Banking and Finance Law Commons^™

Public Participation And The Private Sector: The Role Of Multilateral Development Banks In The Evolution Of International Legal Standards, Daniel D. Bradlow, Megan S. Chapman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This paper systematically describes the public participation standards currently applied by multilateral development banks (MDBs) to the private sector and seeks to identify emerging trends and areas for further development or improvement. It begins by outlining the developing body of international law on public participation and its relationship to good development practice. Thereafter, the paper describes the two principle models for standards attached to MDB funding and assistance to the private sector: (1) the World Bank policies applicable to the public sector; and (2) the International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards that are applicable to the private sector and how these …

Securitization And Suburbia, Heather Hughes

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article explores the relationship between one typical form of real estate development finance-the securitized mezzanine loanand one controversial phenomenon-suburban sprawl. It asks foundational questions about the connection between financial transactions and real-world applications of the capital they raise. In this work, sprawl serves as an example of an environmental consequence of applications of capital raised with a common form of transaction. This Article considers the extent to which commercial finance laws release forceful incentives driven by capital markets upon land use decisions, potentially undermining the collective, morally informed determination such decisions require. It rejects the aesthetic aversion to looking …

Living Wills And Pre-Commitment, Adam Feibelman

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Financial Regulation Reform And Too Big To Fail, Brett Mcdonnell

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulating Informational Intermediation, Onnig H. Dombalagian

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transparency Is The New Opacity: Constructing Financial Regulation After The Crisis, Caroline Bradley

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transparency And Contrarian Experts In Financial Regulation: A Brief Response To Professor Bradley, Daniel Schwarcz

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sovereignty, Accountability, And The Wealth Fund Governance Conundrum, Anna Gelpern

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Sovereign wealth funds – state-controlled transnational portfolio investment vehicles – began as an externally imposed category in search of a definition. SWFs from different countries had little in common and no particular desire to collaborate. But SWFs as a group implicated the triple challenge of securing cooperation between deficit and surplus states, designing a legal framework for global capital flows, and integrating state actors in the transnational marketplace. This Article describes how an apparently artificial grouping of investors, made salient by the historical and political circumstances of their host states in the mid-2000s, became a vehicle for addressing some of …

Investment Recommendations And The Essence Of Duty, Onnig H. Dombalagian

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Laws And Regulations For Financial Conglomerates: Will They Better Manage The Risks Than The Previous Ones?, Elizabeth F. Brown

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Laudable Goals And Unintended Consequences: The Role And Control Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac, Andrea J. Boyack

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Money Market Fund Reform Viewed Through A Systemic Risk Lens, Hilary J. Allen

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

I. INTRODUCTION

Money market funds ("MMFs") were first developed in the 1970s, and since that time, they have become increasingly popular as an alternative to deposit accounts. Since the financial crisis of September 2008, there has been much discussion about the systemic risks posed by alternatives to commercial banking products. One of the key themes of this discussion is whether the systemic importance of these alternative banking products justifies the imposition of heightened regulation and supervision. This article takes the view, after a comparison of deposit accounts and MMFs, that MMFs are systemically important. It then goes on to consider, …

Armed And Dangerous: The Crime Of Mortgage Fraud And What Congress Must Do To Stop It, Gabriel Zitrin

Legislation and Policy Brief

Instead, it will simply argue that while the relevant monetary policymakers continue far too slowly in the pursuit of mortgage securities reform, lawmakers whose purview includes the housing sector should use this opportunity to pursue a two-part strategy of aggressively combating fraud in the terms and sales of individual mortgages and taking bold measures to ensure that not simply embattled mortgage-holders but the victims of fraudulent lending behavior can achieve financial sustainability, even as they keep ownership of their homes.

Public Financing's Last Breaths, Kellen Clemons

Legislation and Policy Brief

After this peculiar and unique election cycle, the public financing laws will have to be redeveloped in order to have any bearing on future elections. Without some change to the rules, candidates will continue to opt out and use the Internet and grassroots initiatives to out-raise one another, to the possible disadvantage of the goals of the public finance system. In essence, this election cycle has seen politics destroy the current public financing system. Through the advisory opinions of the Federal Election Commission and the decisions of the major candidates to opt out of public financing, the role of the …

Checks And Balances: Using The Freedom Of Information Act To Evaluate The Federal Reserve Banks, Kara Karlson

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Need For Debt Relief: How Debt Servicing Leads To Violations Of State Obligations Under The Icescr, Noel G. Villaroman

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Enabling Investment In Environmental Sustainability, Heather Hughes

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Empirical Modalities: Lessons For The Future Of International Investment, Susan Franck

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Empirical approaches add value to international investment law and aid in its evolution. Nevertheless, we must "fit the forum to the fuss." When transforming international law, we select proper methodologies for specific research questions and make international law empiricism part of a larger post-structuralist, pluralist legal dialogue. In connection with that, my remarks first place empirical research on international investment in a historical context. I then discuss where the research is today and offer an example of how empirical methods can be used to understand, reassess, and possibly transform international investment law and related institutions. Finally, I consider the future …

The Impact Of The Financial Crisis On Trade And Investment, Padideh Ala'i

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Market Definition, Jonathan Baker, Lawrence White, Eduardo Perez Motta, Joseph Simons

Presentations

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) solicited public comments and held joint public workshops to explore the possibility of updating the Horizontal Merger Guidelines that are used by both agencies to evaluate the potential competitive effects of mergers and acquistions. The goal of the workshops was to determine whether the Horizontal Merger Guidelines accurately reflect the current practice of merger review at the Department and the FTC as well as to take into account legal and economic developments that have occurred since the last significant Guidelines revision in 1992.

