This Comment evaluates four recent proposals to reform tax laws affecting the financial industry. After introducing the proposals, the author provides a theoretical framework for evaluating them and then relies on this framework to explore the benefits and drawbacks of each. Ultimately, the...

The article discusses the U.S. federal income tax characterization of equity-flavored debt instruments issued by banks in compliance with bank regulatory rules adopted after the financial crisis of the late 2000's.Banks and other financial institutions must issue financial instruments that...

The world today finds itself in a recession. The global recession was caused by unsustainable borrowing provoked by the self destructive and incoherent “war on terror” in concert with irresponsible bank lending – bad debt. These policies have repercussions beyond the immediate recession:...

There have been a number of proposals lately to impose a new tax on securities or financial transactions, both as a revenue measure and a way of disciplining Wall Street speculation. This article argues that such a tax would be a bad idea and that it makes more sense to tax financial activities...

Dutch Auction Rate Preferred Stock (DARPS) was created in the 1980s as a way for fully taxable corporate investors and tax-exempt issuers to share the tax benefits of the dividends received deduction. DARPS dividend yields were reset every few weeks through an auction, minimizing price risk and...

This article identifies and discusses some commonly made claims about the EU Commission's proposed FTT: (i) ordinary citizens and businesses will hardly be affected by the FTT, (ii) the proposed FTT is a “small tax”, (iii) the financial sector is under-taxed, (iv) high-frequency trading...

It is a pleasure to welcome you here tonight on the eve of the Asia Tax Forum. A few years ago I hosted the Study Group on Asian Tax Administration and Research here in Sydney.Today, I welcome the Asia Tax Forum as a broadening of that relationship, noting the importance of that relationship to...

How can law best mitigate harm from crises like storms, epidemics, and financial meltdowns? This Article uses the law and economics framework of property rules and liability rules to analyze crisis responses across multiple areas of law, focusing particularly on the ways the Internal Revenue...