Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 87

Full-Text Articles in Law

Severity Under Scrutiny: The U.S. Supreme Court Battle Over The Fbar Penalty, Beckett Cantley, Geoffrey Dietrich Jul 2023

Severity Under Scrutiny: The U.S. Supreme Court Battle Over The Fbar Penalty, Beckett Cantley, Geoffrey Dietrich

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

In recent years, Congress strengthened federal regulation of foreign bank accounts held by United States citizens. In 1970, Congress passed the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), requiring U.S. citizens to report their foreign bank accounts using a form called the Foreign Bank Account Report, or “FBAR.” However, the Treasury Department rarely enforced this requirement. After the Patriot Act’s passage came the Bank Secrecy Act 2004 amendment, allowing the Treasury Department to delegate enforcement of U.S. foreign bank account reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the FBAR. The amendment’s major change to the law concerned new penalties for non-willful FBAR …


Reduce Income Inequality: Allow Retail Investors To Invest In Private Equity, Michael Slomovics Jan 2022

Reduce Income Inequality: Allow Retail Investors To Invest In Private Equity, Michael Slomovics

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This Article will focus on the topic of opening the private equity markets to individual retail investors. Permitting retail investors to invest in private equity would allow investors to reduce the risks of their portfolio while retaining or even increasing their returns, which can make the middle-class investor better off. Additionally, the money that will flow into private equity will allow private equity firms to continue improving American businesses, which will allow American companies to grow and better compete in the international stage. Thus, allowing retail investors to invest in private equity can both help middle class Americans while bolstering …


How The Subprime Mortgage Crisis Sparked New Legislation And Changed The Way Millennials Purchase Real Estate, Troy T. Kramer Jan 2022

How The Subprime Mortgage Crisis Sparked New Legislation And Changed The Way Millennials Purchase Real Estate, Troy T. Kramer

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This article will explore the Generation Y's approach to the real estate market and analyze how the Subprime Mortgage Crisis stunted Millennials’ economic development. It also analyzes what ways legislation has changed and government has influenced the economy since 2008 to prevent another free fall of the global economy and to protect consumers from predatory lending practices and under-regulation of the financial sector. Further, this article will analyze how Millennials differ from previous generations in their method of purchasing homes and investing in real estate—with a specific eye towards advances in technology. This article also gives advice to first-time homebuyers …


Innovation Meets Regulation: Firrma’S Significance, The Treasury’S Dilemma, And The New Normal For Foreign Investment In The U.S. Venture Capital Ecosystem, Jonathan Aaron Horn Aug 2021

Innovation Meets Regulation: Firrma’S Significance, The Treasury’S Dilemma, And The New Normal For Foreign Investment In The U.S. Venture Capital Ecosystem, Jonathan Aaron Horn

Pepperdine Law Review

One of the most powerful entities in the federal government is the little-known Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is responsible for reviewing foreign investment transactions with U.S. businesses for potential national security threats. Originally, CFIUS was only able to review foreign investments that resulted in control of the U.S. company at issue, but the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) has significantly enhanced CFIUS’s scope to include review of minority investments. This Comment explores FIRRMA’s impact on foreign investment into the U.S. venture capital (VC) ecosystem and evaluates the uncertainty created for startups and …


Proving Equal Access To Capital In The Age Of The Startup: The Case For Federal Pre-Emption Of State Blue-Sky Laws, Gerry Griffith May 2020

Proving Equal Access To Capital In The Age Of The Startup: The Case For Federal Pre-Emption Of State Blue-Sky Laws, Gerry Griffith

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Section I of this comment examines the global opportunities available to startups in the digital economy and how startups’ capital demands evolved in the new era of business. Section II analyzes the differences between merit-based securities regulation existing at the state level and disclosure-based regulation, which is the federal regulatory scheme. This Section provides an overview of the three most common methods of restricted securities registration at the state level. Section III examines the development of blue sky laws and the role states originally played in protecting investors. This Section further explores the evolving relationship between state and federal securities …


Compelling Parties To Mediate Investor-State Disputes: No Pressure, No Diamonds?, James M. Claxton Apr 2020

