Morgan Stanley Accused of Facilitating Unethical Sales Contests

By Alexander Baptiste, J.D. Candidate 2018 | Posted on

On October 3, 2016, Morgan Stanley was charged with “dishonest and unethical conduct” by a top Massachusetts securities regulator.

Morgan Stanley is accused of facilitating high-pressured sales contests in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where brokers had the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars for selling high volumes of securities based loans. Securities based loans allow clients to borrow money against the value of their investment accounts, but are known to involve a non-negligible risk including the bank’s ability to sell securities to repay the loan.

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Recap: “Innovating for Social Impact”

By Olivia Poppens, J.D. Candidate 2019 | Posted on

On October 3, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) held a speaker series entitled “Innovating for Social Impact.” The center welcomed three leading attorneys in social entrepreneurship and nonprofit legal strategy: Joel Beck-Coon, Nancy McGlamery and Will Fitzpatrick.

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Trump Uses Tax Code as a Shelter for Nearly 20 Years

By Camila Piedrahita Abello, J.D. Candidate | Posted on

On October 1, 2016, The New York Times released three pages of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax returns. These documents show that Mr. Trump claimed a $916 million loss that could have protected him from paying any federal or New York State income taxes for the last 18 years.
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Tech Companies Challenge Subpoenas and Gag Orders

By Roslyn Akel, J.D. Candidate 2019 | Posted on

Tech companies are increasingly resisting what they believe to be government overreach in an effort to protect the privacy of their consumers’ communications and personal information. Recently, lawyers for these companies have argued that the increase in gag orders accompanying court-ordered subpoenas, as allowed by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, is unconstitutional. Specifically, they cite that such practices violate the First and Fourth Amendment rights of their consumers. The ACLU has also indicted this practice as well. It charged that the government is keeping its investigations secret in circumstances where transparency not only is required but would also serve the public good.

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Rumors of Disney’s Next Big Acquisition

By Hayley Dardick, J.D. Candidate 2019 | Posted on

The Walt Disney Company is known for its prodigious business acumen and high-profile acquisitions. Last year, Disney’s annual profit came in at $8.4 billion, an incredible climb from $3.4 billion in 2006. Since Robert A. Iger began his role as chief executive in 2005, the company acquired Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, and Lucasfilm. In the last year, Disney released four movies, which generated $1 billion in global ticket sales, and this past June, Disney opened the $5.5 billion Shanghai Disneyland. These projects led to an increased share price of $31 in 2006 to $122 in August 2015.

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EU to Create Tax Blacklist Following Panama Paper Leaks

By Vinh-Khoi Le, J.D. Candidate 2016 | Posted on

In the wake of the Panama Paper leaks, European Union tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici urged states to draft a blacklist of countries that serve as tax havens to thousands of companies. EU states agreed to this move on April 22, 2016, and plan to complete the list by the end of the summer. Finance ministers have also agreed to automatically exchange information on certain beneficial company owners.

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Rise of Institutional Investors Raises Questions of Collusion

By Aicha Ahardane, LL.M. Candidate 2016 | Posted on

In recent years, institutional investors like BlackRock have grown to own 70% of the public stock market. This growth is particularly noticed in horizontal shareholdings in concentrated product market, like airlines, causing them to compete less vigorously with each other. For instance, 7 institutional shareholders who controlled 60% of United Airlines also controlled major rivals such as Delta Airlines (27.5%) and Southwest Airlines (22.3%).

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Complying with Dodd-Frank: Complexities Arising from MetLife, Inc. v. FSOC

By Samantha Vega, J.D. Candidate 2018 | Posted on

The Financial Stability Oversight Council(FSOC) was established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis in order to mitigate the risks and proffer stability to the U.S. financial system, but a U.S. District Court Judge’s ruling in MetLife, Inc. v. FSOC on March 30, 2016, is bound to complicate the FSOC’s ability to fulfill its mandate.

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Halliburton-Baker Hughes Merger Hits Antitrust Roadblock

By Alisha Mahalingam, J.D. Candidate 2018 | Posted on

On April 6, 2016, the United States Justice Department announced the filing of an antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to block the proposed merger between Halliburton and Baker Hughes—citing its potential to “eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets and harm American consumers.” Originally brokered in 2014, the $35 billion deal would bring together the second and third largest oil field service firms in the world. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has voiced concerns that this merger of two of the top three firms would serve to create “non-competitive duopolies” in twenty-three separate markets throughout the United States.

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