Law Commons^™

Money Creation And Bank Clearing, Nadav Orian Peer

Publications

Like many other countries, the U.S. money supply consists primarily of deposits created by private commercial banks. How we understand bank money creation matters enormously. We are currently witnessing a debate between two competing understandings. On the one hand, a long-standing conventional view argues that bank money creation originates in individual market transactions. Based on this understanding, the conventional view narrowly limits the scope of banking regulation to market failure correction. On the other hand, authors in a new legal literature emphasize the public aspects of bank money creation, characterizing it as a “public franchise,” a “public-private partnership,” and part …

How To Regulate Blockchain’S Real-Life Applications: Lessons From The California Blockchain Working Group, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

How should legislators write a law regulating a brand-new technology that they may not yet fully understand? With the advent of blockchain and other advanced computational technologies, this generation of legislators faces more complex questions than their predecessors. Drawing on the author’s experience as a member of California’s Blockchain Work-ing Group, this Article offers guidance to lawmakers, lawyers, and industry leaders seek-ing to draft effective laws regulating real-life applications of blockchain technology. This cutting-edge Article will do two things for its readers: (1) encourage them to be informed participants in conversations relating to federal and state blockchain regulation, and (2) …

Ethical Considerations Of Blockchain: Do We Need A Blockchain Code Of Conduct?, Michele Benedetto Neitz

Publications

As states begin to adopt regulations governing cryptocurrencies and other uses of blockchain technology, it is becoming clear that the libertarian ideal of blockchain was just that – an ideal. There are already examples in which human decision-making has counteracted the immutability of some blockchains. In short, there appears to be a movement toward centralization within this decentralized technology.

Against Regulatory Stimulus, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

With political constraints on fiscal responses and monetary policy confronting the zero lower bound, policymakers may be tempted to turn to financial deregulation as a tool to stimulate economic growth in a recession, a strategy I label “regulatory stimulus.” This article creates a framework for answer two questions: first, whether and when regulatory stimulus is effective in promoting macroeconomic growth, particularly in a severe recession or liquidity trap; and second, if regulatory stimulus is effective, whether it is worth the potential trade-offs in terms of longer-term macroeconomic policy objectives.

Ultimately, I find grounds for skepticism that financial deregulation can effectively …

Public Purpose Finance: The Government's Role As Lender, Nadav Orian Peer

Publications

This Article explores the workings of Public Purpose Finance, and its role within the U.S. political economy. “Public Purpose Finance” (PPF) refers to the broad range of institutions through which the government extends credit to private borrowers in sectors like housing, education, agriculture and small business. At a total of $10 trillion, PPF roughly equals the entire U.S. corporate bond market, and is around one half of the U.S. Gross national debt (2018 figures). The Article begins by surveying and quantifying the scope of PPF. It then demonstrates that PPF enjoys a considerable degree of insulation from the federal budgetary …

Crowdfunding Issuers In The United States, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Startup companies can now legally sell shares of stock, bonds, or other securities to the broad public using equity crowdfunding, a new type of online capital market modeled on Kickstarter and other reward crowdfunding websites. Through equity crowdfunding, entrepreneurs can go directly to the broad public (the “crowd”) for investment, without having to go through the usual (and costly) process of an initial public offering (IPO). Equity crowdfunding thus offers a chance for all entrepreneurs, regardless of their physical location, gender, or anything else, to solicit investors and raise capital.

In 2012, new federal legislation—the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) …

Remutualization, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

Policymakers need to rediscover the organizational form of business entity as a tool of financial regulation. Recent and classic scholarship has produced evidence that financial institutions organized as alternative entity forms – including investment bank partnerships and banks and insurance companies organized as mutual or cooperatives – tend to take less risk, exploit customers/consumer less, or commit less misconduct compared to counterparts organized as investor-owned corporations. This article builds off the work of Hill and Painter on investment banks organized as partnerships, Hansmann on the history and economics of banks and insurance companies organized as mutuals and cooperatives, and other …

