The Dodd-Frank Act, enacted after the global financial crisis, requires U.S. financial regulators to define and regulate systemically risky firms and activities — a truly Sisyphean task. In this Essay, we identify two paths regulators have taken: a “descriptive approach,” which involves...

The centerpiece of U.S. regulation of money managers — the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 — is perhaps best known for its brevity. Particularly when compared to its companion statute, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Advisers Act places relatively few substantive burdens on entities...