Securities Law Prof Blog

Notice of Scholars' Positions at Max Planck Institute

The Director of the new Max Planck Institute in Luxembourg has asked me to post this notice for scholars, which I am pleased to do (Download MPI_business_law):

The newly founded Max Planck Institute Luxemburg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law is seeking to hire senior and junior legal researchers on either a temporary (from one to five years) or permanent basis. The fields of research are:

- Listed corporations and corporate governance
- IPOs and takeovers
- Regulation of intermediaries and mutual funds
- Regulation of stock exchanges and other financial markets
- Banking regulation

Candidates should have a proven record of effective research at the international level or, for more junior positions, show a strong potential for research. Jurists and legal scholars are preferred, but economists will also be considered. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in one of the fields of research and/or an LL.M., will be fluent in English and will ideally know one or two different languages spoken in the European Union. The working language of the Institute is English. The Institute aims at being one of the leading research institutions in Europe.

The positions do not include any teaching obligations, and researchers will be free to focus exclusively on research. Significant funds will be provided for research expenses, including the organization of seminars and conferences and a travel budget. Compensation is competitive with leading universities and research institutions. The specific terms of each position will depend on candidates’ seniority and interests.

Applications should be sent via email, completed with an updated CV, selected publications, a motivation letter and an indication of the field of research you are interested in, at applications@mpi-ierpl.lu.

For further information, please contact information@mpi-ierpl.lu.

The deadline for the applications is June 30, 2012, but late applications will be considered as well as long as there are still available positions.

 

SEC Historical Society Upcoming Events

Here are some upcoming events at the SEC Historical Society that may be of interest to readers.  They are webcast at the Society's website.

A Creative Irritant: Upcoming Broadcast on June 7th at noon

"A Creative Irritant: The Relationship between the SEC and Accounting Standard Setters." 
Moderated by George Fritz, curator of The Adkerson Gallery, the presenters will include:
• Dennis Beresford, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia and former Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board;
• Edmund Jenkins, former Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board, and retired partner, Arthur Andersen & Co.; and
• Clarence Sampson, former SEC Chief Accountant.
 
The program will be preceded by a State of the SEC Historical Society address by Robert J. Kueppers, 2012-13 President; and remarks on the tenth anniversary of the virtual museum and archive of the history of financial regulation by Carla Rosati, Society Executive Director and founder of the museum.
 
The live video broadcast will be free and accessible worldwide without prior registration.
  
Looking Back: 30th Anniversary of Regulation D

The thirtieth anniversary of the enactment of Regulation D comes simultaneously with the passage of the Jumpstart our Business Startups (Jobs) Act, which has been criticized for potentially exposing investors to fraud.
 
The enactment of Regulation D in 1982 addressed the issue of the cost of capital formation by setting out safe harbors from '33 Act registration for private and limited offerings. For a look back at Regulation D, listen to:
• Oral histories interviews with Mary "Mickey" Beach, Edward Greene, William Morley, Richard Rowe and Carl Schneider.
• Programs on Safe Harbors (March 30, 2004), Cross-Border Regulation (September 20, 2005), and the SEC Division of Corporation Finance (February 24, 2009).
 
 

Call For Papers: St. John's Law Review Symposium on Regulation of Financial Advice

Call For Papers
"Revolution in the Regulation of Financial Advice: the US, the UK and Australia"
Opening Speaker: Brian Shea, Chief Executive Officer of Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company

Recently, Australia and the UK have been carrying out radical reforms in compensation practices for investment advice to retail customers.   These reforms contrast sharply with the normal US practices of transparency and increased disclosure requirements.  On Friday, October 12, 2012, the St. John’s Law Review, in conjunction with the St. John’s Center for International and Comparative Law, will host a symposium featuring panelists from the United States, Australia, and the UK exploring recent developments in the regulatory regimes of those countries.  Specifically, the symposium will discuss the future of investment adviser regulation after Dodd-Frank in the US, the Future of Financial Advice in Australia, the Retail Distribution Review in the UK and other international developments in the regulation of financial advice. It will examine the benefits of different regulatory plans affecting broker-dealers and investment advisers ranging from mandatory disclosure to more substantive regulation preventing conflicts of interest.

