Banking and Finance Law Commons^™

Fending For Themselves: Creating A U.S. Hedge Fund Market For Retail Investors, Houman B. Shadab

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Disney Examined; A Case Study In Corporate Governance And Ceo Succession, Lawrence Lederman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Risks And Realities Of Mezzanine Loans, Andrew R. Berman

Articles & Chapters

The last decade has witnessed an astounding increase in new real estate financing techniques, including mezzanine loans. These new financings are not directly secured by real estate and do not even directly involve land. In the real estate industry, mezzanine financing typically refers to a loan secured principally by the borrower's equity in other entities. Both economically and legally, the value of the mezzanine borrower's collateral derives solely from its indirect ownership of the underlying property.

This article provides a detailed description of the legal structure of mezzanine loans. In addition, this article evaluates the hazards, legal risks and uncertainties …

Going Private At The Intersection Of The Market And The Law, Faith Stevelman

Articles & Chapters

Delaware's fiduciary doctrine governing going private transactions by controlling stockholders is presently in disarray. Controllers generally select between single step cash-out mergers and tender offers followed by short-form mergers to do these freezeouts, and they are subject to very different equitable standards depending on the format selected. Further disarray arises because the courts' longstanding commitment to strict scrutiny in freezeouts is in tension with the popular disfavor towards private class-action litigation. This disarray threatens minority investors' interests in freezeouts, and capital market values more broadly. First, the disparities in freezeout doctrine have encouraged controllers to arbitrage the legal standards for …

The Challenge Of Hedge Fund Regulation, Houman B. Shadab

Articles & Chapters

Currently en vogue concerns about hedge funds are not nearly as substantial as is often claimed. Moreover, the funds themselves are reducing their risks to investors and the broader markets, in accordance with investor demands. As hedge funds benefit the broader market by mitigating price downturns, bearing risks that others will not, making securities more liquid, and ferreting out inefficiencies, policymakers should consider whether stricter regulation of hedge funds could do more harm than good.

The 2004-2005 Amendments To The Community Reinvestment Act Regulations: For Communities One Step Forward And Three Steps Back, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

In 2001, the four federal banking agencies that enforce the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) began a review of CRA regulations they adopted in 1995. The review lasted until they issued amendments in 2004 and 2005. The review process was controversial, tortuous, and divisive. By the time it was over, residents of the communities the CRA was intended to benefit, including low- and moderate-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods, gained a victory in their efforts to promote community reinvestment and economic development, but also lost significant ground. The victory was strengthened regulation of subprime and predatory lending. The losses included a reduction …

Democratizing Capital: The History, Law, And Reform Of The Community Reinvestment Act, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) has made great progress in achieving its dual purposes: eliminating bank redlining and promoting reinvestment in previously redlined neighborhoods. In doing so, the CRA has helped to democratize capital by giving more people a voice in bank lending decisions and including more people in the economic mainstream by influencing banks to make loans to them to buy homes or open small businesses. Despite the CRA's success, the CRA has not reached its full potential. One of the main reasons for this is that the federal agencies that enforce the CRA are so fearful …

Once A Mortgage, Always A Mortgage - The Use (And Misuse) Of Mezzanine Loans And Preferred Equity Investments, Andrew R. Berman

Articles & Chapters

The mortgage remains one of the most common and successful techniques to finance real estate transactions. In the last 25 years, mortgage loans have also been sold in the secondary market and included in mortgage-backed securitizations. The amazing growth of mortgage securitizations has also led to the development of novel financing techniques, including mezzanine financing and preferred equity investments.

This article discusses the historical development of real estate financing from the early beginning of mortgage law and the equity of redemption through the modern advent of mortgage-backed securitizations (MBS) and other non-traditional financings. It argues that the phenomenal success of …

The Heartland Funds’ Receivership And Its Implications For Independent Mutual Fund Directors, Jeffrey J. Haas, Steven R. Howard

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Interpreting Indentures: How Disequilibrium Economics And Financial Asset Specificity Support Narrow Interpretation, Houman B. Shadab

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Arbitration Of Truth-In-Lending-Act Claims, Marshall E. Tracht

Articles & Chapters

In recent years, it has become increasingly common for lenders to include arbitration clauses in their consumer financing agreements. While federal law strongly supports the enforceability of arbitration provisions, there are a number of grounds on which their enforceability can be, and has been, challenged.

This article summarizes the state of the law on a number of major issues which have arisen in the attempt to use arbitration clauses in consumer financing agreements, focusing on Truth-in-Lending Act claims, including an analysis of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Randolph.

