As the debate over how to reform the housing finance market takes a back seat to the 2012 General Election, Dodd-Frank’s statutory changes to mortgage servicing will see no delay in its implementation. On April 10, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first set of proposed mortgage servicing rules: “The proposed rules currently […]
$25 Billion Foreclosure Settlement Approved: What’s Next?
On April 5, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer approved the $25 billion settlement negotiated on February 9, 2012, between 49 states and the federal government and five banks – Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial. The deal, the largest multistate settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998, settles […]
The Network Lecture Series: The Optimal Corporate Bailout – A Presentation by Professor Eric Talley
By Joseph Santiesteban, J.D. Candidate 2013, U.C. Berkeley School of Law, with contribution by Professor Eric Talley, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor of Law; Director, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business, and the Economy Introduction In 2008-09, when the government spent $350 billion dollars bailing out corporations that it deemed systemically important, it confronted several […]
To Stagger Or Not To Stagger: Harvard’s Shareholder Rights Clinic v. Wachtell Lipton
Recent days have seen a flurry of activity around a student clinical program at Harvard Law School: The Harvard Shareholder Rights Clinic (SRC). The clinic “provides advice and representation, on a pro bono basis, to public pension funds and charitable foundations seeking to improve corporate governance.” Harvard Professor Lucian Bebchuk is a corporate governance activist […]
Second Circuit Set to Reign in Rakoff
On March 15, the Second Circuit stayed proceedings in the now notorious case of SEC v. Citigroup. The case hit headlines last November when District Court Judge Rakoff refused to accept a $280 million settlement agreement between the SEC and Citigroup. Judge Rakoff’s decision was outlined in great detail in a previous post on the […]
Owning a Piece of Manchester United: The Tale of A Delayed IPO
Manchester United’s planned (but delayed) $1 billion initial public offering in Singapore will adopt a two-tier share structure, as the record 19-time English soccer champion seeks to cut debt that has fueled fan protest.
Benefit Corporations: A New Corporate Benefit to Society
California is joining a wave of states that have enacted legislation creating new corporate forms that allow for the creation of for-profit companies with a general or specific public benefit. During the 2011 legislative session, California enacted legislation allowing for the creation of a flexible purpose corporation and a benefit corporation. As of January 2012, […]
Facebook IPO: An Investment In Facebook Is An Investment In Zuckerberg
For the all the hype about Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO), analysts are raising important questions that the social network will need to answer to court investors successfully. On February 2, Facebook filed its Form S-1 with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking to raise $5 billion from the sales of Class A common stock. […]
The Second Circuit Casts Doubt on 5% Materiality Guideline
In Litwin v. Blackstone Group, L.P. (2011) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded that the District Court erred in dismissing Plaintiffs’ complaint because Plaintiffs plausibly alleged that omitted or misstated trends from Defendants’ initial public offering registration statement and prospectus were material under Item 303(a)(3)(ii). In so holding, the Second Circuit […]
ACTA Refracta: Future Uncertain for ‘Secretive’ IP Trade Agreement
The SOPA/PIPA uprising appears to have doomed those bills, but the United States Congress is not the only entity considering new restrictions on the web. Trade agreements are emerging as the new legal device for combatting unlicensed use of intellectual property online – avoiding the legislative process, and potentially impacting the openness of the Internet […]