The sponsors invite practitioners and scholars to submit papers advancing a novel perspective or proposal regarding the regulation of investment advisers in the United States, Australia, or the UK.  In order to include a broad range of papers, we ask that submissions be limited to a maximum of 8,000 words exclusive of footnotes.  All papers should be cited according to traditional journal conventions and submitted, along with the author’s curriculum vitae, to the following email address: RevRegConference.SJULaw@Gmail.Com. We ask that you submit your papers by August 20, 2012.

Final Call for Papers: National Business Law Scholars Conference

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS

National Business Law Scholars Conference  
June 27-28, 2012
University of Cincinnati College of Law
 
The deadline has been extended for the National Business Law Scholars Conference (NBLSC), formerly known as the Midwest Corporate Legal Scholars Conference.  The planners of the event have received an enthusiastic response from over three dozen academics from across the nation who plan to attend.

The event will be held on Wednesday, June 27th and Thursday, June 28th at University of Cincinnati College of Law in Cincinnati, Ohio.  We welcome all on-topic submissions and will attempt to provide the opportunity for everyone to actively participate. 

The conference will feature a panel discussion: "Good, Bad or Stupid: The STOCK and JOBS Acts." Panelists (to date) include Steven Davidoff (Ohio State), Joan Heminway (Tennessee), and Donna Nagy (Indiana-Bloomington).

To submit a presentation, email Professor Eric C. Chaffee at echaffee1@udayton.edu with an abstract or paper by May 25, 2012.  Please title the email “NBLSC Submission – {Name}”.  If you would like to attend, but not present, email Professor Chaffee with an email entitled “NBLSC Attendance”.  Please specify in your email whether you are willing to serve as a commentator or moderator.  A conference schedule will be circulated in early June.

Conference Organizers:

Barbara Black
Eric C. Chaffee
Steven M. Davidoff

Happy 75 to Rule 10b-5!

The SEC Historical Society will be featuring the 75th anniversary of Rule 10b-5 on its website in April.

Read the minutes of the Commission meeting adopting 10b-5. For a behind the scenes view, read Mayer Newfield’s February 8, 1996 letter to Milton Freeman; both were present at the Commission meeting.

To learn more about the use and impact of 10b-5, visit the 10b-5 section in the “Fair To All People: The SEC and the Regulation of Insider Trading” Gallery; access the Insider Trading section in “The Bright Image: The SEC, 1961-1973” Gallery, or listen to the May 22, 2007 Fireside Chat on Insider Trading.

SEC Historical Society Presents Webcast on Ponzi Schemes

The SEC Historical Society has an interesting live audio program on Ponzi Schemes coming up.  For more information, visit its website.

Ponzi Scheme Puzzles

Wednesday, April 11th, 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET.

Moderator
Eric Roiter
Boston University School of Law and Boston College School of Law
Trustee-Elect, SEC Historical Society

Presenters
Tamar Frankel, Boston University School of Law
Donald Langevoort, Georgetown University Law Center
Francis Morrissey, Morrissey Wilson & Zafiropoulos LLP

 

U Cincinnati Presents Symposium on Dodd-Frank March 30

The 25th Annual Corporate Law Symposium at the University of Cincinnati College of Law will be held on March 30.  The topic is Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall St. Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the panelists represent a variety of viewpoints from the academic, policy-making and legal communities.  If you are in the Cincinnati area, we would love to see you!  It will also be webcast.