Financial Crisis Containment, Anna Gelpern

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article maps financial crisis containment - extraordinary measures to stop the spread of financial distress - as a category of legal and policy choice. I make three claims.

First, containment is distinct from financial regulation, crisis prevention and resolution. Containment is brief; it targets the immediate term. It involves claims of emergency, rule-breaking, time inconsistency and moral hazard. In contrast, regulation, prevention and resolution seek to establish sound incentives for the long term. Second, containment decisions deviate from non-crisis norms in predictable ways, and are consistent across diverse countries and crises. Containment invariably entails three kinds of choices: choices …

The G20 And Sustainable Imf Reform, Daniel D. Bradlow

Working Papers

This article explores the problems with the current arrangements for international financial governance and the prospects for the IMF being sufficiently reformed to play an effective role in future arrangements for international financial governance. It proposes that the G20 initiate a multi-step process of reform.

Domestic Bonds, Credit Derivatives, And The Next Transformation Of Sovereign Debt, Anna Gelpern

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Not long ago, financial markets in most poor and middle-income countries were shallow to nonexistent, and closed to foreigners. Governments often had to rely on risky borrowing abroad; the private sector had even fewer options. But between 1995 and 2005, domestic debt in the emerging markets grew from $1 trillion to $4 trillion. In Mexico, domestic debt went from just over 20% of the total government debt stock in 1995 to nearly 80% in 2007. Foreign and local investors are buying. Over the same period, derivative contracts to transfer emerging market credit risk surpassed the market capitalization of the benchmark …

Immigrant Remittances, Ezra Rosser

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Remittances, the sending of money from immigrants back to their home countries, are the newest anti-poverty, development activity of the poor to be applauded by international institutions and economists. Exceeding foreign aid and private investment to many developing countries, remittances are being hailed as a new, untapped resource with powerful poverty alleviation and potential development attributes. After presenting the poverty, developmental, and economic characteristics of this new transnational connection between immigrants and their loved ones, as well as the dangerous effects of excessive remittance regulation, the author argues that remittances should be understood as an anti-poverty tool, but not as …

Civil Society Networks And The Development Of Environmental Standards At International Financial Institutions, David Hunter

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Challenges Facing Investment Disputes: Reconsidering Dispute Resolution In International Investment Agreements, Susan Franck

Contributions to Books

International investment and international investment agreements have experienced a particular level of growth in the past few decades. With that growth and the granting of affirmative dispute resolution rights to foreign investors, international investment conflict has become increasingly highlighted; and one particular methodology - namely investment treaty arbitration - has become particularly visible. Reliance on this single option for resolving conflict has a unique set of systemic implications. This chapter therefore takes a more systemic look at investment treaty conflict and, in an effort to provide an appropriate historical and doctrinal framework, approaches to dispute resolution broadly. It asks for …

Narrowing The Accountability Gap: Toward A New Foreign Investor Accountability Mechanism, David Hunter, Natalie L. Bridgeman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

An ever-increasing number of standards, guidelines, principles, norms, and best practices have been adopted to address the environmental and social impacts of multinational enterprises (MNEs). This increase in standards and norms corresponds to a rise in MNE sensitivity to the environmental and social impacts that their activities have on local communities in developing countries. These standards and norms are considered voluntary by definition because they are typically not state-sponsored or the product of public regulation. They fill a normative gap located between the state-centered focus of international law and the often inadequate or unenforced standards of the developing country hosts …

Wal-Mart Bank In Mexico: Money To The Masses And The Home-Host Hole, Anna Gelpern

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In November 2006 Wal-Mart's Mexican subsidiary received approval to open a bank. The application faced little opposition in Mexico, unlike the company's failed effort to start a bank in the United States. This was partly because in Mexico, Wal-Mart's entry was generally regarded as increasing competition in a historically concentrated banking sector. With over three-quarters of all Mexicans unbanked, the authorities also looked to Wal-Mart to reach the underserved. Along with the promise, Wal-Mart's entry presents a transnational regulatory dilemma with implications beyond Wal-Mart and Mexico. Because it is Wal-Mart's only banking venture, the new institution will have its Mexican …

The Next Level Of Environmental Protection: Business Strategies And Government Policies Converging On Sustainability, Alan D. Hect

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Regulating Multinational Corporations: Towards Principles Of Cross-Border Legal Frameworks In A Globalized World Balancing Rights With Responsibilities, Joseph E. Stiglitz

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.