miami global business forum – law school session January 13, 2009
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedOn Friday 16 January, from 8.30 am to 10.00 am, as part of the Global Business Forum which is taking place at UM, the Law School will hold a session on international commercial arbitration. The session will take place in the School of Business, Storer Auditorium, 1st floor, Aresty Building. The speakers will be Jan Paulsson, whose appointment to the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair at UM has just been announced, and John Rooney, a partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP whose work relating to international arbitration includes being designated as the Inter-American Bar Association’s representative to the arbitration working group of the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). I’ll be moderating the session.
Here’s the description of the session:
— International Commercial Arbitration – Miami Style
Description: Globalization and international trade give rise to transnational disputes and, increasingly, businesses and governments are turning to international commercial arbitration as the preferred means of resolving their differences. Miami is poised to become a significant international arbitration venue, particularly for cases involving one or more Latin American parties, and important segments of large arbitration providers and the local bar have focused on this field as a growth industry. This panel offers a wealth of expertise for the benefit of the academic and practice communities.
indexed annuities: final rule January 9, 2009
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe SEC has issued final rules on indexed annuities. The release notes that the SEC received 4800 comments on the proposed rules and that the final rule has been modified to reflect some of the comments. Many of the comments were filed in standard formats.
A new rule 151A (which will come into force in 2011) defines a class of indexed annuities that are to be treated as securities requiring registration under the Securities Act of 1933. The release states:
The purchaser of an indexed annuity assumes investment risk because his or her return is not known in advance and therefore varies from its expected value. When the amounts payable to the purchaser are more likely than not to exceed the guaranteed amounts, the investment risk assumed by the purchaser of an indexed annuity is substantial, and we believe that the contract should not be treated as an “annuity contract”for purposes of the federal securities laws. We also note that indexed annuities are not, in fact, without the risk of principal loss. An indexed annuity purchaser who surrenders the contract during the surrender charge period, which for some indexed annuities may be in excess of 15 years, may receive less than his or her original principal. Unlike a purchaser of a fixed annuity, a purchaser of an indexed annuity is dependent on favorable securities market returns to overcome the impact of the surrender charge and create a positive return rather than a loss….
gao- us financial regulatory system outdated January 9, 2009
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedNot a surprise, as the GAO has expressed similar views before, but yesterday’s GAO Report, Financial Regulation: A Framework for Crafting and Assessing Proposals to Modernize the Outdated U.S. Financial Regulatory System states:
As the nation finds itself in the midst of one of the worst financial crises ever, the regulatory system increasingly appears to be ill-suited to meet the nation’s needs in the 21st century. Today, responsibilities for overseeing the financial services industry are shared among almost a dozen federal banking, securities, futures, and other regulatory agencies, numerous self-regulatory organizations, and hundreds of state financial regulatory agencies. Much of this structure has developed as the result of statutory and regulatory changes that were often implemented in response to financial crises or significant developments in the financial services sector. For example, the Federal Reserve System was created in 1913 in response to financial panics and instability around the turn of the century, and much of the remaining structure for bank and securities regulation was created as the result of the Great Depression turmoil of the 1920s and 1930s.
It’s a pretty clear and useful report in general though I’m not so sure about the usefulness of the conclusions. The GAO begins its discussion of conclusions by saying that one of the major problems with the current system is a lack of clarity about the goals of financial regulation. And the example the report cites is as follows:
representatives of some regulatory agencies and industry groups emphasized the importance of creating a competitive financial system, whereas members of one consumer advocacy group noted that reforms should focus on improving regulatory effectiveness rather than addressing concerns about market competitiveness
I’m not persuaded that the real problem has anything to do with a lack of clarity about goals. The sort of untruthfulness about the likely risk of default of assets underlying securities that was a core part of the initial problem didn’t have anything to do with any lack of clarity about the goals of the financial regulatory system.
And this idea that has become so entrenched in debates about financial regulation that it’s necessary to choose between protecting consumers and allowing US financial institutions to be competitive is pretty corrosive stuff. And any debate that proceeds in this way isn’t likely to help us pull out of the hole we’re in.
post-kadi money-laundering regulation January 5, 2009
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedThe House of Lords EU Committee is beginning an inquiry into money-laundering controls post the ECJ’s recent Kadi decision.
