Banking and Finance Law Commons^™

The Property Law Of Tokens, Juliet M. Moringiello, Christopher K. Odinet

Faculty Scholarship

Non-fungible tokens—or NFTs, as they are better known—have taken the world by storm. The idea behind an NFT is that by owning a certain thing (specifically, a digital token that is tracked on a blockchain), one can hold property rights in something else (either a real or intangible asset). In the early part of 2021, NFTs for items ranging from a gif of a pop-tart cat with a rainbow tail, to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, to a New York Times column (about NFTs!) have sold for millions of dollars over the internet. Promoters assert that NFTs are the …

Towards A Data-Driven Financial System: The Impact Of Covid-19, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has had a growing impact on the global economy and the financial sector. Given the unprecedented macroeconomic nature of the crisis, financial regulators and central banks, along with governments and legislatures, face challenges to maintain financial stability, preserve the core markets, and ensure the flow of credit to the real economy. The financial sector has not only implemented these measures but has also adapted to the new circumstances derived from the pandemic. In this process, the ongoing digital transformation of the financial industry helped to address some of the emerging challenges. Indeed, the digital financial …

Don't Get Burned: Why The De-Spac Transaction Must Be Excluded From The Pslra's Safe Harbor Provision For Forward-Looking Statements, Jean-Claire Perini

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

China's Foreign Investment Law: Moving Toward Greater Liberalization?, Xianjun Feng, Chuanhui Wang

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Freeing Cryptoassets From Howey: A Defense Of Genuine Token Offering, Kathryn A. Daly

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is the most powerful regulator of the U.S. securities market and serves to “protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation.” The agency’s task of protecting retail investors and regulating market participants has been, at times, reduced to a binary choice between “Main Street” investors and “Wall Street” insiders. Some regulators and legislators rely on this binary to put pressure on cryptoassets, claiming that more regulation leads to more effective investor protections. This Note rejects that premise. Genuine tokens offerings (i.e., unregistered security offerings not designed to defraud investors) must be …

In Vogue Again: The Re-Rise Of Spacs In The Ipo Market, Maria Lucia Passador

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

If the capital markets described the year 2020 in a few words, it would certainly be Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPACs), which - although to a different extent - are now gaining momentum on both shores of the pond. While, in the United States, SPACs are really enjoying a new lease on life due to the pandemic, the outlook seems positive in Europe too, although data are not comparable to those registered across the Atlantic. This article focuses on SPACs in the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (between January 2010 and December 2019), in order to understand their …

Targeted Regulation Of Proxy Voting Advice: Balancing Monitoring With Information Flow In The Age Of Esg, Jara R.Y. Jacobson

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Proxy voting advice businesses have historically been guided by disjointed rules and regulations based on their relationship to other entities, but under a 2020 rulemaking they were officially brought under the auspices of the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, after a change in presidential administrations, the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2021 issued a proposed amendment which, if adopted, would rescind some of the more contentious elements of the initial 2020 rulemaking. This Note considers how, even if the 2021 proposed amendments are adopted, the Securities and Exchange Commission can simultaneously regulate and protect proxy voting advice businesses through the …

Walking Between The Lines: Why The Wright Line Standard Is Not Always Applicable While Employees Demand Safer Covid-19 Working Conditions, Michelle Verkhoglaz

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Before the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) July 2020 decision in General Motors LLC and Charles Robinson, employers faced difficulty in disciplining employees that engaged in protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when their behavior was abusive. However, this changed after the NLRB adopted the Wright Line standard in General Motors, a burden-shifting analysis that gives employers the opportunity to prove that the employer would have taken the same action even without the NLRA protected activity. Compared to the NLRB’s prior standards, this standard offers employers a clear-cut defense and the ability to adhere to discrimination laws …

Mutual Fund Advisory Fees: Forty Years Of Failure, Stewart L. Brown Phd., Cfa

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In the 1960s, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attempted to correct an oversight in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (ICA) that allowed investment management firms to overcharge investors, namely, the absence of enforceable protections over excessive fees. Congress, in the 1970 amendments to the ICA, was influenced by the investment management industry and the resultant legislation sent ambiguous signals to the judicial system. Lacking clear guidance from Congress, in the seminal fee case Gartenberg v. Merrill Lynch, the Second Circuit fashioned a fiduciary standard favorable to the investment management industry. Under this standard, no plaintiff has ever won …

The Anti-Money Laundering Framework For Precious Stones And Metals Dealers In Singapore, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Precious stones and metals have commonly been used throughout the world as a conduit for terrorism and money laundering activities. Such illicit use of these assets has called for its much-needed attention from a regulatory perspective. This is particularly relevant in a financial haven such as Singapore. Accordingly, this article seeks to explore how several of the most common trading and investment activities involving precious stones and metals in Singapore are regulated.

Decentralized Finance: Implications Of The So-Called Disintermediation Of Financial Services, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Decentralized Finance, known as DeFi, refers to the use of blockchain and digital assets or crypto-assets for the provision of financial services. Under this concept, services such as loans, insurance, crypto-asset exchanges, among others, are offered, are structured based on crypto-assets and through technologically decentralized applications. This chapter discusses the concept of DeFi and how it challenges the traditional market infrastructures of the financial sector, demystifying the idea of absolute decentralization, generally mentioned in the crypto-asset arena, from the perspective of decision-makers and governors of these decentralized applications. Subsequently, the chapter analyses the opportunities and challenges of DeFi for consumers, …

Patent Law’S Externality Asymmetry, Peter Lee

Cardozo Law Review

Technologies such as social media, autonomous vehicles, and “big data” analytics generate enormous benefits for society, but they also create substantial harms. Many of these effects take the form of externalities—external benefits and harms that a decisionmaker (such as an inventor) imposes on third parties without charge or compensation. Considering negative externalities, for example, social media networks spread misinformation throughout the electorate, autonomous vehicles threaten the jobs of millions of professional drivers, and predictive policing based on big data can lead to unreasonable searches and seizures. Externalities can cause inefficient resource allocation, and the classic remedy is to “internalize” externalities …

State Crypto Regulation: Competing Priorities Shaping Different Outcomes, John T. Bender

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

“Cryptomania” is approaching fever pitch. Public officials, practitioners, and investors alike are becoming convinced that what began as a thought experiment has given rise to a full-fledged movement that is here to stay. This movement could potentially transform the modern financial system as we know it.

