This manuscript summarizes a speech given at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia on May 14, 2013. The speech begins with a discussion of ethical theory and how it can be applied to the topic of government regulation of business, and proceeds to summarize some recent studies on the costs...

Civil liability of rating agencies has to strike a balance between over-deterrence and overly lax behavior control. The resulting problems of a capital market freeze and difficulties of proof, as they become apparent in most legal systems and the European Commission's Draft Proposal to amend the...

Clearinghouses are systemic nodes in financial markets that handle trillions of dollars’ worth of transactions. Yet, these critical market infrastructures stand on fragile foundations. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act of 2010, the sweeping financial reform that followed the 2008 financial...

Financial derivatives have been widely blamed for causing the 2008 financial crisis. These complex instruments created a deep and opaque web of bilateral links between major financial institutions that contributed to the transmission of systemic risk throughout financial markets. In order to...

The benefits of arbitration as a form of alternative dispute resolution in business to business disputes, particularly international business to business disputes, are well recognised and will be discussed below. Concerns arise, however, where arbitration is sought to be imposed as a method of...

Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations restrict the total spending by football clubs on salaries and other expenses. The policy resembles the restraints on players' compensation imposed by American sports leagues. FFP is expected to reduce the number of player transfers, and the bidding for their...

A rate-of-return regime characterized by "fairness" satisfies two criteria: the total allowed return on the rate base is equal to the cost of capital, and the regulated firm should be able to raise capital without either gain or loss to existing equity holders. Assuming a monopoly firm with a...

In light of the twentieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Shearson v. McMahon enforcing a pre-dispute arbitration clause in a brokerage customer's account agreement, the author revisits the assumptions of the McMahon Court supporting its conclusion that arbitration is fair to...