Financial Modernization: The Effect Of The Repeal Of The Glass-Steagall Act On Consumers And Communities, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Enforcing The Community Reinvestment Act: An Advocate's Guide To Making The Cra Work For Communities, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

This guide to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is designed to provide community advocates with the basic information and skills they need to challenge bank redlining and promote economic development in their neighborhoods. The Guide includes four sections: the legal structure of the CRA; important information about banks and how to get it; analyzing a bank's CRA records, and participating in the CRA enforcement process.

Patterns Of Lending To Low-Income And Minority Persons And Neighborhoods: The 1999 New York Metropolitan Area Lending Scorecard, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

This paper analyzes home mortgage lending patterns in the New York Metropolitan Area. It examines lending to four particular underserved populations: minority persons, predominantly minority neighborhoods; low-income persons; and low-income neighborhoods. The paper compares lending to these populations to lending to control groups and over time in order to evaluate whether the needs of the underserved populations are being met. The paper also analyzes the records of individual lenders at meeting the credit needs of those four populations and ranks the lenders accordingly. The paper also analyzes trends in subprime lending to these four populations.

Transparency And Accountability: Rethinking Corporate Fiduciary Law's Relevance To Disclosure, Faith Stevelman

Articles & Chapters

This article explores the duty of “disclosure/complete candor” (among directors, from boards to shareholders and from controllers to minority shareholders) within state corporate fiduciary law (especially Delaware’s, the most developed). It observes the odd minimization of the candor/disclosure duty within the core doctrines of fiduciary care, loyalty and good faith. It analyzes the evolution of the fiduciary disclosure duty and its “moment of truth” in the watershed litigation in Malone v. Brincat. The belated appearance of the fiduciary disclosure duty is partly the result of historical, customary and political understandings which have dwarfed logic and conceptual coherence in this area …

Will Exploding Guaranties Bomb?, Marshall E. Tracht

Articles & Chapters

Springing and exploding guaranties - insider guaranties that will become due ifand when a borrower files for bankruptcy - have become popular as "bankruptcy-proofing" devices, yet there is little case law or literature on their enforceability. This article reviews the limited existing law on these bankruptcy-contingent guaranties and examines some of the arguments against their enforceabiltiy that can be expected to be made in the future.

New York Metropolitan Area Lending Scorecard: 1998, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Shedding Some Light On Lending: The Effect Of Expanded Disclosure Laws On Home Mortgage Marketing, Lending And Discrimination In The New York Metropolitan Area, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The New Community Reinvestment Act Regulations: An Attempt To Implement Performance-Based Standards, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

On May 4, 1995, the federal banking regulatory agencies published new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations.' This culminated a process that began nearly two years earlier, in July 1993, when President Clinton called on the agencies to reform the CRA enforcement regime. The goal was to institute a regulatory scheme that emphasized lending performance over process, that was more objective and less subject to arbitrary interpretation, and that reduced unnecessary paperwork.2 With this presidential mandate, the agencies commenced a 21-month odyssey that included seven hearings around the country with more than 250 witnesses, two sets of proposed revisions to the …

Directorial Fiduciary Duties In A Tracking Stock Equity Structure: The Need For A Duty Of Fairness, Jeffrey J. Haas

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Working For Social Change And Preserving Client Autonomy: Is There A Role For ‘Facilitative’ Lawyering?, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Fighting Poverty Through Community Empowerment And Economic Development: The Role Of The Community Reinvestment And Home Mortgage Disclosure Acts, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

A Guide To Enforcing The Community Reinvestment Act, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Comment, Insights Into Lender Liability: An Argument For Treating Controlling Creditors As Controlling Shareholders, Jeffrey J. Haas

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Distributions In Kind In Corporate Liquidations: A Defense Of General Utilities, Richard C.E. Beck

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Construction Loan Advances And The Subordinated Purchase Mortgagee: An Appraisal, A Suggested Approach, And The Ulta Perspective, Gerald Korngold

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Preparation Of Securities Act Registration Statements And Reports: Meeting The Obligation To Provide A Basis For Appraising The Prospective Impact Of Historical Financial Information, Lawrence Lederman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Preparation Of Securities Act Registration Statements And Reports: Meeting The Obligation To Provide A Basis For Appraising The Prospective Impact Of Historical Financial Information, Lawrence Lederman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Consumer Sensitivity To Interest Rates: An Empirical Study Of New-Car Buyers And Auto Loans, James J. White, Frank W. Munger

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Ideas And Interests: Businessmen And The Interstate Commerce Act, Edward A. Purcell Jr.

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.