Securities Law Commons^™

What’S The Harm In Issuer-Licensed Insider Trading?, John P. Anderson

Journal Articles

There is growing support for the claim that issuer-licensed insider trading (when the insider’s firm approves the trade in advance and has disclosed that it permits such trading pursuant to published guidelines) is economically efficient and morally harmless. But for the last thirty-five years, many scholars and the U.S. Supreme Court have relied on Professor William Wang’s “Law of Conservation of Securities” to rebut claims that insider trading can be victimless. This law is purported to show that every act of insider trading, even those licensed by the issuer, causes an identifiable harm to someone. This article argues that the …

Memo To The Obama Administration On The U.S. National Action Plan On Responsible Business Conduct, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In January 2015, CCSI sent a memo to President Obama to provide input on the U.S. National Action Plan on responsible business conduct. The memo applauded the U.S. Government’s decision to develop a National Action Plan consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, noting that responsible and rights-respecting outward investment can support sustainable development in host countries, and that the U.S. Government has an important role to play in promoting responsible business operations. The memo urged the government to explore in particular how the National Action Plan can address …

The Macroprudential Turn: From Institutional 'Safety And Soundness' To Systematic 'Financial Stability' In Financial Supervision, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Since the global financial dramas of 2008-09, authorities on financial regulation have come increasingly to counsel the inclusion of macroprudential policy instruments in the standard ‘toolkit’ of finance-regulatory measures employed by financial supervisors. The hallmark of this perspective is its focus not simply on the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions, as is characteristic of the traditional ‘microprudential’ perspective, but also on certain structural features of financial systems that can imperil such systems as wholes. Systemic ‘financial stability’ thus comes to supplement, though not to supplant, institutional ‘safety and soundness’ as a regulatory desideratum.

The move from primarily micro- …

Halliburton, Basic, And Fraud On The Market: The Need For A New Paradigm, Charles W. Murdock

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Rodrigo’S Abstraction: Capitalism Inequality & Reform Over Time And Space, Steven A. Ramirez

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

The Significance And Impact Of Price Distortion And The Fraud-On-The-Market Theory After Halliburton Ii, Charles W. Murdock

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This past summer, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (“Halliburton II”), in which the Court held that a defendant may establish lack of price impact at the certification stage to establish a lack of reliance based upon the fraud-on-the-market theory. This was the third decision in three years dealing with the fraud-on-the-market approach to establishing commonality with respect to reliance by plaintiffs on management’s misrepresentations. In so doing, the Supreme Court retained market efficiency as an element of the fraud-on-the-market theory, but also reflected a broader and …

Political Uncertainty And The Market For Ipos, Jay B. Kesten, Murat C. Mungan

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Justice Scalia's Hat Trick And The Supreme Court's Flawed Understanding Of Twenty-First Century Arbitration, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this article, I report on the results of my close examination of more than two dozen opinions the Court has handed down interpreting the FAA--arising primarily from commercial, consumer, employment, or securities disputes--since the beginning of the twenty-first century only fifteen years ago.19 I focus on cases in which the Court was asked to decide a question of arbitrability--whether a claim is arbitrable or whether an agreement to arbitrate is enforceable under FAA section 2. I have concluded that these decisions are built on a narrative of an arbitration process that no longer exists, although it may have existed …

Anticipating A Sea Change For Insider Trading Law: From Trading Plan Crisis To Rational Reform, John P. Anderson

Utah Law Review

The Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to take action in the face of compelling evidence that corporate insiders are availing themselves of rule-sanctioned Trading Plans to beat the market. These Trading Plans allow insiders to trade while aware of material nonpublic information. Since the market advantage insiders have enjoyed from Plan trading can be traced to loopholes in the current regulatory scheme, increased enforcement of the existing rules cannot address the issue. But, simply tweaking the existing rule structure to close these loopholes would not work either. This is because the SEC adopted the current rule as a part …

A Corporation’S Securities Litigation Gambit: Fee-Shifting Provisions That Defend Against Fraud-On-The-Market, Steven W. Lippman

Law Student Publications

This comment lays out a framework that should allow corporations to strategically defend themselves against frivolous and meritless 10b-5 class action suits invoking Basic's Fraude-on-the-Market ("FOM") presumption of reliance. Part I of this comment discusses the current landscape of securities class action litigation. It explains how and why the suits are initiated and discusses the outcome of Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (Halliburton II). Part II discusses the framework for the proposition of this comment. It provides a brief history of significant cases and incorporates several recent cases that have opened the door to the possibility of …

