SolarCity, whose stocks are traded on NASDAQ, operates in the area of installation and deployment of energy efficiency products and services. It is the biggest firm in the US operating in residential solar systems solutions alongside Sungevity and Vivint Solar.
SolarCity Corp. Issues Bonds To Raise Money For More Clean Energy
Regulation and the Future of Money: Mobile Payment and Virtual Currencies
What exactly is Bitcoin? You may have heard a great deal about this in the media. You may know that it is a virtual currency. You may have heard news that the evaluation of Bitcoin once skyrocketed to a record of $900. But you may not have heard an analysis of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies in the legal community.
Malaysia Considers New Retirement Fund Structure
Reuters Arabic Service is reporting that the Malaysian government’s retirement fund, the sixth largest in the world controlling assets exceeding $160 billion, is considering establishing an independent fund to concentrate on investments in Islamic finance.
[Upcoming Event] Systemic Risk and the Financial Crisis: Protecting the Financial System as a “System”
The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy will be hosting a lunch presentation by Professor Steven Schwarcz of Duke University School of Law on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. The event will be held at Boalt Hall 100, 12:45 – 1:45 pm. Registration is requested.
How should the law help to control systemic risk—the risk that the failure of financial markets or firms harms the real economy by increasing the cost of capital or decreasing its availability?
Google Poised to Execute Long-Delayed Stock Split
Google’s 2-for-1 stock split, which was first floated to investors almost two years ago but delayed by a shareholder lawsuit, has finally been approved by Google’s board on January 30, 2014, following a settlement of the lawsuit.
Master Limited Partnerships, newly re-discovered investment structures, are on the rise
A Master Limited Partnership (MLP) is a publicly traded partnership (PTP). It is essentially a partnership, or a limited liability company (LLC) that has chosen partnership taxation, that trades on a public exchange (NYSE, NASDAQ, etc.) or over the counter market.
SEC Proposes Rules on Crowdfunding
On October 23, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules which would, if adopted, govern the offer and sale of securities under new Section 4(a)(6) (the “Crowdfunding Exemption”) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), provide a framework for the regulation of registered funding portals and brokers, and exempt securities sold pursuant to the Crowdfunding Exemption from the registration requirements of Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).
Recap: Is Venture Finance in China Possible?
On October 2, 2013, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted a lunchtime talk on venture finance in China by Arman Zand, Senior Vice President of SPD Silicon Valley Bank in Shanghai, China. Zand, a Haas MBA (class of ‘09), spent the last four years in Shanghai establishing Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) joint venture with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD). Unlike other banks, SVB is a financial institution designed to serve entrepreneurial and early stage tech companies.
In his presentation titled “Is Venture Finance in China Possible? The View from Silicon Valley,” Zand spoke about recent developments in China’s economy, some challenges he faced in developing China’s first venture capital bank and lessons he learned along the way.
Before delving into the main issues with developing a venture capital bank in Shanghai, Zand gave a brief explanation of recent developments in China’s economy. He explained that China’s economic development is rapidly moving forward with the hopes of transitioning from a labor economy to an innovation economy that embraces SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises.
Subsequently, Zand explained some of the challenges he faced while in China, including working with Chinese banks that are primarily mortgage lenders. The majority of all bank loans in China require real assets to serve as collateral; however, entrepreneurial companies only have IP collateral: trademarks, patents, software code and the like. The lack of real estate makes venture finance “extremely challenging.”
Nevertheless, a recent development in which Shanghai announced a new free trade zone (FTZ) could create a superior environment for venture finance. (more…)
Sallie Mae to Split into Two Companies
Sallie Mae recently announced that it will split into two companies: one to handle the servicing of federal student loans and the other to handle the origination of private student loans. Each company will be publicly traded and the split is expected to be complete within 12 months.
Currently, the company that will service federal student loans will control the majority of Sallie Mae’s pre-split assets. However, Sallie Mae’s split sends strong signals that the lending giant is most interested in the future market for private student loans. (more…)
Social Entrepreneurship Panel: A Recap
On April 3, 2013, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted a Social Entrepreneurship: Legal, Financial and Public Policy Dimensions panel moderated by Professor Eric Talley. Panelists included legal experts R. Todd Johnson (Partner, Jones Days), Jonathan Storper (Partner, Hanson Bridgett), Kyle Westaway (Founder of Westaway Law) and Jordan Breslow (General Counsel at New Island Capital) as well as Vince Siciliano (CEO and President of the New Resources Bank).
Talley began by asking for a definition of social entrepreneurship. Johnson offered “any organization that makes money and does social good” and Siciliano added “maximizing distribution [for a given product] while being profitable” as social enterprises attempt to maximize social impact for a given product or service. Breslow, who works for an impact investment advisor, talked about how one of the downsides of a nonprofit, as compared to a social enterprise, is that “in giving money away [investors] lose control.”
Measuring profits is straightforward but measuring social impact is not always so easy. However, as Johnson notes, “we need to get past the head-scratching period of asking ‘how do we measure impact’ that comes from looking at social entrepreneurship as a sector. It’s not a sector. It’s a way of doing business.” Social impact can be applied to any business sector — health care, education, technology, etc. For some sectors, the impact equation is simple. For example, d.light solar sells solar light and power products so it is “relatively easy to calculate how much kerosene and therefore CO2 is avoided by its products.” It is harder for other sectors, such as services, or where impact is based upon human transformation or long-term goals. “Sometimes the outcome should be obvious, but is simply hard (or expensive to capture) such as greening of supply chains.” Westaway agreed noting that he “applauds the idea of standardization but it is hard to do.”
Talley asked the panelist to assess whether these types of enterprises are more risky than others, that perhaps, do not consider their social impact. Siciliano suggested that some social enterprises may be considered risky by traditional investors because they are not well understood. “As a commercial bank, one of the New Resource Bank’s competitive advantages” he explained “is its sector expertise.” He offers that it is not about the risk of the underlying business model as much as that traditional commercial banks assess high risk to these enterprises because of their limited exposure to some of the new sectors these enterprises are operating in. “We don’t view these companies as risky because we better understand their markets and stage of growth.” Specific industry examples include organic products, alternative energy, energy efficiency retrofits, green real estate, and nonprofits.