(Download CLSProgramFINAL)

Harvey Goldschmid on "Survival of Investor Protection"

The SEC Historical Society will have a live broadcast tomorrow of a lecture by Harvey J. Goldschmid, a professor at Columbia Law School and former SEC Commissioner and General Counsel.  The title of the lecture is "Survival of Investor Protection."  The emphasis is mine and the choice of words, I think, is telling -- not "Enhancement," not "Improvement," but "Survival" of Investor Protection.  The lecture is at 4 p.m.; for further information, go to the Society's website: www.sechistorical.org

 

Black on the SEC and the FCPA

I recently posted on SSRN my paper, The SEC and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Fighting Global Corruption is Not Part of the SEC's Mission.  Here is the abstract:

In recent years, as both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have stepped up their enforcement efforts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has been the subject of harsh criticism. Although critics have identified a variety of flaws in both the law and its enforcement, no one has seriously questioned a basic policy choice: why an agency whose mission is to protect investors is charged with civil enforcement of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. Congress conferred this authority on the SEC in 1977 despite the agency’s statements that it did not fit within its mission. For over twenty years the SEC brought few actions involving allegations of foreign bribery and supported Congressional efforts to consolidate enforcement in the DOJ. By contrast, the SEC began to enforce the FCPA in the early 2000s with increasing enthusiasm. It has set up a specialized unit and publicized its large settlements, without ever providing an explanation of how enforcing the foreign bribery provision relates to the agency’s mission “to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”

I first review the legislative history, the “quiet” years prior to the early 2000s, and the SEC’s aggressive enforcement since then. I then make two arguments. First, since combating global corruption is not part of the agency’s mission, enforcement of the FCPA should be consolidated in the DOJ. Second, while “agency creep” is often described as resulting from agencies’ self-aggrandizing efforts to expand their power, the history of the FCPA illustrates a different problem: Congress giving an agency a power that it does not want and that diverts scarce resources from its core mission.

This paper is prepared for the Ohio State Law Journal's March 16 symposium on "The FCPA at Thirty Five and its Impact on Global Business."  For more information about the symposium, see the OSU website.  My paper is a work-in-progress, and I would be grateful for comments.

 

National Business Law Scholars Conference: Call for Papers

The National Business Law Scholars Conference (NBLSC), formerly known as the Midwest Corporate Legal Scholars Conference, will be held on Wednesday, June 27th and Thursday, June 28th at University of Cincinnati College of Law in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This is the third annual meeting of the NBLSC, which has been renamed this year to reflect its national scope and the widely varied interests of its participants.  We welcome all on-topic submissions and will attempt to provide the opportunity for everyone to actively participate.  We will also attempt to assign a commentator for each paper presented.  Junior scholars are especially encouraged participate, and we will hold a special “how-to” panel for prospective business law scholars discussing the job market and transitioning into the legal academy. 

To submit a presentation, email Professor Eric C. Chaffee at echaffee1@udayton.edu with an abstract or paper by April 15, 2012.  Please title the email “NBLSC Submission – {Name}”.  If you would like to attend, but not present, email Professor Chaffee with an email entitled “NBLSC Attendance”.  Please specify in your email whether you are willing to serve as a commentator or moderator.  A conference schedule will be circulated in early June.

Conference Organizers:

Barbara Black (University of Cincinnati)
Eric C. Chaffee (University of Dayton)
Steven M. Davidoff (The Ohio State University)

Texas Tech Seeks Securities/M&A/Corporate Governance Visitor

Texas Tech University School of Law is looking for visiting professors.  The school's highest priority is to cover business/securities/corporate courses.  Here is the announcement:

Texas Tech University School of Law is seeking applications for one- and two-semester (full time) visitors during the 2012-13 academic year.  Anticipated curricular needs include courses in business entities, business analysis for lawyers, corporate governance, securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions, property, energy law, agricultural law, natural resources law, environmental law, employment law, employment discrimination law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, criminal law, health law, animal law, and law and science.  Applicants with full-time law school teaching experience fitting the curricular needs are especially encouraged to apply, as are women, minorities, and veterans.   Along with a resume (PDF), an applicant should e-mail a single page cover letter (PDF) identifying the two or three courses he or she is best prepared to teach.  Texas Tech University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.     Applicants should e-mail Professor Michael Hatfield c/o Michele Thaetig at michele.thaetig@ttu.edu with “2012-13 Faculty Visitor Application” and the two or three specific courses in the subject line.  Review of applications will begin in mid-January.

