Stuart R. Cohn
Keep Securities Reform Moving: Eliminate The Sec's Integration Doctrine, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
Small and developing companies raising capital under the federal securities laws often face the considerable barrier imposed by the SEC's integration doctrine. Despite recent reforms in registration exemptions the integration doctrine has remained untouched and continues to be a significant problem for many companies needing multiple infusions of capital. This article examines and recommends that the integration doctrine be eliminated nearly in its entirety.
Tender Offers And The Sale Of Control: An Analogue To Determine The Validity Of Target Management Defense Measures, Stuart R. Cohn
Tender Offers And The Sale Of Control: An Analogue To Determine The Validity Of Target Management Defense Measures, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
The hostile tender offer phenomenon has spawned wholesale defensive measures adopted by target company management. In recent years, confrontations like those of Occidental Petroleum-Mead Corporation and American Express-McGraw-Hill have resulted in target management causing the eventual withdrawal of the tender offer by employing a variety of defensive measures known colloquially as “scorched earth” tactics. The “urge to merge” among major corporations will continue to produce unsolicited, nonnegotiated tender offers at varying scales of size. Consequently, strategies and techniques have been created at a pace faster than the process of litigation, causing a discernible lag between the ingenuity of corporate management …
Stock Appreciation Rights And The Sec: A Case Of Questionable Rulemaking, Stuart R. Cohn
Stock Appreciation Rights And The Sec: A Case Of Questionable Rulemaking, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
A stock appreciation rights (SARs) program is a form of deferred incentive compensation. Grantees are awarded SAR-units representing an equal number of the grantor’s equity shares currently being traded in public markets. SARs provide grantees the benefit of stock ownership without equity interest, investment, or risk of loss. Stock appreciation rights programs offer various advantages over other forms of executive compensation and have grown rapidly in number. These advantages include the availability of benefits without the requirement of monetary payments, the utilization of SARs as an interest-free form of financing the purchase of stock under tandem stock option programs, the …
Securities Markets For Small Issuers: The Barrier Of Federal Solicitation And Advertising Prohibitions, Stuart R. Cohn
Securities Markets For Small Issuers: The Barrier Of Federal Solicitation And Advertising Prohibitions, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
How can small issuers find potential investors and stay within the confines of federal securities laws? That is a perplexing question given the very strong prohibitions against advertising and solicitation found in SEC rules and no-action letters. What the registration exemptions purport to give with one hand, i.e. ability to raise capital without the cost and delay of registration, the anti-solicitation rules take away with the other. These rules need to be lifted or modified if small businesses are to have a viable opportunity to seek potential investors.
Demise Of The Director's Duty Of Care: Judicial Avoidance Of Standards And Sanctions Through The Business Judgment Rule, Stuart R. Cohn
Demise Of The Director's Duty Of Care: Judicial Avoidance Of Standards And Sanctions Through The Business Judgment Rule, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
Courts love the so-called business judgment rule. It dispenses quickly and easily with derivative actions against corporate directors and officers, and other challenges to corporate conduct. Unfortunately, the business judgment rule has come to mask its underlying premise, i.e. that there must have been a business judgment made. This article examines the dominance of the business judgment rule over the underlying requirement of the duty of care and suggests reform measures that will bring the duty of care back to its appropriate role in determining the merits of management decision-making processes.
The Impact Of Securities Laws On Developing Companies: Would The Wright Brothers Have Gotten Off The Ground?, Stuart R. Cohn
The Impact Of Securities Laws On Developing Companies: Would The Wright Brothers Have Gotten Off The Ground?, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
Suppose the Wright brothers, to pursue their dreams of manned flight, needed outside financing. Confronted with the intimidating regulatory requirements of today 's state and federal securities laws, would they ever have gotten off the ground? With historical illustrations, this Essay presents an entertaining look at the serious problems that would be encountered today by entrepreneurs who have ideas but need capital to develop them. It analyzes the regulatory maze and prohibitions of state and federal securities laws and concludes that, in today's marketplace, the Wright brothers probably would have violated several laws to obtain essential financing for their venture.
Capital Offense: The Sec's Continuing Failure To Address Small Business Financing Concerns, Stuart R. Cohn, Gregory C. Yadley
Capital Offense: The Sec's Continuing Failure To Address Small Business Financing Concerns, Stuart R. Cohn, Gregory C. Yadley
Stuart R. Cohn
Despite years of criticism from small business advocates, the Securities and Exchange Commission has made little effort to ameliorate the severe burdens on small companies seeking to raise capital in compliance with the Securities Act of 1933 and SEC regulations. Substantial SEC attention has been given in recent years to improving the capacity of large, publicly-held companies to market securities, but smaller companies have suffered from less-than-benign neglect. Responding to this concern, the SEC recently adopted several proposals, and has others pending, aimed at small business financing. These proposals and adoptions, while modestly helpful, fall far short of addressing the …
The Sitting Ducks Of Securities Class Action Litigation: Bio-Pharmas And The Need For Improved Evaluation Of Scientific Data, Stuart R. Cohn, Erin M. Swick
The Sitting Ducks Of Securities Class Action Litigation: Bio-Pharmas And The Need For Improved Evaluation Of Scientific Data, Stuart R. Cohn, Erin M. Swick
Stuart R. Cohn
Rule 10b-5, a powerful weapon against any publicly-listed company whose share price drops on adverse news, is particularly skewed against pharmaceutical and other bio-technology companies (bio-pharmas). It is not a coincidence that there is a disproportionate number of class actions filed against bio-pharmas. The volume and complexity of data underlying most bio-pharma cases create enormous outcome uncertainties, settlement pressures, and potentially huge contingent liabilities over substantial periods of time. The vulnerability and risks that bio-pharmas face in Rule 10b-5 class actions are unique among all publicly-traded industries, yet many cases proceed along traditional grounds without courts employing either their statutory …
The New Crowdfunding Registration Exemption: Good Idea, Bad Execution, Stuart R. Cohn
The New Crowdfunding Registration Exemption: Good Idea, Bad Execution, Stuart R. Cohn
Stuart R. Cohn
Title III of the JOBS Act, signed by President Obama on April 5, 2012, sets forth a new exemption from federal and state securities registration for so-called “crowdfunding” promotions. Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular form of raising capital through broad-based internet solicitation of donors. Many promotions simply seek charitable or other donations. But the lure of raising funds through the internet has also led to promotions for potentially profitable ventures that offer an economic return to donors. These efforts invoke the federal and state securities laws, as there are no de minimis standards protecting even the smallest of offerings. Registration …