Accounting Law Commons^™

Global Changes In Regulating Corporate Auditors: A Comparative Assessment, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Auditor independence was a global concern of financial regulators in the 1990's. Some observers saw this in a positive light, a natural development. Adjusting auditor independence rules was a manifestation of global convergence in corporate governance structures. New rules, especially rules leaning toward a harmonized system were welcome.

There was a more sobering view. This view held that global regulators were less concerned with convergence than they were with a sense of impending disaster. Things had gone too far. Significant, maybe even radical change was needed. The independence of corporate auditors had eroded; trust had been fundamentally compromised in the …

Encumbered Shares, Shaun Martin, Frank Partnoy

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

The fundamental assumptions in the law and economics literature about shareholder voting and the one-share/one-vote rule are flawed. The classic view is that share ownership is necessary and sufficient to create voting rights and that such rights should be directly proportional to share ownership. We demonstrate that this assumption is unfounded, both for shares that are “economically encumbered” (held by shareholders who are not pure residual claimants; e.g., a shareholder who owns one share and is also short one or more shares) as well as shares that are “legally encumbered” (held or associated with more than one shareholder; e.g., shares …

Strict Liability For Gatekeepers: A Reply To Professor Coffee, Frank Partnoy

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

This article responds to a proposal by Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. for a modified form of strict liability for gatekeepers. Professor Coffee’s proposal would convert gatekeepers into insurers, but cap their insurance obligations based on a multiple of the highest annual revenues the gatekeepers recently had received from their wrongdoing clients. My proposal, advanced in 2001, would allow gatekeepers to contract for a percentage of issuer damages, after settlement or judgment, subject to a legislatively-imposed floor. This article compares the proposals and concludes that a contractual system based on a percentage of the issuer’s liability would be preferable to …

Does The Tax Law Discriminate Against The Majority Of American Children: The Downside Of Our Progressive Rate Structure And Unbalanced Incentives For Higher Education?, Lester B. Snyder

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

Our graduate income tax structure provides an incentive to shift income to lower-bracket family members. However, some parents have much more latitude to shift income to their children than do others. Income derived from services and private business-by far the majority of American income-is less favored than income derived from publicly traded securities. The rationale given for this discrimination is that parents in services or private business, as opposed to those in securities, do not actually part with control of their property. This article explores these tax broader (yet subtle) tax benefits and their impact on the majority of children …

Estate Tax Repeal And The Budget Process, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

This article examines the Bush Administration’s proposal, as part of its proposed fiscal year 2005 budget, to extend permanently the repeal of the federal estate tax. The article considers the budgetary impact of permanent estate tax repeal and discusses procedural impediments to use of the reconciliation process for permanent tax cuts. The article also notes the possibility of a durable compromise solution involving retention of the estate tax with lower rates and a higher exemption.

What Can Be Done About Stock Market Volatility, Tamar Frankel

Faculty Scholarship

Volatility is as old as the financial markets. The bull market of 1986 and the crash that followed in 1987 were but the latest of periodic market gyrations that started with the South Sea Bubble and the Lombard Street run on commercial paper and have continued ever since.' Volatility in the financial markets would not be very important if market activity simply mirrored economic activity. Volatility would be much less important if the markets moved independently of the economy. But if we believe, as I do, that the markets and the economy are interdependent, and that their volatility is generally …

Protecting The Public Fisc: Fighting Accrual Abuse With Section 446 Discretion, Karl S. Coplan

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Note suggests an approach under the current Code and current legal doctrine that would enable the Commissioner to disallow accrual accounting when manipulated to avoid taxation. At the outset, the Note defines and illustrates tax avoidance through accounting manipulation. The Note then considers within the framework of judicial review of agency action the source and nature of the Commissioner's discretion to reject accounting methods. This analysis demonstrates the validity of the Commissioner's action whenever it is based on legally relevant factors. The Note then develops the emerging content of the “clearly reflect income” language as the source of the …

Eliminating The Capital Gains Preference. Part Ii: The Problem Of Corporate Taxation, Michael J. Waggoner

Publications

No abstract provided.

Eliminating The Capital Gains Preference. Part I: The Problems Of Inflation, Bunching And Lock-In, Michael J. Waggoner

Publications

No abstract provided.