Law Commons^™

Financial Assistance - The Case For Re-Examining Section 76 Of The Companies Act, Wai Yee Wan

Wai Yee WAN

Section 76 of the Companies Act prohibits the giving by a company of financial assistance for the purpose of or in connection with the acquisition of its own shares. This penal provision is highly controversial in view of its breadth and uncertainty in its application. In the recent criminal prosecution of PP v Lew Syn Pau and in the recent civil litigation of Wu Yang Construction Group v Zhejiang Jinyi Group Co, Ltd, the Singapore High Court had to determine the scope of the prohibition under s 76 of the Companies Act. This case comment examines the two Singapore decisions …

The Gratuities Debate And Campaign Reform – How Strong Is The Link?, George D. Brown

George D. Brown

The federal gratuities statute, 18 USC § 201(c), continues to be a source of confusion and contention. The confusion stems largely from problems of draftsmanship within the statute, as well as uncertainty concerning the relationship of the gratuities offense to bribery. Both offenses are contained in the same statute; the former is often seen as a lesser-included offense variety of the latter. The controversy stems from broader concerns about whether the receipt of gratuities by public officials, even from those they regulate, should be a crime. The argument that such conduct should not be criminalized can be traced to, and …

Back To Basics: Why Financial Regulatory Overhaul Is Overrated, Renee M. Jones

Renee Jones

No abstract provided.

A Bridle, A Prod And A Big Stick: An Evaluation Of Class Actions, Shareholder Proposals And The Ultra Vires Doctrine As Methods For Controlling Corporate Behavior, Adam Sulkowski, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

Written for the recent conference at St. John’s University Law School on “People of Color, Women, and the Public Corporation,” this paper evaluates recently applied methods of influencing corporate behavior on employment practices and recommends that a dormant legal doctrine be revitalized and added to the “tool box” of activists and concerned shareholders. The methods of influencing corporate behavior that are evaluated include class action lawsuits and shareholder proposals to amend corporate policy. In both contexts, there are procedural hurdles to achieving success. Even when success is achieved, there are limits to the actual changes in organizational behavior that result. …

Mastering Securities Lending Documentation: A Practical Guide To The Main European And Us Master Securities Lending Agreements, Christian Johnson, Paul Harding

Christian A. Johnson

The Hedge Fund Explosion: Is The Bang Worth The Buck?, Arindam Bandopadhyaya, James L. Grant

James L. Grant

Any casual following of the financial news would reveal that hedge funds have experienced phenomenal growth, especially over the last fifteen years. In terms of numbers, there were an estimated 8000 hedge funds in 2005, up from only 500 in 1990. During this fifteen-year period assets under management have grown from an estimated $50 billion to $1.5 trillion. Moreover, the hedgefund industry has spawned a “fund of funds” business, which has slowly become the preferred way of investing in hedge funds, especially for institutional investors. Today, the number of these combination funds is estimated at about 4000. Until recently, hedge …

Resolving Large, Complex Financial Firms, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Mark Greenlee, James Thomson

James B Thomson

How to best manage the failure of systemically important fi nancial fi rms was the theme of a recent conference at which the latest research on the issue was presented. Here we summarize that research, the discussions that it sparked, and the areas where considerable work remains.

How Well Does Bankruptcy Work When Large Financial Firms Fail? Some Lessons From Lehman Brothers, Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Thomson

James B Thomson

There is disagreement about whether large and complex financial institutions should be allowed to use U.S. bankruptcy law to reorganize when they get into financial difficulty. We look at the Lehman example for lessons about whether bankruptcy law might be a better alternative to bailouts or to resolution under the Dodd-Frank Act’s orderly liquidation authority. We find that there is no clear evidence that bankruptcy law is insufficient to handle the resolution of large complex financial firms.

Restoring The Natural Law: Copyright As Labor And Possession, Alfred C. Yen

Alfred C. Yen

In this Article, Professor Yen explores the problems associated with viewing copyright solely as a tool for achieving economic efficiency and advocates for the restoration of natural law to copyright jurisprudence. The Article demonstrates that economics has not been solely responsible for copyright’s development and basic structure, but has rather developed along lines suggested by neutral law, despite modern copyright jurisprudence. The Article considers the consequences of extinguishing copyright’s natural law facets in favor of the blind pursuit of efficiency and concludes by exploring the implications of restoring natural law thinking to copyright jurisprudence.

Negotiability, Property, And Identity, James S. Rogers

James S. Rogers

In this Article, Professor Rogers challenges the assumption that securities transfer law has always been based on negotiable certificates and suggests that the reign of negotiability is a relatively recent, and brief, phase in the long history of investment securities trading. Professor Rogers posits that the difficulties currently facing the law of securities transfers are in large part due to the transition from paper to electronic representations of investments. To place these challenges into perspective, Professor Rogers first surveys the history of securities trading and then examines the theoretical underpinnings of the law of securities transfers.

Policy Perspectives On Revised U.C.C. Article 8, James S. Rogers

James S. Rogers

No abstract provided.

Negotiability As A System Of Title Recognition, James S. Rogers

James S. Rogers

No abstract provided.

The Irrelevance Of Negotiable Instruments Concepts In The Law Of The Check-Based Payment System, James S. Rogers

James S. Rogers

No abstract provided.

Unification Of Payments Law And The Problem Of Insolvency Risk In Payment Systems, James S. Rogers

James S. Rogers

No abstract provided.

Humanizing The Financial Architecture Of Globalization: A Tribute To The Work Of Cynthia Lichtenstein , Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

This Tribute reviews the many contributions by Cynthia Lichtenstein to the literature on international financial markets. When viewed as a whole, Professor Lichtenstein's work suggests that the globalization of the monetary system offers new opportunities for increased human welfare, but only if state and international regulators combine technical expertise with a genuine understanding of the human effects of global markets, much as Professor Lichtenstein does in her own work.

