In December 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States v. Newman, 773 F.3d 438 (2d Cir. 2014), overturned the insider trading convictions of hedge fund managers Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson.1 The court held that the “personal benefit” that an insider who reveals confidential information must receive in exchange…
Category: Blog Articles
Insider Trading Regulation of Derivatives under SEC Rule 10(b)-5 and Dodd Frank
The SEC generally refers to illegal insider trading as “the act of buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the security.”1 Intuitively, many people feel insider trading is an unfair abuse of information asymmetries that allows…
Growing Children’s Privacy Concerns for Tech Startups
In recent years, applications and online technology have increasingly been targeted at children. As a result of this child-focused technology, concerns have been raised about the privacy of the children using these products. Many of the producers of these technologies are small startups and therefore the discussion has remained rather minimal. However recently, a new…
Responding to the China-Led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank that aims to finance infrastructure in Asia and globally, was launched by China in October 2014 with a planned initial capitalization of $50 billion.1 As the March 31 deadline for joining as founding members of the AIIB2 draws near, the U.K. announced its application to…
The Government’s Scapegoat
The 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing legislation and regulation under Dodd-Frank have been at the center legal and economic scholarship since the onset of the crisis. How financial actors are to navigate new and uncharted regulatory territory has generally taken center stage. But what if that entire regulatory scheme hinges on the wrong premises? …
Will Pension Funds Leave Hedge Funds?
There are growing concerns that hedge funds, referred to as the “gold rush of the 21st century,” are troubling investments for pension funds.1 For instance, pension funds have decreased their investments in hedge funds by 25% from 2011 to 2014. 2 In September 2014, Calpers, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, stunned the investment world…
Stock Markets Move Towards Sidelining Shareholders
As the dust settles on Alibaba’s IPO, the single largest initial public offering to date, experts have turned their attention to a less-celebrated aspect: the relative lack of shareholder control in firm operations. Alibaba listed on the NYSE, an unexpected choice over the Hong Kong Stock Exchange1 Although every Alibaba share technically has equal rights,…
As tech acquisitions increase, shareholders’ voices diminish even further
Two of world’s largest technology companies, Facebook and Google, both opted for a dual-class capitalization structure for their respective initial public offerings (IPOs).1 Under this dual-class structure, the public holds Class A common stock with only one vote per share, while an insider’s Class B common stock is entitled to multiple votes per share.2 This…
Major League Soccer Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiations May Lead to a Player Strike, but Are Potential Antitrust Ramifications Overstated?
Major League Soccer (MLS) and the MLS Players’ Union are currently negotiating over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the world of major American sports leagues, this is not an unusual development, as sports leagues and player unions regularly negotiate every few years for new collective bargaining agreements.1 This negotiation, however, is not like every…
The Rate Escape
Over the past two weeks the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has come close to finalizing settlements with both the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) over pending litigation.1 In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the government, the public, and regulators across the country have pointed their…