UCLA Institute Accepting Applications for Law Teaching Fellowship

The Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law is now accepting applications for the Lowell Milken Institute Law Teaching Fellowship.  This fellowship is a full-time, year-round, one or two academic-year position (approximately July 2012 through June 2013 or June 2014).  The position involves law teaching, legal and policy research and writing, preparing to go on the law teaching market, and assisting with organizing projects such as conferences and workshops, and teaching.  No degree will be offered as part of the Fellowship program.

For additional information, download this: Download Lowell Milken Institute Law Teaching Fellowship Advertisement 2011-12 final

Fordham's Securities Law Moot Court Seeks Judges

Fordham Law's Kaufman Securities Law Moot Court Competition is looking for a few good judges!  I am happy to post the following notice on its behalf:

Each spring, Fordham University School of Law hosts the Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition.  Held in honor of Chief Judge Kaufman, a Fordham Alumnus who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Kaufman Competition has a rich tradition of bringing together complex securities law issues, talented student advocates, and top legal minds.    

 The year’s Kaufman Competition will take place on March 23, 2012 to March 25, 2012.

Our esteemed final round panel includes Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr., of the Tenth Circuit; Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the Ninth Circuit; Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr., of the Sixth Circuit; Judge Richard A. Posner, of the Seventh Circuit; Judge Jane Richards Roth, of the Third Circuit; and Commissioner Troy A. Paredes, of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

 We are currently soliciting practitioners and academics to judge oral argument rounds and grade competition briefs.  No securities law experience is required to participate and CLE credit is available.

Information about the Kaufman Competition and an online Judge Registration Form is available on our website.  Please contact Michael A. Kitson, Kaufman Editor, at KaufmanMC@law.fordham.edu or (212) 636-6882 with any questions.

 

Capital University: Conference on Foreclosure Crisis

Capital University Law School, my neighbor to the north in Columbus, Ohio, has announced what looks to be a terrific conference: The Foreclosure Crisis: New Strategies for Addressing the National and Local Calamity on October 28, 2011.  Steven L. Schwarcz (Duke) will speak on Structuring Responsibility in Securitization Transactions, and Richard Cordray, nominee for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will speak on the CFPB's work.  Check out the website for further information.

This Week: Midwest Corporate Scholars Conference

The Second Annual Midwest Corporate Scholars Conference will be held this Wednesday June 15 at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law in Columbus, Ohio.  The full-day program features corporate scholars from across the country presenting papers on a variety of topics.  For more information, visit the Ohio State website.

Call for Papers -- AALS Securities Regulation Section

Call for Papers Announcement: AALS Section on Securities Regulation

2012 AALS Annual Meeting
Friday, January 6, 2012
10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

The AALS Section on Securities Regulation will hold a program during the AALS 2012 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. The topic is “Exploring the Regulatory Response to the Financial Crisis.”  The program will include presentations by SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes, Professor Lynn Stout (UCLA), Professor Robert Thompson (Georgetown), and two additional speakers chosen via this Call for Papers.

Eligibility:
Faculty members of AALS member schools are eligible to submit papers.  Faculty members of fee-paid law schools, Foreign, visiting and adjunct faculty members, graduate students, and fellows are not eligible to submit.

Submissions
Eligible faculty members interested in presenting a paper should send a draft or proposal to William Sjostrom at william.sjostrom@law.arizona.edu by August 15, 2011.  Decisions will be announced by September 15, 2011.

Registration Fee and Expenses:
Call for Paper participants will be responsible for paying their annual meeting registration fee and travel expenses.

How will papers be reviewed?
Papers will be selected after review by members of the Executive Committee of the Section.

