Banking and Finance Law Commons^™

The Big Patent Short: Hedge Fund Challenges To Pharmaceutical Patents And The Need For Financial Regulation, Ariel D. Multak

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The enactment of the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011 ushered in a new system for post-grant patent review. In the interest of enhancing the efficiency of the patent regime by invalidating “bad” patents, certain requirements were relaxed. For example, the AIA created an examination process called inter partes review, which allows a party without legal standing to challenge the validity of a patent in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In the pharmaceutical patent context, it was expected that inter partes review would be utilized mostly by generic drug makers seeking to invalidate patents without incurring the …

Off The Chain! A Guide To Blockchain Derivatives Markets And The Implications On Systemic Risk, Ryan Surujnath

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Blockchains are publicly viewable and theoretically unalterable records of bitcoin transactions. They are thus crucial to the functionality of cryptocurrencies. Through the blockchain, bitcoin algorithmically decentralizes the maintenance of the transaction ledger and delegates the task to users on its network.

Blockchain technology shows promise beyond cryptocurrency: banking and financial institutions have established partnerships with fintech firms to explore the applicability of blockchains in capital markets. Blockchains, used in conjunction with self-executing smartcontracts, present particularly compelling opportunities in derivatives markets, which are typically beset by numerous intermediaries. The blockchain could radically reinvent the existing market infrastructure. Certain intermediaries like central …

Quasi-Appraisal: Appraising Breach Of Duty Of Disclosure Claims Following "Cash-Out" Mergers In Delaware, Zachary A. Paiva

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

In recent years, Delaware has served as the hot bed for the dramatic increase in merger appraisal litigation and the proliferation of “appraisal arbitrage” whereby opportunistic shareholders buy into companies following merger announcements and challenge announced deal prices as an investment strategy. While this has not always proved profitable, it has increased scrutiny over the Delaware appraisal regime and the ability for shareholders to avail themselves of the opportunity for a judicial valuation of their shares. Furthermore, it has highlighted information asymmetries in which controlling shareholders, particularly those seeking to cash out their minority shareholders, are incentivized to underpay or …

The Dark Side Of Self-Regulation, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

The financial services industry indirectly regulates itself through little discussed, scandal-prone, and structurally-entrenched self-regulatory organizations. FINRA, the most prominent of these self-regulatory organizations, makes regulations and sets enforcement policy that directly affect public welfare. As with other self-regulatory organizations, FINRA's structure poses a continual risk that industry members will subvert its processes to act like a cartel, promoting industry interests at the expense of the public and contributing to the excessive rents collected by financial intermediaries. Although this dark side to self-regulation poses a constant danger, structural reforms may increase the likelihood that FINRA and other self-regulatory organizations will take …

Distributed Governance, Carla L. Reyes, Nizan Geslevich Packin, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

Distributed ledger technology disrupts traditional business organizations by introducing new business entities without the directors and officers of traditional corporate entities. Although these emerging entities offer intriguing possibilities, distributed entities may suffer significant collective action problems and expose investors to catastrophic regulatory and governance risks. Our Article examines key considerations for stakeholders and argues that distributed entities must be carefully structured to function effectively.

This Article breaks new ground by critically examining distributed entities. We argue that a distributed model is most appropriate when distributed ledger technology solves a unique corporate governance problem. We caution against ignoring the lessons painstakingly …

Conflicts & Capital Allocation, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

The regulatory structure for financial advice now tolerates incentives motivating financial advisors to manipulate and deceive retail investors. While scholars thus far have argued for ways to improve investor protections, the literature has largely ignored how these flawed incentives affect the economy.

This Article contends that these flawed incentives cause financial advisors to negatively affect capital allocation throughout the overall economy.

This Article draws on literature about manipulation and deception in principal-agent relationships to show how conflicts of interest cause the market for financial advisor services to generate excessive intermediation, driving harms to the real economy. This Article uses case …

Blockchain And Payment Systems: What Are The Benefits And Costs?, Benjamin Geva, Gene Neyer

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Conceptualizing Cryptolaw, Carla L. Reyes

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Sweden transfers its real property recording system to the blockchain, a software protocol that enables public, cryptographically secure transaction verification without reliance upon a trusted third party. Dubai plans to issue blockchain-based government documents. The United States Department of Health and Human Services investigates blockchain-based systems for managing health data. Illinois explores blockchain-based applications for use in the Illinois government. News of governments and public-private partnerships developing blockchain-based legal applications increasingly splash across the headlines; however the law-makers using blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) systems to implement legal processes do not systematically consider the broader implications of their …