Mandatory Disclosure In Primary Markets, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Mandatory disclosure—the idea that companies must be legally required to disclose certain, specified information to public investors—is the first principle of modern securities law. Despite the high costs it imposes, mandatory disclosure has been well defended by legal scholars on two theoretical grounds: ‘Agency costs’ and ‘information underproduction.’ While these two concepts are a good fit for secondary markets (where investors trade securities with one another), this Article shows that they are largely irrelevant in the context of primary markets (where companies offer securities directly to investors). The surprising result is that primary offerings—such as an IPO—may not require mandatory …

Negotiating The Lender Of Last Resort: The 1913 Federal Reserve Act As A Debate Over Credit Distribution, Nadav Orian Peer

Publications

“Lending of last resort” is one of the key powers of central banks. As a lender of last resort, the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) famously supports commercial banks facing distressed liquidity conditions, thereby mitigating destabilizing bank runs. Less famously, lender-of-last-resort powers also influence the distribution of credit among different groups in society and therefore have high stakes for economic inequality. The Fed’s role as a lender of last resort witnessed an unprecedented expansion during the 2007–2009 Crisis when the Fed invoked emergency powers to lend to a new set of borrowers known as “shadow banks”. The decision proved controversial and …

The Future Is Mobile: Financial Inclusion And Technological Innovation In The Emerging World, Eleanor Lumsden

Publications

The digital revolution is in full bloom and technology is being used to solve the world’s most challenging problems, yet traditional banking excludes many of the world’s poorest from taking advantage of the full fruits of the financial system. Especially in developing countries, implementing mobile financial systems can speed financial inclusion and spur economic growth. There is space for regulatory reform that addresses concerns with data security and consumer privacy yet does not stifle innovation. Throughout history, resistance to innovation has generally proved futile, and countries that refuse to change risk missing opportunities.

The Evolution Of Entrepreneurial Finance: A New Typology, J. Brad Bernthal

Publications

There has been an explosion in new types of startup finance instruments. Whereas twenty years ago preferred stock dominated the field, startup companies and investors now use at least eight different instruments—six of which have only become widely used in the last decade. Legal scholars have yet to reflect upon the proliferation of instrument types in the aggregate. Notably missing is a way to organize instruments into a common framework that highlights their similarities and differences.

This Article makes four contributions. First, it catalogues the variety of startup investment forms. I describe novel instruments, such as revenue-based financing, which remain …

The Gatekeepers Of Crowdfunding, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Securities crowdfunding is premised on two core policy goals: inclusivity and efficiency. First, crowdfunding is conceived as an inclusive system where all entrepreneurs are given a chance to pitch their idea to the "crowd." Second, crowdfunding is supposed to be an efficient way to channel funds from public investors to promising startup companies. There is a fundamental tension between these two policy goals, however. A totally inclusive system would ensure that platforms list any and every company that wants to participate. But platforms need to curate and select the companies they list in order to establish a reputation as a …

Who Needs Contracts? Generalized Exchange Within Investment Accelerators, Brad Bernthal

Publications

This Article investigates why an expert volunteers on behalf of startups that participate in a novel type of small venture capital (“VC”) fund known as a mentor-driven investment accelerator (“MDIA”). A MDIA organizes a pool of seasoned individuals – called “mentors” – to help new companies. An obvi- ous organizational strategy would be to contract with mentors. Mentors in- stead voluntarily assist. Legal studies of norm-based exchanges do not explain what this Article calls the “mentorship conundrum”—i.e., the puzzling moti- vation of a mentor to volunteer within otherwise for-profit environments. This Article is the first to bridge the insights of …

Inclusive Crowdfunding, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Securities “crowdfunding” — the sale of unregistered securities over the internet to large numbers of investors, each of whom contributes only a small amount — is a new concept that comes in at least three types: (1) retail crowdfunding under Title III of the federal JOBS Act of 2012; (2) accredited crowdfunding under Title II of the JOBS Act, which is legally restricted to accredited investors; and (3) intrastate crowdfunding under state law. Which of these three types — all at the dawn of their existence — holds the most promise?