Justice, The Bretton Woods Institutions And The Problem Of Inequality, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

The Bretton Woods Institutions are, together with the WTO, the preeminent international institutions devoted to managing international economic relations. This mandate puts them squarely in the center of the debate concerning development, inequality and global justice. While the normative analysis of the WTO is gaining momentum, the systematic normative evaluation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund is comparatively less developed. This essay aims to contribute to that nascent inquiry. How might global justice criteria apply to the ideology and operations of the Bank and Fund? Political theory offers an abundance of perspectives from which to conduct such …

Introduction -- The Trade Linkage Phenomenon: Pointing The Way To The Trade Law And Global Social Policy Of The 21st Century, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

Multilateral Development Banks, Environmental Diseconomies, And International Reform Pressures On The Lending Process: The Example Of Third World Dam-Building Projects, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Zygmunt J.B. Plater

No abstract provided.

Who Is Making International Tax Policy? International Organizations As Power Players In A High Stakes World, Diane M. Ring

Diane M. Ring

Who makes international tax policy in today’s world? Certainly no single body possesses that power - there is no global tax authority, and states are not capable of achieving all of their international tax policy goals on a unilateral basis. The development of international tax policy is an interactive and dynamic process that involves a wide range of players, most of whom can be characterized as international organizations. Their roles, goals, tools and influence vary by organization and by issue, but their net impact on tax policy is undeniable. If we are to better understand how tax policy is formed, …

Keynote Address, Andrew Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

Recuperação De Empresas Viáveis Em Dificuldades: Prevenção E Preservação De Valor [Restructuring Distressed Viable Business Entities: Prevention And Value Preservation], Bruno Ferreira

Bruno Ferreira

No abstract provided.

The Shadow Banking System And Its Legal Origins, Erik F. Gerding

Erik F. Gerding

The global financial crisis cannot be understood without closely analyzing the development and the failure of the shadow banking system. Shadow banking, in turn, cannot be understood without examining how law shaped it. This article provides a definition of the shadow banking system and describes the critical role law and legal change played in shaping it.

The shadow banking system describes a web of financial instruments (asset-backed securities, credit derivatives, money market mutual funds, repurchase agreements) that connected commercial and household borrowers to investors in capital markets. This system differs, however, from traditional bond markets and is marked by six …

Spatial Competition, Network Externalities, And Market Structure: An Application To Commercial Banking, Prasad Krishnamurthy

Prasad Krishnamurthy

I develop a model of spatial competition between multi-branch firms in which consumers value the price of services, spatial proximity to their home branch, and the number of other branches in the firm's network. The model delivers within and across market predictions on the pattern and density of branching, the relationship of concentration to market size, the price-concentration relationship, and price dispersion. I consider the applicability of this model to the commercial banking market for retail deposits. I test the model's predictions by utilizing variation in the timing and extent of within-state branching restrictions on banks and bank holding companies …

Culture Clash? The Miller & Modigliani Propositions Meet The United States Court Of Federal Claims, Rodger D. Citron

Rodger Citron

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Ofcs, Andrew Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of Title Vii Of The Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act. Hearing Before The United States Senate, Committee On Agriculture, Nutrition And Forestry - 112th Cong., 1st Sess., Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

The Relationship of Unregulated OTC Derivatives to the Meltdown. It is now accepted wisdom that it was the non-transparent, poorly capitalized, and almost wholly unregulated over-the-counter (―OTC‖) derivatives market that lit the fuse that exploded the highly vulnerable worldwide economy in the fall of 2008. Because tens of trillions of dollars of these financial products were pegged to the economic performance of an overheated and highly inflated housing market, the sudden collapse of that market triggered under-capitalized or non-capitalized OTC derivative guarantees of the subprime housing investments. Moreover, the many undercapitalized insurers of that collapsing market had other multi-trillion dollar …

Activist Distressed Debtholders: The New Barbarians At The Gate?, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

The term “corporate raiders” previously struck fear in the hearts of corporate boards and management teams. It generally refers to investors who target undervalued, cash-flush or mismanaged companies and initiate a hostile takeover of the company. Corporate raiders earned their name in part because of their focus on value extraction, which could entail dismantling a company and selling off its crown jewels. Today, the term often conjures up images of Michael Milken, Henry Kravis or the movie character Gordon Gekko, but the alleged threat posed to companies by corporate raiders is less prevalent—at least with respect to the traditional use …

Overwhelming A Financial Regulatory Black Hole With Legislative Sunlight: Dodd-Frank’S Attack On Systemic Economic Destabilization Caused By An Unregulated Multi-Trillion Dollar Derivatives Market, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

It is now accepted wisdom that it was the non-transparent, poorly capitalized and almost wholly unregulated over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives market that lit the fuse that exploded the highly vulnerable worldwide economy in the fall of 2008.[1] Because tens of trillions of dollars of these financial products were pegged to the economic performance of an overheated and highly inflated housing market, the sudden collapse of that market triggered under-capitalized OTC derivative guarantees of the subprime housing market; and the guarantors’ multi-trillion dollar interconnectedness with thousands of other OTC derivatives’ counterparties within that OTC market (through interest rate, currency, foreign exchange, and …

Testimony Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Committee On Agriculture - “Potential Excessive Speculation In Commodity Markets: The Impact Of Proposed Legislation", Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture. 110th Congress, 2nd Session (July 10-11, 2008).

Testimony Before The U.S. House Of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee On Agriculture, Rural Development. Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies, Regarding The “Commodity Futures Trading Commission”, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development. Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulatory efforts Pertaining to excessive speculation within U.S. energy futures markets in general, and futures based on U.S. delivered crude oil contracts.