Law Commons^™

An Overview Of Caribbean Securities Exchanges, Clifford Chad Henson

Clifford Chad Henson

Caribbean securities exchanges have existed since the 1969 creation of the Jamaican Stock Exchange; in the last 15 years those exchanges have increased in number and signiicance. From the creation of the Bermuda Stock Exchange in 1971 to the creation of the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange in 1981, no new exchanges with staying power were added. Beginning with the Barbados Stock Exchange in 1987 and followed by the Bolsa de Valores de la Republica Dominicana in 1991, the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange in 1997, the Bahamas International Securities Exchange and the International Finance Center and Exchange in 1999, and …

Do Accounting Rules Matter? The Dangerous Allure Of Mark To Market, Todd Henderson

Todd Henderson

This paper examines the relative strength of two imperfect accounting rules: historical cost and mark to market. The manifest inaccuracy of historical cost is well known, and, paradoxically one source of its hidden strength. Because private parties know of its evident weaknesses they look elsewhere for information. In contrast, mark to market for hard-to-value assets has many hidden weaknesses. In this paper we show how it creates asset bubbles and exacerbate their negative collateral consequences once they burst. It does the former by allowing banks to adopt generous valuations in up-markets that increase their lending capacity. It does the latter …

Changing The Rules Of The Game: Deriving New Rules And Practices From Caperton V. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Aman L. Mcleod

Aman L McLeod

In 2009, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., in which it ruled that judges must recuse themselves in cases involving those who have provided a disproportionate amount of financial support to their campaigns. This decision has forced states to reconsider their campaign finance laws and their judicial recusal rules. This article proposes practical and modest reforms that states could adopt that would effectively respond to the Caperton decision.

Toward A New Law And Economics: The Case Of The Stock Market, Lawrence E. Mitchell

Lawrence E. Mitchell

Toward a New Law and Economics: The Case of the Stock Market

Abstract

Do the public equity markets play the macroeconomic role we believe them to play? What is the relationship between the U.S. public equity markets and American economic growth? What do these conclusions teach us about the approaches we take and should take in evaluating and designing the laws of corporate governance and securities regulation?

The law and economics paradigm of the last forty years may be mistaken in assuming that economic efficiency on an individual (or institutional) level is sufficient to ensure economic welfare on a macroeconomic …

• The Credit Crisis And Subprime Litigation: How Fraud Without Motive ‘Makes Little Economic Sense’, Peter Hamner

Peter Hamner

The recent collapse of the financial markets spurred numerous lawsuits seeking a faulty party. Many plaintiffs argue that market participants committed securities fraud. They claim that deficient subprime loans caused the financial crisis. These risky loans were allegedly originated by banks to be sold off to third parties. The subprime loans were securitized and spread throughout the financial markets. The risk these loans presented was allegedly not disclosed to the buyers of the loans and securities on the loans. As these deficient loans and securities began to default the financial markets came to a halt. This article argues that securities …