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…
Tag: Dodd-Frank
New Conductor, New Song?: The Fight Over CFPB Leadership
Created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in wake of 2008 Financial Crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a unitary purpose: “watching out for American consumers in the market for consumer financial products and services.”1 Its tasks include monitoring financial markets for risks to consumers, rooting out unfair or deceptive practices, and providing financial…
Investment Modernization Act of 2016: Part 1 of 2
PART I: What Is The Investment Modernization Act of 2016? The Investment Modernization Act of 2016 is a bi-partisan bill that would amend the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and update selected Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules to “modernize certain requirements relating to investment advisers.”1 The bill passed the House on September…
In SEC’s Whistleblower Program, Will Confidentiality Prove Counterproductive?
Early last month, in a heavily censored report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) publicly announced an award of roughly half a million dollars to [redacted], who reported original information about [redacted] that occurred at [redacted] over the course of [redacted].1 Needless to say, the entire case remains shrouded in mystery. Moreover, this announcement came just months…
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…
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…
SEC’s increasing use of administrative law courts
The SEC’s increasing use of administrative law courts for trying cases has raised eyebrows throughout the legal community. In light of recent high-profile acquittals in federal district courts, the SEC has brought more actions before its administrative courts, with a 10% increase in the last year alone.1. Evidence suggests that the choice of forum has…
The SEC – Catching up to the Clawback
In response to the major accounting frauds in the early 2000s, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act required chief executives and chief financial officers to affirm the accuracy of their books.1 In practice, this relevant portion of the Act sought to eliminate the temptation among executives to misstate their companies’ financial positions, which made the company look better…