Showing archive for: “Financial Regulation”
Election 2010 and Financial Services Politics
I thought it would be interesting to blog some of the rumors currently circulating about what the election will mean for the makeup of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee. The makeup of the Senate Banking Committee is, I would argue, the single most important driver shaping financial services legislation. The ... Election 2010 and Financial Services Politics
The limits of fiduciary duties: tomorrow at B.U.
Tomorrow at Boston University I’ll be joining a distinguished group to discuss the Role of Fiduciary Law and Trust in the 21st Century, inspired by the work of Professor Tamar Frankel. Those who have followed my work will not be surprised that I’m going to focus on the limits of fiduciary duties, and their inappropriate ... The limits of fiduciary duties: tomorrow at B.U.
Citizens United and the shareholder protection gambit
Last January in Citizens United the Supreme Court delivered a blow to the opponents of corporate speech by enabling corporations to spend directly on political campaigns rather than relying on PACs and lobbying. A majority of the Court concluded that public debate could be best promoted by protecting all speech, regardless of speaker. A sizable ... Citizens United and the shareholder protection gambit
Put-backs: How much are the banks worth?
BoA is trading around $11. Its book value is $21.45. The difference has a lot to do with whether investors in mortgage-backed securities will be able to get BoA (and other banks) to repurchase hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities because the bonds didn’t meet representations and warranties in the bond contracts. Here’s ... Put-backs: How much are the banks worth?
Say on Pay
A late Monday press release from the Securities and Exchange Commission announces a rule proposal to implement the say on pay requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act. I testified before both houses of Congress against the legislative authorizing language in Dodd-Frank that the SEC uses to promulgate the rule. My testimony before the House Financial Services ... Say on Pay
The roots of foreclosure-gate: incentives and lawyers
Careless or even fraudulent documentation in foreclosure actions has stalled foreclosures, stymied recovery of the housing market, threatened the earnings and even financial stability of banks, and may lead to massive securities fraud actions. How did this happen? Per CR: [A] combination of getting swamped with foreclosures, lack of experienced staff, the poor economic environment ... The roots of foreclosure-gate: incentives and lawyers
Does the Insider Trading Ban Apply to Congressional Staffers?
In a front-page article entitled Congress Staffers Gain from Trading in Stocks, the Wall Street Journal reports that “72 aides on both sides of the aisle traded shares of companies that their bosses help oversee.” That finding was based on an “analysis of more than 3,000 disclosure forms covering trading activity by Capitol Hill staffers ... Does the Insider Trading Ban Apply to Congressional Staffers?
Thomas and Wells on executive compensation
We recently welcomed Harwell Wells to the Illinois Corporate Colloquium to discuss his and Randall Thomas’s Executive Compensation in the Courts: Board Capture, Optimal Contracting and Officer Fiduciary Duties. The paper suggests a new approach to controlling executive compensation: the courts. The paper is partly historical, noting that courts have, in fact, been “surprisingly ... Thomas and Wells on executive compensation
Incentive compensation for asset managers
I’ve argued, e.g., in Rise of the Uncorporation, that a reason why the uncorporation beats the corporation for some types of firms is the high-powered incentives these firms offer their managers. Sometimes the incentives may not be obvious because percentages, e.g., for “carried interest,” seem not to vary much across firms. But that can be ... Incentive compensation for asset managers
The face of the financial crisis: on Forbes.com
Looking for the “face” of the financial crisis? You don’t have to look far, as I explain on Forbes.com.
Who caused the subprime bubble?
Mian, Sufi, and Trebbi have and answer in The Political Economy of the Subprime Mortgage Credit Expansion: the government, mortgage lenders and mortgage borrowers. Here’s the abstract: We examine how special interests, measured by campaign contributions from the mortgage industry, and constituent interests, measured by the share of subprime borrowers in a congressional district, may have ... Who caused the subprime bubble?
Money Never Sleeps (but audiences might)
Ok, so I went and saw the movie, thanks to my entrepreneurial colleague Christine Hurt, who already has a post up. Read this post for the basics. I plan to follow up with a much longer analysis when I get the time. Here’s some stuff that should suffice for now. First, the movie stinks. It’s ... Money Never Sleeps (but audiences might)
