Showing archive for: “Corporate Governance”
The death of campaign finance regulation
In Arizona Free Enterprise Club, et al., v. Bennett, et al. and McComish, et al., v. Bennett, et al. the Court is deciding what seems to be a couple of relatively narrow issues: (1) Whether the First Amendment forbids states from providing additional government subsidies to publicly financed candidates that are triggered by independent expenditure ... The death of campaign finance regulation
Bonuses for prosecutors
Walter Olson has been posting on a Colorado plan to give bonuses to prosecutors based on conviction rates. His latest post on why this is a bad idea says “[v]ery similar logic helps explain the historically prevailing ban on contingency fees for lawyers in most Western legal systems.” Actually, this is worse. First, there’s a ... Bonuses for prosecutors
What happened to IPOs redux
A couple of months ago I asked, “what happened to IPOs.” Today’s WSJ asks almost the exact same question and gets the same answer: The elephant in the room is the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law, which triggered billions of dollars in new compliance costs for public companies. * * * The question for companies now, as ... What happened to IPOs redux
The counterproductive effects of SOX and Dodd-Frank
Much significant regulation has been inflicted on the financial markets over the last decade with little regard for evidence of whether the regulation is likely to accomplish its intended purpose. A couple of recent studies on SOX and Dodd-Frank suggest that at least some of this regulation has made things worse. Kim and Lu, Unintended Consequences ... The counterproductive effects of SOX and Dodd-Frank
The Dodd-Frank debacle, takeover edition
The so-called “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” was supposed to fix the problems that led to the financial bust. Of course, that would require some understanding of what, exactly, those problems were, which Congress lacked. The Act did little to fix the credit raters or the derivatives market that surely had something ... The Dodd-Frank debacle, takeover edition
More on Gupta-gate
I first addressed what I call “Gupta gate” a week ago in a post on “the SEC’s shrinking credibility.” There I noted: Guptagate is the SEC’s decision on March 1, the eve of its big Rajaratnam case, to file an administrative order against Rajat K. Gupta, former Goldman Sachs and P & G director, for ... More on Gupta-gate
AALS unincorporated business section call for papers
CALL FOR PAPERS AALS Section on Agency, Partnerships, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations 2012 AALS Annual Meeting Washington, D.C. The AALS Section on Agency, Partnerships, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations will hold a program during the AALS 2012 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on the subject of Using Unincorporated Business Entities for Non-Business or Non-Profit Purposes. Business ... AALS unincorporated business section call for papers
The continuing mystery of the Gupta case
Friday I wondered whether the SEC’s hurried decision to administratively charge former Goldman director Gupta with insider trading suggested it was “in league with Justice to patch a gaping hole in its case against R by tainting a key witness.” Then I updated with John Carney’s story that Justice actually opposed the SEC over these ... The continuing mystery of the Gupta case
Congressmen as securities traders
With all of the attention being given to insider trading by hedge funds and malfeasance by corporate executives, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the politicians who seek to impose discipline are themselves no angels. An important study published seven years ago revealed that U.S. senators were reaping returns from stock trading that strongly suggested they ... Congressmen as securities traders
Fuld, Mozilo and Raj
The WSJ reports that the investigation of Lehman’s collapse “has hit daunting hurdles that could result in no civil or criminal charges ever being filed against the company’s former executives.” The problem is that, despite Lehman’s examiner’s conclusion that Lehman used tricks (the famous Repo 105) to “paint a misleading picture of its financial condition,” Linklaters ... Fuld, Mozilo and Raj
The SEC’s shrinking credibility
Peter Henning discusses “the SEC under fire”, specifically Beckergate, which I’ve already discussed, and Guptagate, which I’ve been mulling since Sorkin’s Dealbook column last Monday. Henning observes that “the questions being asked could undermine the agency’s credibility as an effective regulator of the securities markets.” As for Beckergate, Henning notes (in addition to the issues ... The SEC’s shrinking credibility
The prosecutor finds a consolation prize
Lattman: Mr. Bharara’s focus on insider trading has surprised many people on Wall Street. They had expected his office to instead bring criminal charges against top executives at the large banks that were at the center of the financial crisis. The government’s gotten a lot of heat for not charging these executives, including at the ... The prosecutor finds a consolation prize