The Financial Action Task Force: International Regulatory Convergence Through Soft Law, Nicholas W. Turner

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Happened To The American Dream - An Analysis Of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act And Its Effect On Home Ownership., Nathan Torok, Mark Torok

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Halliburton And The Dog That Didn't Bark, Ann Lipton

Publications

In Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., the Supreme Court held that defendants in a Section 10(b) class action may use the class-certification process to rebut the "fraud on the market" presumption that their misstatements impacted the price of the relevant security. In so doing, the Court struggled to explain why the class-certification process—rather than trial on the merits—was the proper venue for such disputes, and avoided the most obvious justification, namely, that in the absence of price impact, plaintiffs would still be able to bring individual claims. The Court's unwillingness to hold that plaintiffs may bring …

Keep Securities Reform Moving: Eliminate The Sec's Integration Doctrine, Stuart R. Cohn

Hofstra Law Review

Small and developing companies raising capital under the federal securities laws often face the considerable barrier imposed by the SEC's integration doctrine. Despite recent reforms in registration exemptions the integration doctrine has remained untouched and continues to be a significant problem for many companies needing multiple infusions of capital. This article examines and recommends that the integration doctrine be eliminated nearly in its entirety.

Superstar Judges As Entrepreneurs: The Untold Story Of Fraud-On-The-Market, Margaret V. Sachs

Scholarly Works

This Article unites two disparate subjects of profound interest to legal scholars. One is fraud-on-the-market, reaffirmed late last term in Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co. (Halliburton II). Probably the most important claim in the securities litigation universe, fraud-on-the-market is the sine qua non of almost every securities class action that is filed. The other subject consists of the work of Judges Frank Easterbrook and Richard Posner, the “superstars” of the current federal appellate bench.

My purpose is several-fold: first, to show that fraud-on-the-market’s evolution, up through and culminating in Halliburton II, has been driven in significant measure …

Is The Price Right? An Empirical Study Of Fee-Setting In Securities Class Actions, Michael A. Perino, Lynn A. Baker, Charles Silver

Faculty Publications

Every year, fee awards enable millions of people to obtain access to justice and strengthen the deterrent effect of the law by motivating lawyers to handle class actions. But little research exists on why judges award the amounts they do or whether they size fee awards correctly. The process remains a black box. Through a detailed study of 431 securities class actions that settled in federal district courts from 2007 through 2012, this Article presents the first empirical study to peer inside that black box. In contrast to prior analyses, this study relies on the actual court filings in each …

Major Investor Losses Due To Conflicted Advice: Brokerage Industry Advertising Creates The Illusion Of A Fiduciary Duty, Joseph C. Peiffer, Christine Lazaro

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

No national standard exists today requiring brokerage firms to put their clients’ interests first by avoiding making profits from conflicted advice. In the five years since the passage of the Dodd Frank Act, inaction by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a fiduciary standard has cost American investors nearly $80 billion, based on estimated losses of $17 billion per year.

Amid encouraging recent signs of possible action from the Department of Labor and the SEC, there is a compelling case to be made for a ban on conflicted advice in order to protect investors. In the absence of …

Suitability Obligations Applicable To Securities And Annuities, Christine Lazaro, Benjamin P. Edwards

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Brokers are subject to different regulatory obligations depending on the type of product being recommended to a customer. Generally, brokers are subjected to overlapping oversight and are regulated at both the federal and state level. This oversight becomes even further complicated when a broker sells a product that spans multiple regulatory schemes such as certain annuities, which may be both insurance and securities products.

This article describes a broker’s suitability obligations under the new suitability rule when making recommendations which are covered by that rule. Next, it describes the additional obligations that a broker has when making a recommendation …

Introduction: Data Breaches: Moving Forward, Practically, Cindy E. Zuniga

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Cardozo Law Review de•novo’s online symposium: Data Breaches: Moving Forward, Practically focuses on proactive steps that policymakers, regulators, the judiciary, and businesses can take to address the array of issues arising from data breaches. The online symposium features articles from Lauren Henry, Adam Lamparello, Peter Yu, and David Thaw.

Blockchain: A Proposal To Reform High Frequency Trading Regulation, Christina Batog

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.