Diversity, equity and inclusion has gained substantial traction as a major business and social initiative in the past decade. Organizations committed to the goal of creating more diverse and inclusive workspaces range from private businesses to institutes of higher education to non-profit foundations and engage in a wide array of business activities such as technology,…
Tag: Regulation
Cartel Leniency Following the Wind of Change
On July 11 of this year, the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, announced a new policy to incentivize criminal antitrust compliance.1 Prior to this announcement, the only avenue for culpable antitrust violators to avoid trial or a guilty plea was to be the first company in their cartel…
Updates to Credit Default Swap Terms: Too Little, Too Late?
Credit default swaps became notorious financial instruments and symbols of financial engineering run amok during the 2007-8 financial crisis. Once worth over $60 trillion a year, the credit default swap market has shrunk significantly, but it is still worth nearly $10 trillion a year.1 A credit default swap is a financial derivative contract that pays…
Getting to a Financial Stress Test Equilibrium
On May 24, 2018, President Trump signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (“EGRRCPA”).1 This law loosened several regulatory requirements instituted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) after the 2008 Financial Crisis.2 The EGRRCPA removed, inter alia, a Dodd-Frank requirement that prudential bank regulators and bank holding…
Rideshare, Regulation, and Rights: How Los Angeles’ initiative to monitor “dockless mobility” companies is complicated by individual privacy rights
Cities all over the country have seen their streets transformed overnight – sometimes literally – by the addition of personal electronic scooters.1 Taking the baton from Uber (who is trying to take it back), companies such as Bird, Lime and Spin have provided the public with another means of shared transportation. Unlike rideshare, dockless mobility…
Insurance! What Is It Good For? Misplaced Liability for California’s Wildfires
It is no secret that California has consistently suffered some of the worst wildfires in United States history.1 Blazes in 2017 caused more than $10 billion in damages, the most in the state’s history.2 The fires, which exist everywhere from Santa Barbara and Malibu to Napa and, most recently, the City of Paradise, destroy houses,…
The SEC, Cybersecurity, and Voya
Introduction According to Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2017, there were 16.7 million victims of identity fraud and $16.8 billion was stolen.1 Even more shockingly, “30 percent of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach last year.”2 With another large company being hacked seemingly every week,3 the SEC is feeling the pressure to do…
Crackdown on Airbnb Highlights Diverse Municipal Approaches to Regulation
Over the past few years, there has been a surge in the size and importance of the digital sharing economy. The short-term home rental ecosystem in particular has seen explosive growth.1 A leader in the space, Airbnb has rapidly grown to be one of the most successful of the new sharing economy companies. Founded just…
California’s Proposition 65 and the Danger of Over-regulation
During the week of March 26, 2018, California announced that coffee shops are required to post warnings that the coffee customers are drinking may cause cancer.1 Such warnings are common in California thanks to Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”)—a thirty-year old California law mandating businesses to post cancer warnings if they sell products that contain substances…
Bitconnect: A Case Study in the Government Regulation Paradox
Within the past year, cryptocurrency has undoubtedly become the hottest topic of discussion in the investing world. A “collective insanity” over cryptocurrencies has spurred something akin to a 21st century gold rush.1 This is clearly reflected in the valuation of the cryptocurrency market as a whole. The cryptocurrency market cap increased by over 3,300%…