On April 16, 2010 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil complaint against Goldman Sachs in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleged that Goldman violated the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, in connection with...

We discuss the role of professional standards in investment banking in light of Professor Tuch’s wide-ranging and thought-provoking analysis. Professor Tuch identifies an ethical role for regulation, and suggests that professional examinations should instill ethical standards into investment...

We study the evolution of investment-banking relationships from 1933 to 2007. Relationship exclusivity and client concerns for the state of their banking relationships were strong through the first part of our sample period but then entered a period of sharp decline beginning around 1970. We...

We discuss the commitment mechanisms that underpin social orderings. We categorize commitments in relationships along a hierarchy that runs from the most extralegal to the most legally intensive devices. Commitment devices are chosen in light of their social, legal, and technological contexts....

Using a sample of both U.S. and international IPOs we find evidence of the following: IPO allocation policies favor institutional investors both in the U.S. and worldwide. Constraints on the discretion bankers exercise in the allocation of IPO shares reduce institutional allocations. Constraints...

We relate the organizational form of investment banking syndicates to moral hazard in team production. Although syndicates are dissolved upon deal completion, membership stability across deals represents a barrier to entry that enables the capture of quasi-rents. This improves incentives for...

We examine the costs and benefits of the global integration of primary equity markets associated with the parallel diffusion of U.S. underwriting methods. We analyze both direct and indirect costs (associated with underpricing) using a unique dataset of 2,143 IPOs by non-U.S. issuers from 65...

In this paper, the authors provide empirical evidence consistent with the hypothesis that options market makers face risks in managing inventory that are unique to the options market. In particular, they show that risks associated with the inability to rebalance an option position continuously...