Author: Michael Waalkes

Homeowner Rights and How the Government Steals Home Equity

By: Celene Chen, RBFL Student Editor When a homeowner stops paying their property taxes, the government is well within its rights to foreclose and sell the home to pay for the taxes it is owed. Of course, the proceeds of the sale should go to paying the property-taxes the homeowner owed. But what happens when […]

SEC Changes to Shareholder Proxy Rules RE Shareholder Proposals and Voting Advice and Implications for Corporate Governance

By: Ashley Riley, RBFL Student Editor This past Fall, the SEC finalized amendments to Exchange Act Rules regarding proxy voting advice and solicitation, as well as shareholder proposals. Amendments to section 14a-1(l) of the Exchange Act will explicitly define the services rendered by proxy advisors as “solicitation.” This will make it illegal to solicit proxy […]

Future Regulation of Sports Betting

By: Daniel Altshuller, RBFL Student Editor On May 14, 2018 the Supreme Court found in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional. PASPA was a Federal law that prohibited States from allowing sports betting. PASPA was unconstitutional because it violated the anti-commandeering doctrine which restricts […]

Shifting Viewpoints on ESG and Potential Mandatory Disclosures

By: Robert Gilligan, RBFL Student Editor For a long time, people believed that a corporation deciding to pursue environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives was a decision that necessarily involved divergence from the corporate mission of garnering value for shareholders. However, in recent years, this thinking has undergone a dramatic shift. Today, investors, executives, […]

COVID-19 and M&A Breaches

By: Daniel Fradin, RBFL Student Editor In late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic originated in China and began a relentless spread around the world. By March 2020, large portions of the world economy began to shut down to weather the public safety dangers of the virus. Some of the most drastic effects of the virus were […]

CFIUS and the Mandatory Disclosure Requirement for Foreign Investments in Critical Technologies

By: Owen Marks, RBFL Student Editor Since its creation by President Ford in 1975, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) has toed the line between fostering economic growth and ensuring that U.S. national security priorities remain unthreatened by foreign investment. With the enactment of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act […]

In Response to OCC Guidance, Some Banks are Already Making Moves Towards Providing Cryptocurrency Services

By: Lily Ramin, RBFL Student Editor In recent years, cryptocurrency has grown exponentially.[1] Still, until recently, due in part to a lack of regulatory guidance, banks had been uncertain about their ability to engage with cryptocurrency legally. However, in 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published two interpretative letters, essentially giving […]

California’s Mini-CFPB

By: Jenny Eldred, RBFL Student Editor The California Consumer Financial Protection Law went into effect January 1, 2021,[1] reorganizing the Department of Business Oversight into the newly created Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The DFPI assumes the reserved powers carved out of the Dodd-Frank Act for state regulators to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, […]

A Historical Perspective on the Japanese Keiretsu

By: Sarah Klim, RBFL Student Editor In the U.S., a corporation is made up of many different constituencies, often including its shareholders, managers, creditors, and employees. Most large companies are publicly-traded and widely-held. Large institutional investors, such as Vanguard and Fidelity, are also common. The majority of shareholders are typically not managers, although management may […]