Without claiming to finally resolve the issue, this Article …

Investment Accelerators, Brad Bernthal

Publications

This Article documents and explains the legal and extralegal dimensions of Investment Accelerator (IA) systems. Accelerators are a new class of institution that supports entrepreneurs and early stage startups. Investment Accelerators take an ownership stake in companies that participate in an intensive, time-limited program. Interviews reveal the surprising extent to which parties in many Investment Accelerators exchange economic value in the absence of formal agreement. Startups share proprietary information with highly accomplished mentors who, in turn, contribute their time and connections without direct compensation. This under-contracted and informal arrangement raises concerns about opportunism. Data from an original investigation presents a …

The Dialectics Of Bank Capital: Regulation And Regulatory Capital Arbitrage, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

This article outlines the reasons that banks and other financial institutions engage in regulatory capital arbitrage and the techniques they use to do so. Regulatory capital arbitrage describes transactions and structures that firms use to lower the effective regulatory “tax rate” of regulatory capital requirements. To the extent that these regulations force financial institutions to internalize the externalities created by their potential insolvency (including systemic risk externalities), the incentives to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage will persist. Financial institutions employ a range of complex transactions and structures, including securitization, to engage in regulatory capital arbitrage.

The article briefly sketches how …

Inside Safe Assets, Anna Gelpern, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

“Safe assets” is a catch-all term to describe financial contracts that market participants treat as if they were risk-free. These may include government debt, bank deposits, and asset-backed securities, among others. The International Monetary Fund estimated potential safe assets at more than $114 trillion worldwide in 2011, more than seven times the U.S. economic output that year.

To treat any contract as if it were risk-free seems delusional after apparently super-safe public and private debt markets collapsed overnight. Nonetheless, safe asset supply and demand have been invoked to explain shadow banking, financial crises, and prolonged economic stagnation. The economic literature …

Usury And Loan Transfers, Roger Bernhardt, Alex Volkov

Publications

This Article is primarily concerned with the effect of transferring a mortgage loan from its originating loan broker to a group of small investors when that loan was at its inception usurious. However, because the rules applicable to that situation are not confined to mortgage law, we begin with a general explanation of usury rules before dealing with the particular real estate loan transaction mentioned.

The Nonfinancial Returns Of Crowdfunding, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Securities crowdfunding — the sale of unregistered securities to the public over the Internet — has come under attack before it has even begun. Legal scholars in particular have expressed concern that investors will lose any money they invest in crowdfunding companies. Even assuming that this may be true from a purely financial perspective, these critics are missing an important point: Crowdfund investors with negative returns will not simply have lost their money, but rather they will have spent it (at least in part) on nonpecuniary benefits, including entertainment, political expression and community building. These nonfinancial returns of crowdfunding are …

Private And Public Ordering In Safe Asset Markets, Anna Gelpern, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

An influential literature in economics explores the phenomenon of “safe assets” – when participants across financial markets act “as if” certain debt is risk free – as well as its role in the global financial crisis and its implications for post-crisis reform.

We highlight the role of private ordering in constructing safe assets. Private ordering, including contractual devices and transaction structures, contributes to the creation of these debt contracts, to their collective treatment in financial markets as low risk investments, and to the making of deep and liquid markets in them. These contracts and transaction structures also provide a template …

Quarterback By Committee: A Response In Memory Of Dan Markel, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

In Catalyzing Fans, Dan Markel, Michael McCann and Howard Wasserman propose so-called “Fan Action Committees” (“FACs”), whereby fans would crowdfund a sum of money and then spend it to influence the personnel decisions of their favorite teams. This Response — dedicated to the memory of Dan Markel — suggests that an effective FAC could upset a team’s overall hiring and compensation system, thereby risking a downturn in team performance to the detriment of all concerned.

The Digital Shareholder, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Crowdfunding, a new Internet-based securities market, was recently authorized by federal and state law in order to create a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive system of entrepreneurial finance. But will people really send their money to strangers on the Internet in exchange for unregistered securities in speculative startups? Many are doubtful, but this Article looks to first principles and finds reason for optimism.