Compelling Parties To Mediate Investor-State Disputes: No Pressure, No Diamonds?, James M. Claxton

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

There was nothing preordained about arbitration becoming shorthand for investor-state dispute settlement. The ICSID system was built on the assumption that disputing parties would choose conciliation to settle their disputes. Those expectations went unrealized as arbitration rose to prominence, and since that time institutions, parties, and academics have observed that facilitated negotiation could play a greater role in resolving investor-state disputes. A number of domestic court systems have made mediation part of the fabric of dispute resolution through incentives and compulsions to mediate. Drawing on this experience, this manuscript considers how obstacles to the uptake of investor-state mediation might be …


No Money, Mo’ Problems: The Attitudes And Experiences Of Homeowners In Default, Tracy Douglas Apr 2020

No Money, Mo’ Problems: The Attitudes And Experiences Of Homeowners In Default, Tracy Douglas

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article discusses differences in foreclosure law, consumer protection, and mediation programs. Then, it will summarize relevant research on the topic of homeowners’ attitudes, financial knowledge, economic hardships, causes of default, and effectiveness of representation. Next, this article will outline the study’s design and methodology followed by the results from the data produced by the study. Then, the results will be analyzed. Finally, policy recommendations and reforms supported by the study’s evidence will be discussed.


O Tell Me The Truth About Bail-In: Theory And Practice, Marco Ventoruzzo, Giulio Sandrelli Jan 2020

O Tell Me The Truth About Bail-In: Theory And Practice, Marco Ventoruzzo, Giulio Sandrelli

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

In this perspective, the purpose of this Article is to analyze the functioning of the European regulatory framework for the crisis of credit institutions in the light of its early applications, and with a special focus on the bail-in tool. We investigate how the new resolution mechanisms—rooted in the principle of private sector involvement in banking restructurings—have interplayed with (and tried to re-shape) legal and institutional contexts still characterized by an attitude to bail-out rescues and by non-harmonized national insolvency legislations.


Drawing The Line: Can Lawyers Invest In Their Client's Business Without Crossing An Ethical Line?, Ali Ghassemi Jan 2020

Drawing The Line: Can Lawyers Invest In Their Client's Business Without Crossing An Ethical Line?, Ali Ghassemi

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

I will begin with a look inside the history of entrepreneurship and its rise and decline throughout various times in our country’s history. I will then shift the focus towards the history of startup companies and what the modern trend is today in startups. After laying the foundation for startups, I will look into the complexities of creating a startup company and looking at the role that attorneys play in the lifetime of startups. From there, I will dive into the history and trend of lawyers who have invested in their client’s companies - through direct investment or bartering by …


Crashing The Boards: A Comparative Analysis Of The Boxing Out Of Women On Boards In The United States And Canada, Diana C. Nicholls Mutter Oct 2019

Crashing The Boards: A Comparative Analysis Of The Boxing Out Of Women On Boards In The United States And Canada, Diana C. Nicholls Mutter

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This paper will first provide a critical, comparative look at the Canadian and the federal American responses to the under-representation of women on boards of large, publicly traded corporations. There will be a discussion about the competing conceptions which emerge in addressing the regulation of women on boards in the United States and Canada and why each jurisdiction implemented its policy when it did. The conceptions arising out of questions about under-representation of women on boards tend to fall within two categories: business case rationales and normative rationales. Given the competing conceptions of this issue, this paper will attempt to …


Direct Listing: How Spotify Is Streaming On The Nyse And Why The Sec Should Press Play, Cody L. Lipke Oct 2019

Direct Listing: How Spotify Is Streaming On The Nyse And Why The Sec Should Press Play, Cody L. Lipke

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This Note proposes that given Spotify’s successful launch on the NYSE, direct listings will become increasingly popular—primarily for start-ups but also as an exit strategy for VC and PE firms in their nonpublic investments. Part II of this Note will discuss the process of “going public” via an IPO or a direct listing. Part III will use Spotify as an illustrative example of the direct listing process. Part IV will consider the advantages and disadvantages of direct listing. Part V will conclude that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) should embrace the direct listing process and will …