Contact for submission and inquiries:
William Sjostrom
Chair, AALS Section on Securities Regulation
University of Arizona
James E. Rogers College of Law
1201 E. Speedway Boulevard
P.O. Box 210176
Tucson, AZ 85721
520.626.6451
william.sjostrom@law.arizona.edu

Final Call for Papers: Midwest Corporate Scholars Conference June 15

We have had an enthusiastic reponse to the call for papers for the second annual Midwest Corporate Law Scholars Conference (MCLSC) meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, June 15th, at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law in Columbus, Ohio.  The meeting is open to all corporate law scholars, and, to date, over thirty have indicated they plan to attend.  It is not too late to participate; we have extended the deadline for submissions to May 15.  We welcome all on-topic paper submissions and will attempt to provide the opportunity for all submitted papers to be presented.  Junior scholars are particularly encouraged to submit papers, and we will attempt to assign a commentator for each junior paper presented.

To submit a presentation, email Profess Eric C. Chaffee at eric.chaffee@notes.udayton.edu with an abstract or paper by May 15, 2011. Please title the email “MCLSC Submission – {Name}”. If you would like to attend, but not present a paper email Professor Chaffee with an email entitled “MCLSC Attendance”.  Please specify in your email whether you are willing to serve as a commentator.

A conference schedule will be circulated in the latter part of May.  Presentations will start in the morning and end late afternoon. Ohio State is graciously providing breakfast and lunch at the conference.  In addition, we will arrange an informal gathering at a local watering hole the evening before the conference for those who are interested.

We hope to see you soon!

Conference Organizers

Barbara Black
Eric C. Chaffee
Steven M. Davidoff

ProPublica Reporters Receive Pulitzer for Reporting on Wall Street

Congratulations to ProPublica reporters Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein, who have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for their stories on how some Wall Street bankers, seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of their clients and sometimes even their own firms, at first delayed but then worsened the financial crisis.

SEC Historical Society's April 28 Webcast on Pay to Play

FIRESIDE CHAT with the SEC Historical Society presents: Pay to Play, With

David Clapp, Retired Partner, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
and former Chairman, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
and
Ronald Stack, Managing Director, Wells Fargo
and former Chairman, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board

Moderated by Professor Lisa Fairfax, The George Washington University Law School
Live Audio Broadcast, Thursday April 28th • 2:00 p.m. ET

Send in your questions for the Fireside Chat by April 27th.

U Missouri Call for Papers: International Dispute Resolution Conference

The University of Missouri School of Law has put out a call for papers and proposals in connection with the annual symposium hosted by the award-winning Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution.  This year’s symposium is international in scope and is entitled “Border Skirmishes: The Intersection Between Litigation and International Commercial Arbitration.”  The conference features world-renowned author, arbitrator and advocate Gary Born as keynote speaker as well as expert panelists from Canada, Austria, Switzerland and the United States.  The symposium will be held on October 21, 2011, with papers to be published in the Journal of Dispute Resolution.

The call (Download Call - combined (2)) relates to two events that are being organized in connection with this year’s symposium: 

• A works-in-progress conference for academics to be held on October 20, 2011, the day prior to the symposium itself (proposals due May 20, 2011); and

• A student writing competition with a $300 prize sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) North American Branch (papers due August 15, 2011).

Additional details are available on the symposium website: http://www.law.missouri.edu/csdr/symposium/2011/.  Submissions and questions should be directed to Professor S.I. Strong at strongsi@missouri.edu. 

London-based keynote speaker Gary Born was recently honored by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) for his scholarship and was named "Advocate of the Year" by the Global Arbitration Review at the annual GAR awards dinner in Seoul, Korea.  Mr. Born is the author of a number of leading publications on international arbitration and litigation, including International Commercial Arbitration (Kluwer 2009), International Forum Selection and Arbitration Agreements: Drafting and Enforcing (Kluwer 2010), International Arbitration: Cases and Materials (Aspen 2011), and International Civil Litigation in US Courts (Aspen 2007). Mr. Born has taught at Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, St. Gallen University, Georgetown University Law Center, University of Virginia College of Law, University College London and the University of Arizona College of Law.