Well-established theory teaches that all forms of startup finance must confront and overcome three fundamental challenges: uncertainty, information asymmetry, and agency costs. This Article systematically examines this “trio of problems” and potential solutions in the context of crowdfunding. …

Bank Regulation And Securitization: How The Law Improved Transmission Lines Between Real Estate And Banking Crises, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

This essay examines how securitization served as a new coupling rod joining cycles in real estate and banking markets and created a new pathway for financial contagion in the “subprime” financial crisis. Legal changes promoted the growth of securitization and improved this crisis transmission line. The essay examines the history of legislative and regulatory changes that facilitated bank participation in the markets for mortgage-backed securities. The essay then explains how securitization failed to mitigate the credit, liquidity, and interest rate risk associated with real estate when losses in residential markets became correlated nationwide. It then discusses how regulation contributed to …

Teenage Crowdfunding, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Teenage startups are in the public interest and should be encouraged, yet the federal CARD Act of 2009 eliminated credit card financing for many such companies, cutting off an important source of early-stage business capital for teenage entrepreneurs. Since then, however, Congress passed the CROWDFUND Act of 2012 which will allow teenagers to raise early-stage financing through Internet crowdfunding. Teens, being masters of the Internet, are well positioned to exploit this new opportunity, with the upshot being that securities crowdfunding may become an important way for youthful entrepreneurs to fund their business dreams.

Crowdfunding Securities, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

A new federal statute authorizes the online "crowdfunding" of securities, a new idea based on the concept of "reward" crowdfunding practiced on Kickstarter and other websites. This method of selling securities had previously been banned by federal securities law but the new CROWDFUND Act overturns that prohibition.

This Article introduces the CROWDFUND Act and explains that it can be expected to have two primary effects on securities law and capital markets. First, it will liberate startup companies to use peer networks and the Internet to obtain modest amounts of capital at low cost. Second, it will help democratize the market …

Keep It Light, Chairman White: Sec Rulemaking Under The Crowdfund Act, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Title III of the JOBS Act, known as the CROWDFUND Act, authorizes the “crowdfunding” of securities, defined as raising capital online from many investors, each of whom contributes only a small amount. The Act was signed into law in April 2012, and will go into effect once the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) promulgates rules and regulations to govern the new marketplace for crowdfunded securities. This Essay offers friendly advice to the SEC as to how to exercise its rulemaking authority in a manner that will enable the Act to achieve its goals of creating an ultralow-cost method for raising …

Contract As Pattern Language, Erik F. Gerding

Publications

Christopher Alexander’s architectural theory of a "pattern language" influenced the development of object-oriented computer programming. This pattern language framework also explains the design of legal contracts. Moreover, the pattern language rubric explains how legal agreements interlock to create complex transactions and how transactions interconnect to create markets. This pattern language framework helps account for evidence, including from the global financial crisis, of failures in modern contract design.

A pattern represents an encapsulated conceptual solution to a recurring design problem. Patterns save architects and designers from having to reinvent the wheel; they can use solutions that evolved over time to address …

Rural Crowdfunding, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

One reason that economic development in rural America lags behind its urban counterpart is the persistent lack of venture capital for rural entrepreneurs. Geography deserves much of the blame, as angel investors and venture capitalists tend to live and work in metropolitan areas on the coasts, in places like Silicon Valley and Boston. Many rural areas are literally thousands of miles away, with the result that venture capital has rarely found its way to rural regions.

Recent federal legislation, however, has the potential to change this dynamic. The JOBS Act authorizes the sale of securities over the Internet to large …

Regulation Goes Medieval, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Section 301 of the 2009 federal Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act prohibits the issuance of consumer credit cards to young adults ages 18–20 unless the credit contract is cosigned by an older adult who accepts joint liability for the card, or else the young adult proves she has “independent means of repaying” her credit card obligations. This prohibition is at odds with a 50-year trend of extending the rights of adulthood to people ages 18–20. It also blocks an important source of credit for young entrepreneurs, who often use consumer credit to launch their enterprises.

Computable Contracts, Harry Surden

Publications

This Article explains how and why firms are representing certain contractual obligations as computer data. The reason is so that computers can read and process the substantive aspects of contractual obligations. The representation of contractual obligations in data instead of (or in addition to) the traditional written language form - what this Article calls "data-oriented contracting" - allows for the application of advanced computer processing abilities to substantive contractual obligations. Certain financial contracts exemplify this model. Equity option contracts are routinely represented not as contract documents written in ordinary language - but as data records intended to be processed by …