Marijuana’S Continuing Illegality And Investors’ Securities Fraud Problem: The Doctrines Of Unclean Hands And In Pari Delicto, Casey W. Baker Oct 2019

Marijuana’S Continuing Illegality And Investors’ Securities Fraud Problem: The Doctrines Of Unclean Hands And In Pari Delicto, Casey W. Baker

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Marijuana-related businesses have blossomed into an industry with an estimated total market value of $7.2 billion in 2016, with annual growth projected at 17%. Industry surveys report that 62% of marijuana-related businesses have offered equity stakes to investors and approximately one-half of marijuana-related businesses planned to actively seek investment funding in 2017. Along with the investment opportunity comes heightened fraud risk, with regulators cautioning investors against investment due to the lack of accurate and publicly-available information. Also, despite state-level decriminalization, marijuana possession, sale, and distribution continues to be a crime under federal law. The criminal nature of the marijuana industry …


Behavioural Economics And The Non-Frustration Rule: Accounting For Bias, Matthew Cole Oct 2019

Behavioural Economics And The Non-Frustration Rule: Accounting For Bias, Matthew Cole

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The purpose of this paper is to argue how reforming the UK takeover and merger rules can lead to greater long-term investment by UK firms, while causing commensurate growth in productivity without hindering overseas investment or entrenching inefficient management.


Securities Treatment Of Tokenized Offerings Under U.S. Law, Carol Goforth Jun 2019

Securities Treatment Of Tokenized Offerings Under U.S. Law, Carol Goforth

Pepperdine Law Review

This article considers how the SEC currently approaches the question of regulating cryptoassets and ICOs. It includes a brief overview and history of cryptotransactions (including problems of terminology), and then looks at the current crypto space to consider the kinds of interests being promoted today in comparison to Bitcoin and the original altcoins. It then examines the traditional approach taken by the SEC with regard to these interests and explains briefly the kinds of compliant offerings that are currently possible. It then covers the range of reasons why a specialized regulatory approach is called for, rather than simply relying on …


Consenting To Counterclaims Under The Icsid Convention, Harshad Pathak May 2019

Consenting To Counterclaims Under The Icsid Convention, Harshad Pathak

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Counterclaims in investment treaty arbitration hold immense significance. Counterclaims have the potential to nullify biases and bolster the confidence of States in investment treaty arbitration. That being said, the multitude of jurisdictional hurdles faced by counterclaims under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) risk dampening the aforementioned potential. It is two of these hurdles emanating from the consensual nature of arbitration that I address herein. Part II of this article commences by analyzing the provisions of the ICSID Convention to derive the prerequisites of a valid counterclaim in investment …


The Promised Land Is On The Horizon: The Fix Crowdfunding Act Will Implement Small Changes That Could Make A Big Impact On Investors And Businesses Alike, Michaela Smith Dec 2018

The Promised Land Is On The Horizon: The Fix Crowdfunding Act Will Implement Small Changes That Could Make A Big Impact On Investors And Businesses Alike, Michaela Smith

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.


Implementing A Portable Reciprocity Passport To Crowdfund Real Estate Across Borders, Raymond Tran Dec 2018

Implementing A Portable Reciprocity Passport To Crowdfund Real Estate Across Borders, Raymond Tran

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.


Failed Anti-Activist Legislation: The Curious Case Of The Brokaw Act, Alon Brav, J.B. Heaton, Jonathan Zandberg Dec 2018

Failed Anti-Activist Legislation: The Curious Case Of The Brokaw Act, Alon Brav, J.B. Heaton, Jonathan Zandberg

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The Brokaw Act was proposed legislation aimed at “financial abuses being carried out by activist hedge funds who promote short-term gains at the expense of long-term growth . . . .” Sponsoring Senators named it after a small town in Wisconsin that, according to the Act’s sponsors, was decimated by the actions of a hedge fund activist in shutting down the local paper mill with a loss of hundreds of jobs. The Brokaw Act represented the first attempt at federal legislation aimed at restricting hedge fund activism. Since then, new and similar bipartisan proposals have appeared as have threats of …


Recent Developments Concerning The Purchase Of Consumer Debt; Defining Potential Problems And Proposals For Suggested Solutions, Gerald A. Williams Dec 2018

Recent Developments Concerning The Purchase Of Consumer Debt; Defining Potential Problems And Proposals For Suggested Solutions, Gerald A. Williams

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.


Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg May 2018

Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper argues that the current criticisms of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) are ill-informed, and attempts at reforming the system are misguided. The definition of ISDS itself has been, for a long time, limited to investment quasi-judicial bodies or at best arbitration. Analysis of the roots of the ever growing backlash reveals that the main causes for concern are politically negotiated investment treaties, an inherently biased system, lack of transparency, and inconsistent decision-making. Examination of the core reasons behind these complaints leads to the conclusion that the EU Commission’s solution to reform ISDS through a permanent court raises more issues …


The Cyprus Banking Haircut And Human Rights, The Way To Go?, Venetia Argyropoulou May 2018

The Cyprus Banking Haircut And Human Rights, The Way To Go?, Venetia Argyropoulou

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The Cyprus Banking Haircut of 2013 (Cyprus Haircut or Haircut) was unprecedented and had devastating implications for investors. However, more than four years after the Cyprus Haircut of 2013, account holders and shareholders in Cyprus’ two largest banks at the time—Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank—still do not have any available recourse for their losses. Indeed, despite account holders having resorted to national courts in the Republic of Cyprus, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and international tribunals, such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Despite making human rights’ claims in all …


The European Aspects Of Global Financial Developments, Virag Ilona Blazsek Mar 2018

The European Aspects Of Global Financial Developments, Virag Ilona Blazsek

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

What is the position of Europe—and specifically the European Union (EU)—on the world map of global finances in 2017? This comment seeks to answer this question by focusing on three key issues. First, it analyzes Europe’s post-2008 bank bailouts, its sector-wide rescue packages, and its consequential sovereign-debt crisis. Second, it considers the role of the international credit rating agencies and asks why Europe does not have a large rating agency of its own. Third, it assesses the EU’s major recent regulatory developments related to the financial sector. There is no doubt that Europe is in a sustained economic and political …


Convergence And Divergence Between International Investments Law And Human Rights Law, In The Context Of The Greek Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Venetia Argyropoulou Mar 2018

Convergence And Divergence Between International Investments Law And Human Rights Law, In The Context Of The Greek Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Venetia Argyropoulou

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

International investment law developed separately from and was, for a long period, perceived as incompatible with human rights law. Despite the tendency to distinguish the evolution of these two fields of international law, however, they are not completely dissimilar. Inter alia, they both aim to safeguard investors’ rights to property, to promote respect for due process, and to address the undisputed position of power of the state against the individual. In situations of sovereign default, the asymmetry between the powers of the state and the rights of investors is even more clearly demonstrated, even within the European Union. Indeed, although …


The Path Towards Defining “Investment” In Icsid Investor-State Arbitrations: The Open-Ended Approach, Melissa María Valdez García Jan 2018

The Path Towards Defining “Investment” In Icsid Investor-State Arbitrations: The Open-Ended Approach, Melissa María Valdez García

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Article 25 of the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes left the notion of “investment” intentionally undefined, thus leaving its interpretation in the hands of arbitration tribunals, which has led to inconsistencies, confusion and debate regarding the true essence of what may appear as a routine concept. This article tries to explain that the proper meaning of “investment” under the Convention must be clarified not only by discussing the drafting history of the Convention, but by also examining doctrinal tendencies, key aspects of corresponding arbitration awards and customary international law and argues that arbitration tribunals should show strong …


To Be Creditor Or To Be Shareholder, That Is The Question: Is The Debt-For-Equity Swap Creditors’ Financial Suicide?, Jongho Kim Dec 2017

To Be Creditor Or To Be Shareholder, That Is The Question: Is The Debt-For-Equity Swap Creditors’ Financial Suicide?, Jongho Kim