Today, crypto assets and related platforms are increasingly being adopted to store, secure, and transmit massive amounts of monetary value worldwide. Enforcement agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission have ventured into the fray by employing existing legal regimes to regulate in this new frontier. At the …

Degree Of Satisfaction Of Elderly About The Services Provided To Them In Social Care Houses In White Beds Association, Yousef Mohammed Al-Shurman, Ferdous Hasan Omari

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the degree of satisfaction of the elderly about the (social, health, entertainment, psychological) services provided to them in social care houses. The sample of the study includes all residents of the White Beds Association for the care of the elderly in Amman. The researcher designed a questionnaire to use in the interviews with the elderly. The questionnaire has four items, and each item includes a group of questions about the service provided to them. The researcher interviewed all the members of the White Beds Association, whose health condition allowed this, (75 elderly people: 44 men …

Don't Forget The "G" In Esg: The Sec And Corporate Governance Disclosure, Jennifer O'Hare

Faculty Publications

For years, many shareholders—both institutional and individual investors—have pressured the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to require public companies to disclose more information about the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) risks facing the company. However, the SEC has generally refused calls to require public corporations to disclose, for example, how they are addressing climate change or workforce diversity challenges. With a new president in the White House and a new administration at the SEC, the SEC will soon propose new ESG disclosure rules, requiring more information about the “E” and the “S” in ESG. But the SEC has forgotten the …

The Future Of Ai Accountability In The Financial Markets, Gina-Gail S. Fletcher, Michelle M. Le

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Consumer interaction with the financial market ranges from applying for credit cards, to financing the purchase of a home, to buying and selling securities. And with each transaction, the lender, bank, and brokerage firm are likely utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes to augment their operations. While AI’s ability to process data at high speeds and in large quantities makes it an important tool for financial institutions, it is imperative to be attentive to the risks and limitations that accompany its use. In the context of financial markets, AI’s lack of decision-making transparency, often called the “black box problem,” …

How Discretionary Decision-Making Impacts The Financial Performance And Legal Disclosures Of S&P 500 Funds, Bernard S. Sharfman, Vincent Deluard

Brooklyn Law Review

When investment funds track the S&P 500, the index becomes more than just a list of 500 companies. The focus then becomes the financial and regulatory issues that arise from the discretionary decision-making power of the Index Committee that governs the S&P 500. Based on our empirical research and analysis, this article recommends a new principal risk disclosure under SEC Form N-1A, which we refer to as “selection risk,” to be included in the statutory and summary prospectuses of investment funds that track the S&P 500. This type of risk results when the Index Committee uses its discretionary decision-making power …

A True Sense Of Security: How Kirschner V. J.P. Morgan Chase Illustrates The Failings Of The Reves Family-Resemblance Test And The Need To Recognize Some Syndicated Loans As Securities For The Sake Of The Financial System, Aidan D. Mulry

Brooklyn Law Review

Following the 2008 financial crisis, Congress implemented a number of reforms aimed at ensuring that such a man-made disaster—fueled by greed and willful ignorance—is not permitted to happen again. On the surface, these reforms appear to be a success; however, under the surface, there is currently a capital market that is effectively ignored, not only by the reforms passed in the wake of the financial crisis, but by virtually all securities regulation. This capital market, which revolves around so-called syndicated loans, is estimated to be larger than the subprime-mortgage collateralized debt obligations market was at its apex, and yet it …

Taking It To The Bank: The Need For A Federal Legislative Safe Harbor For Financial Institutions Offering Services To State-Legal Marijuana-Related Businesses, Andrew Bloomfield

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

Imagine that you are a small business owner. Rather than opening a new coffee shop, craft brewery, or chic clothing store, you decide to enter one of the fastest-growing industries in the country: marijuana (also referred to herein as “cannabis”). Your state, Washington, has recently legalized recreational use of marijuana, and your new marijuana-related business (MRB), Plantworks, has joined thousands of other licensed producers to supply the new growing market.

You and your business partner lease 2,500 square feet of industrial workspace in Seattle’s North End and produce several pounds of high-quality “craft” cannabis for distribution to local dispensaries. …

Chrismar Hotel Ltd V Stanbic Bank Zambia Ltd Scz Selected Judgment No 6 Of 2017 P. 160, Dunia P. Zongwe

SAIPAR Case Review

In the first semester of 2008, the appellant, Chrismar Hotel Ltd, needed finance to buy some equipment, including earth-moving equipment. It therefore solicited funds from the respondent bank, Stanbic Bank Zambia Ltd, with which it had held several accounts, obtained credit facilities (for example, mortgages and debentures), and established a longstanding relationship. The respondent bank agreed to lend money to the appellant hotel.

Thus, the hotel and the bank (hereinafter ‘the parties’) entered into eight distinct yet identically worded finance leases. For a total sum of 1.7 million US dollars, the eight leases each specified the amount that the respondent …