When should laws be enforced by private actors and when should society rely on law enforcement by public authorities? This question has been analyzed in great detail in law & economics scholarship. This article surveys the literature and outlines a framework of criteria for deciding whether...

Due to the principle of subsidiarity, European Union law is inherently incomplete. Hence, neither the transposition of the acquis communautaire, nor the law or impetuses coming from Brussels is a panacea to numerous real-life legal, economic or political problems not being focused upon by the...

The second of a two-part "handbook" — the first has been simultaneously posted on author's SSRN page — this pithy article details the potential defenses available to financial institutions and the issues that all parties should be prepared to address when proposing or rebuffing a claim...

On Nov. 10, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a lightly amended version of House Resolution 14279 into law. Days later, Rhode Island's Fernand St. Germain made clear its primary purpose: the modernization of the existing bank regulatory system. Tucked within this bill lay the Electronic Funds...

Over the course of its multi-decade existence, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA") has been amended to cover many diverse yet related “real estate” subjects. In its present iteration, two provisions — sections 2605(g) and 2609 — deal with mortgage escrow accounts, with...

The rapid rise of cryptocurrencies over the last twenty years has interjected havoc into the staid field of commercial law, one long regulated by the Uniform Commercial Code (“U.C.C.” or “UCC”). Naturally, many individuals and organizations started to count their stash of...

Many legal rules can be interpreted as creating options. Option pricing is thus important for understanding the ex ante effects of these rules. And, recognizing that individuals, whose behavior the law aims to influence, are imperfectly rational, a behavioral option pricing model is a...

As a result of the extensive failures of financial institutions that have occurred since 1995 in Japan, legal action against previous bank directors is expected to increase in the future. The question is, what should be the duty of care for a bank director, and in particular, what should be the...

Recently, an enactment designed to create a legal system for banking agencies in Japan to improve depositors' benefits based on the required structural changes of Japanese financial and capital markets was approved and promulgated. The author compares the U.S. and Japanese banking law systems,...