The Importance Of Being Standard, Anna Gelpern

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Contract standardisation in the sovereign debt market saves time and money in preparing documents and endows widely-used terms with a shared public meaning, which in turn saves investors the costs of acquiring information, facilitates secondary market trading and reduces the scope for mistakes in the judicial interpretation of contract terms. Sovereign debt issuers and investors claim to value standardisation and list it as an important contractual objective. Issuers generally insist that their bond contracts are standard and reflect market practice. Variations from past practice and market norm must be explained in disclosure documents and through market outreach. Standardisation is not …

Ask The Professor: Will The Recent Supreme Court Case In Salman Result In More Cftc Enforcement Actions Charging Insider Trading?, Ronald H. Filler, Jerry W. Markham

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The History And Legacy Of The Pound Conferences, Lara Traum, Brian Farkas

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

In light of the GPC, it is useful to take a brief step back to consider the legacy of self-reflection that brings the field to this exciting moment. As we reflect, we find ourselves facing new challenges and raising new questions about the direction of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") in the 21st century. In this Article, Sections II and III will introduce the "Framers" of the ADR industry's "Constitution," and Section IV will evaluate their 100-year legacy and consider the extent to which it now needs further amendments.

Investor Corruption As A Defense Strategy Of Host States In International Investment Arbitration: Investors' Corrupt Acts Give An Unfair Advantage To Host States In Investment Arbitration, Margareta Habazin

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

First, the paper will analyze the issue of corruption in international investment arbitration. Second, the paper will examine the deployment of corruption as a defense strategy by host states in international investment arbitration. Next, it will address the jurisdictional consequences of proving corruption in the making of the investment. Further, it will describe the distinctive features of relevant ICSID awards and key issues that led to the dismissal of claims. The paper will also estimate the possible implications of the awards to future ICSID claims affected by bribery and try to predict the outcome of the MOL v. Republic of …

The Finance Franchise, Robert C. Hockett, Saule T. Omarova

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The dominant view of banks and other financial institutions is that they function primarily as intermediaries, managing flows of scarce funds from those who have accumulated them to those who have need of them and can pay for their use. This understanding pervades textbooks, scholarly writings, and policy discussions – yet it is fundamentally false as a description of how a modern financial system works. Finance today is no more primarily “intermediated” than it is pre-accumulated or scarce.

This Article challenges the outdated narrative of finance as intermediated scarce private capital and maps the basic structure and dynamics of the …

ปัญหาเกี่ยวกับการโอนสิทธิในรายได้ในอนาคต ศึกษากรณีกองทุนรวมโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน, อัญรินทร์ จิระตระกูลวัชร์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

กองทุนรวมโครงสร้างพื้นฐานเป็นเครื่องมือทางการเงินในการระดมทุนรูปแบบหนึ่งของผู้ประกอบกิจการโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน ไม่ว่าจะเป็นภาครัฐหรือภาคเอกชน โดยมีวัตถุประสงค์หลักเพื่อลงทุนในกิจการโครงสร้างพื้นฐานของประเทศไทย กองทุนรวมโครงสร้างพื้นฐานสามารถลงทุนในทรัพย์สินกิจการโครงสร้างพื้นฐานได้หลายประเภท แต่ส่วนใหญ่จะเน้นลงทุนในสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตหรือสิทธิในรายได้ในอนาคต โดยการเข้าทำสัญญาโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตกับผู้ประกอบกิจการโครงสร้างพื้นฐาน ซึ่งเมื่อพิจารณาลักษณะ รูปแบบและเงื่อนไขของการเข้าทำสัญญาโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคต และสัญญาอื่นๆ ที่เกี่ยวข้องแล้วพบว่า การโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตดังกล่าวมีลักษณะเป็นธุรกรรมที่ค่อนข้างซับซ้อน จึงเกิดปัญหาว่า สัญญาโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตควรจะเป็นธุรกรรมประเภทใด เข้าลักษณะเป็นสัญญาซื้อขาย หรือสัญญากู้ยืมเงิน หรือธุรกรรมอื่นใด ซึ่งลักษณะที่ไม่ชัดเจนของสัญญาโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตดังกล่าวทำให้เกิดปัญหาในการจัดเก็บภาษีอากรว่า ผู้ประกอบกิจการโครงสร้างพื้นฐานและกองทุนรวมโครงสร้างพื้นฐานควรจะมีภาระภาษีในธุรกรรมดังกล่าวอย่างไร และเนื่องจากในปัจจุบันยังไม่มีบทบัญญัติในประมวลรัษฎากรหรือกฎหมายลำดับรองกำหนดหลักเกณฑ์หรือแนวทางในการจัดเก็บภาษีอากรสำหรับธุรกรรมการโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตไว้เป็นการเฉพาะ จึงมีการนำบทบัญญัติซึ่งเป็นหลักเกณฑ์ทั่วไปของกฎหมายภาษีอากรมาปรับใช้ ซึ่งการนำมาปรับใช้ดังกล่าวก่อให้เกิดปัญหาค่อนข้างมากในทางปฏิบัติ โดยมีการตีความธุรกรรมการโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคตในลักษณะที่แตกต่างกันไป ก่อให้เกิดความไม่เป็นธรรมและความไม่แน่นอนในการจัดเก็บภาษีซึ่งขัดต่อหลักการบริหารภาษีอากรที่ดี ด้วยเหตุนี้ ผู้เขียนจึงได้ศึกษาเพื่อเสนอแนะให้กำหนดหลักเกณฑ์หรือแนวทางในการจัดเก็บภาษีอากรสำหรับธุรกรรมการโอนสิทธิในการรับประโยชน์จากรายได้ในอนาคต กรณีกองทุนรวมโครงสร้างพื้นฐานเป็นรูปแบบธุรกรรมทางการเงิน (Financing) ให้ชัดเจน