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This Article deals with debt-for-equity swap-related issues in Korean corporate restructuring procedures. Debt-for-equity swaps were widely employed during the Latin American foreign debt restructuring process, but the Korean case is slightly different. Because the creditors of reorganizing corporations are mainly Korean domestic financial institutions rather than foreign creditors, this type of financial scheme is applied under local law. The following examines the legal aspects of debt-for-equity swaps, which have been promoted as a way to eliminate excessive insolvent loans and financial debts (and stood in the way of restructuring, via IMF bail-out funds). It also discusses how a debt-for-equity swap …


Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg Oct 2017

Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reconceptionalized: Regulation Of Disputes, Standards And Mediation, M. R. Dahlan, Wolf Von Kumberg

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper argues that the current criticisms of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) are ill-informed, and attempts at reforming the system are misguided. The definition of ISDS itself has been, for a long time, limited to investment quasi-judicial bodies or at best arbitration. Analysis of the roots of the ever growing backlash reveals that the main causes for concern are politically negotiated investment treaties, an inherently biased system, lack of transparency, and inconsistent decision-making. Examination of the core reasons behind these complaints leads to the conclusion that the EU Commission’s solution to reform ISDS through a permanent court raises more issues …


The Government’S Role In Unleashing Impact Investing’S Full Potential, Chelsea Mcgrath Jul 2017

The Government’S Role In Unleashing Impact Investing’S Full Potential, Chelsea Mcgrath

Pepperdine Law Review

Impact investing refers to investments made in organizations, companies, or funds with the intent to generate measurable social or environmental impact along with a financial return. Since its start in 2008, this industry has become a vibrant tool to address a wide variety of local and global issues, resulting in higher standards of living, lower rates of prison recidivism, clean technology and more. Impact investing is no longer a novel concept. Rather, it has successfully pushed the boundaries from the separate methods of conventional investing and philanthropy, blending them together to create sustainable solutions to social and environmental problems. By …


Discretion To Act: How The Federal Reserve's Decisions Whether To Provide Emergency Loans During The Financial Crisis Were Discretionary And Why Dodd-Frank Falls Short Of Preventing Future Bailouts, John De Vito Jul 2017

Discretion To Act: How The Federal Reserve's Decisions Whether To Provide Emergency Loans During The Financial Crisis Were Discretionary And Why Dodd-Frank Falls Short Of Preventing Future Bailouts, John De Vito

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The housing market crash of 2007–2008 threatened to cause the collapse of the United States and global economies. By early 2008, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group all faced the strong possibility of bankruptcy absent government intervention. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors activated its emergency lending powers pursuant to Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act to “bail out” Bear Stearns and American International Group, but elected to let Lehman Brothers fail. Lehman’s bankruptcy led to a run on money market mutual funds, made it impossible for corporations to raise capital, led to widespread layoffs across economic …


The Perfect Storm Is Brewing Once Again: What Scaling Back Dodd-Frank Will Mean For The Credit Default Swap, Daniel Isaacson Jul 2017

The Perfect Storm Is Brewing Once Again: What Scaling Back Dodd-Frank Will Mean For The Credit Default Swap, Daniel Isaacson

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The current presidential administration has expressed a concerted desire to “scale back” and even “get rid of” the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd–Frank). Focusing specifically on Dodd–Frank’s regulation of the credit default swap (CDS), this Article explores two timely queries. First, whether Dodd–Frank’s regulatory response to these financial instruments is a justifiable one, and second, what effect a repeal may have. This Article will show that the “perfect storm” CDS—which contributed so significantly to the 2007–2010 financial crisis—flourished in a regulatory environment that contained two key weaknesses: (1) few restrictions on excessive speculation; and (2) the …


Online Lenders Shouldn't Get Mad Over Madden, Benjamin Lo Jun 2017

Online Lenders Shouldn't Get Mad Over Madden, Benjamin Lo

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The Second Circuit’s surprising decision in Madden v. Midland Funding caused consternation within the financial services industry. There, the Madden Court held that the National Bank Act’s pre-emption of state usury law did not apply to consumer debt sold by banks to third parties. Under the Second Circuit’s ruling, third-party buyers could not be certain of loan values, potentially making consumer finance markets less liquid. This decision immediately sparked concerns from the alternative finance industry, which worried that the secondary market for consumer debt would dry up and reduce consumer credit availability. It also alarmed financial technology startups such as …