The Committee will consider what impact the ruling of the European Court of Justice (EJC) in the Kadi case will have on EU efforts to tackle the problem. In the Kadi case the ECJ ruled that the EU could not implement a UN Security Council resolution to impose economic sanctions on Yassin Abdullah Kadi, an associate of Osama bin Laden, as Kadi had not had the opportunity to put forward his comments on the proposed sanction order. The case reflects an assumption by the ECJ that it has jurisdiction to review sanctions already imposed by the UN Security Council.
scenting the new year January 1, 2009
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedHilary Mantel at the Guardian writes about scent (or rather, perfume):
New year is a time for experiment, re-definition, and perfume is a fine place to start.
“Dull women”, it seems, wear the same scent all the time. Meanwhile, Now Smell This tells us that what we wore last night sets the tone for the year to come, and even invites readers to think of wearing something that smells like money….
canadian consultation with retail investors – results December 18, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedYesterday, Canada’s Joint Standing Committee on Retail Investor Issues reported the results of its public consultation on suitability. The Joint Standing Committee received 24 responses to the consultation despite contacting a number of organizations to try to encourage participation. The report doesn’t give any information about any characteristics of the respondents, although it does include the written responses (which give some slight indications of the people who made them). I really enjoyed being able to see more than just an official summary.
dealing with the financial crisis uk style December 11, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedFrom the First Report of the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee for the 2009-10 Session we see that the UK is dealing with the financial crisis by increasing opportunities for people with spare time on their hands to gamble:
Draft Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Machines in Bingo Premises) Order 2008
4. Following representations from the industry, the draft Order proposes to double the number of gaming machines allowed in Bingo Halls from four to eight. This is to help provide additional income to the many small clubs which are struggling in the current economic climate. The Government see this small focused increase in gaming as compatible with their overall objective of protecting the public, because they accept the industry’s case, supported by a number of MPs, that Bingo Halls also serve a community function. Adult gaming centres (arcades) have made a similar application which has not been granted.
And there’s more of that tendency to react to the crisis by reducing process:
Takeover Code (Concert Parties) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3073)
6. HM Treasury have laid these Regulations, which provide that certain persons are not considered to be “persons acting in concert”under Rule 9 of the Takeover Code simply by virtue of the Treasury’s shareholdings as a result of the exercise of powers under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 (in relation to Northern Rock plc and Bradford & Bingley plc), or participation in the recapitalisation scheme (in relation to The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, and the prospectively merged HBOS plc / Lloyds TSB plc). We sought further information from HMT to explain why they were unable to lay the Regulations before Parliament sooner than one hour before the Regulations were brought into force.
formalities matter – sometimes December 5, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedW R Huff Asset Management, which has been acting as a vulture with respect to Adelphia, has run up against a standing problem. The Second Circuit held in W.R. Huff Asset v. Deloitte & Touche that an investment advisor with discretionary authority to make investment decisions for its clients, and a power of attorney to file suit on its clients’ behalf (and no ownership of or title to the claim) has no constitutional standing to bring a securities action in a representative capacity on behalf of its clients. Following Sprint v APCC the court said that it would have made a difference if the clients had assigned their claims to the firm, even if Huff were obligated to hand over any damages to the clients (i.e. an assignment in form rather than in substance). The decision in Sprint rested on a longstanding practice of courts to accept that assignees of claims for collection had standing. (more…)
lord lipsey at the treasury select committee December 4, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedBrowsing the UK parliament’s website I notice that the Treasury Select Committee is scheduled to meet on December 15 to hear oral evidence on the work of the FSA in 2007-8. Here’s the list of people who are to be speaking:
Lord Lipsey, Chairman, Financial Services Consumer Panel, Nick Prettejohn, Chairman, Financial Services Practitioner Panel, Simon Bolam, Chairman, Smaller Businesses Practitioner Panel, Which?; Lord Turner, Chairman, and Hector Sants, Chief Executive, Financial Services Authority
Could be interesting…
full speed ahead on eu depositor protection proposals December 3, 2008
Posted by Bradley in : Uncategorized , comments closedDespite some expressed reservations in other places, the Ecofin Council (only the French version seems to be available as yet) has announced:
Au cours des derniers mois, le Conseil a déterminé, en un temps très court, sa position sur quatre projets de directive clés concernant : la solvabilité des compagnies d’assurance (directive “Solvabilité II”), les exigences en capital des banques, le fonctionnement des OPCVM (organismes de placement collectif en valeurs mobilières), et les systèmes de garantie des dépôts bancaires. Ces directives ont fait l’objet d’un accord du Conseil lors de cette réunion de l’Ecofin, ce qui permettra à la présidence de poursuivre les négociations entamées avec le Parlement européen. Ces contacts, positifs, permettent d’espérer l’adoption des quatre directives en première lecture.