Putting The Substance Back Into The Economic Substance Doctrine, Nicholas Giordano

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The foreign tax credit, which saves U.S. taxpayers from paying both foreign and domestic income taxes on the same income, is critical to facilitating global commerce. However, as savvy taxpayers discover increasingly complicated ways to abuse the foreign tax credit regime through the structuring of business transactions, courts have become increasingly skeptical of the validity of those transactions. Using the economic substance doctrine, a common law doctrine codified in 2010 at I.R.C. § 7701(o), courts will disallow tax benefits stemming from a transaction that is not profitable absent its tax benefits, and which the taxpayer had no incentive to undertake …

From Systemic Risk To Financial Scandals: The Shortcomings Of U.S. Hedge Fund Regulation, Marco Bodellini

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In the recent past, hedge funds have demonstrated that they can pose and spread systemic risk across the financial markets, and that their managers can use them to commit fraud and misappropriation of fund assets. Even if the first issue now seems to be considered a serious one by the U.S. legislature, which in 2010, as a legislative response to the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, enacted the Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), the current regulation still appears inconsistent and inappropriate to prevent and face it. By contrast, the second issue is not always considered …

A Bridge Too Far: A Critical Analysis Of The Securities And Exchange Commission's Approach To Equity Market Regulation, John Polise

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Using the framework articulated by Thomas S. Kuhn in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this Article traces the evolution of equity market regulation in terms of its epistemological foundations and operative paradigms. It examines the SEC’s growth from a more passive partner with the securities industry to being an aggressive and perhaps overly intrusive arbiter of equity market operations. This Article identifies two distinct paradigms of securities regulation—the “Self-Regulatory Paradigm” and the “Micro-Intervention Paradigm.” The Self-Regulatory Paradigm and the Micro-Intervention Paradigm are not compatible, and this Article explains how the intellectual dissonance between them ultimately allowed the Micro-Intervention …

Full Disclosure: Moving Beyond Disclosure Regulations To Affirmative Regulation Of Executive Compensation, Christopher Saverino

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In the period following the financial crisis of 2008, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), which compelled the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to engage in substantial rulemaking. The Dodd-Frank mandate in Section 953(b) required the SEC to promulgate a rule, which it eventually finalized and is currently known as Pay Ratio Disclosure. Historically, SEC rulemaking has received great deference when rules are judicially challenged. However, following the passage of Dodd-Frank, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has begun to grant less deference to SEC rulemaking where it has found that the SEC has …

Accountability In Corporate Governance In China And The Impact Of Guanxi As A Double-Edged Sword, Andrew Keay, Jingchen Zhao

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Accountability is an essential aspect of corporate governance and it has been argued that the “wenze” system of accountability in China comes very close to the accountability systems developed in Anglo-American corporate governance. This Article examines the role of cultural factors, namely guanxi and its derivatives, in corporate governance in China to determine what effect, if any, these cultural factors have on the operation and development of the “wenze” system in large listed companies. The Article specifically considers whether the cultural elements affect accountability, and if so, how and to what extent. It also explores whether these cultural factors are …

Challenging Nonbank Sifi Designations: Ge, Metlife, And The Need For Reform, Drita Dokic

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act created, among other things, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), an entity within the U.S. Department of the Treasury tasked with assessing and mitigating financial risk. Financial institutions with over $50 billion in assets are automatically deemed “systemically important.” However, under the Dodd-Frank Act, FSOC has the authority to designate non-bank companies engaged in financial activity as systemically important as well. Once designated as a systemically important financial institution (SIFI), these companies are subject to enhanced regulation and supervision by the Federal Reserve. Because the costs associated with such enhanced regulation …