Law Commons^™

Defi: Shadow Banking 2.0?, Hilary J. Allen

William & Mary Law Review

The growth of so-called “shadow banking” was a significant contributor to the financial crisis of 2008, which had huge social costs that we still grapple with today. Our financial regulatory system still has not fully figured out how to address the risks of the derivatives, securitizations, and money market mutual funds that comprised Shadow Banking 1.0, but we are already facing the prospect of Shadow Banking 2.0 in the form of decentralized finance, or “DeFi.” DeFi’s proponents speak of a future where sending money is as easy as sending a photograph—but money is not the same as a photograph. The …

Regulating Crypto, On And Off The Chain, Eric D. Chason

William & Mary Law Review

Cryptocurrency had its most turbulent year in 2022. The collapse of TerraUSD ushered in a broad market decline, and the FTX debacle brought new publicity and scrutiny to crypto’s woes. Both events will likely spark new regulation and legislation.

Policymakers and regulators should regulate market structures like exchanges. While many cryptocurrencies are extremely transparent and require little if any additional disclosures, others are plagued by serious informational asymmetries. An exchange might allow participants to trade Bitcoin, and regulators need to protect investors who rely on such exchanges. Investors may face informational asymmetries regarding the operation and safety of the exchange. …

Decentralized Finance: Regulating Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Kristin N. Johnson

William & Mary Law Review

Global financial markets are in the midst of a transformative movement. The creation of Bitcoin and Facebook’s proposed distribution of Diem mark a watershed moment in the evolution of the financial markets ecosystem. Purportedly, peer-to-peer distributed digital ledger technology eliminates legacy financial market intermediaries such as investment banks, depository banks, exchanges, clearinghouses, and broker-dealers.

Yet careful examination reveals that cryptocurrency issuers and the firms that offer secondary market cryptocurrency trading services have not quite lived up to their promise. Notwithstanding cryptoenthusiasts’ calls for disintermediation, evidence reveals that platforms that facilitate cryptocurrency trading frequently employ the long-adopted intermediation practices of their …

Contractual Tax Reform, Michael Abramowicz, Andrew Blair-Stanek

William & Mary Law Review

One-size-fits-all taxation fails to accommodate diverse taxpayer circumstances. This Article proposes allowing taxpayers to contract into alternative tax regimes administered by private intermediaries. Participating taxpayers would make payments to the intermediaries pursuant to contract, and the intermediaries would be required to pay to the government at least as much as these taxpayers would have paid the government otherwise. That amount is determined based on the actual tax receipts of a control group, taxpayers who wish to contract with an intermediary but instead are chosen at random to continue under the status quo. These alternative tax regimes might better accommodate taxpayers’ …

Modernizing The Bank Charter, David Zaring

William & Mary Law Review

The banking charter—the license a bank needs to obtain before it can open—has become the centerpiece of an argument about what finance should do for the rest of the economy, both in academia and at the banking agencies. Some advocates have proposed using the charter to pursue industrial policy or to end shadow banking. Some regulators have proposed giving financial technology firms bank charters, potentially breaking down the traditionally high walls between banking and commerce. An empirical survey of chartering decisions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency suggests that chartering is best understood as an ultracautious licensing …

Borrowing In The Shadow Of Death: Another Look At Probate Lending, David Horton

William & Mary Law Review

“Fringe” lending has long been controversial. Three decades ago, demand for subprime credit soared, and businesses started to offer high-interest rate cash advances, such as tax refund anticipation loans, payday loans, and pension loans. These products have sparked intense debate and are subject to a maze of rules.

However, in Probate Lending, published in the Yale Law Journal, a coauthor and I examined a form of fringe lending that has gone largely unnoticed: firms that pay lump sums in return for an heir or beneficiary’s interest in a pending decedent’s estate. Capitalizing on a California law that requires …

Rethinking Corporate Governance For A Bondholder Financed, Systemically Risky World, Steven L. Schwarcz

William & Mary Law Review

This Article makes two arguments that, combined, demonstrate an important synergy: first, including bondholders in corporate governance could help to reduce systemic risk because bondholders are more risk averse than shareholders; second, corporate governance should include bondholders because bonds now dwarf equity as a source of corporate financing and bond prices are increasingly tied to firm performance.

Voting With Their Feet And Dollars: The Role Of Investors And The Influence Of The Mutual Fund Market In Regulating Fees, Anna C. Leist

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Spinning In A Hot Ipo - Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Or Business As Usual?, Therese H. Maynard

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Empowering Stakeholders: Limits On Collaboration As The Basis For Flexible Regulation, Mark Seidenfeld

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Depoliticizing Financial Regulation, Steven A. Ramirez

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Treatment Of Interest Rate Swaps Under The Sec's Net Capital Rule: A Proposal For Change, Matthew Calhoun Frost

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of Property Rights And The Fifth Amendment: Firrea's Cross-Guarantee Reexamined, Jennifer B. Arlin

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Curran V. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.: The Continued Validity Of An Implied Private Right Of Action Under The Commodity Exchange Act, John R. Hunt

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

U.C.C. § 2-713: Anticipatory Repudiation And The Measurement Of An Aggrieved Buyer's Damages

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Banking Structure And Statewide Branching: The Potential For Virginia, David C. Parcell

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Possessory Liens: The Need For Separate Due Process Analysis

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of The Virginia Banking Structure 1962-1974: The Effects Of The Buck-Holland Bill, Michael J. Ileo, David C. Parcell

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

School Financing In Legal And Nonlegal Perspective, Ronald C. Brown

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Abusive Debt Collection - A Model Statute For Virginia, Robert E. Scott, Diane M. Strickland

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The 1970 Bank Secrecy Act And The Right Of Privacy

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Bad Debt Reserves Of Financial Institutions, Charles W. Shoeneman

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Uniform Commercial Code - Cash Payment By The Payor Bank - Kirby V. First & Merchants Nat'l Bank, 210 Va. 88, 168 S.E. 2d 273 (1969), Richard Stafford Bray

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Europe And The Dollar, Byron L. Berntson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.