The class will explore the legal and policy issues which U.S. securities regulators face in overseeing an industry where the evolution of products, marketplaces, and participants has far outpaced changes in the securities laws. The course will begin with an overview of the foundations of U.S. securities law. But it will focus on the contemporary challenges that regulators must confront in a world in which the traditional distinctions between securities and other products have become blurred; markets have literally merged across national boundaries; and the rise of private equity has challenged the assumptions of a system centered around public companies. This course is designed to complement the existing offerings related to corporations and securities law and to explore broader questions of institutional design which have echoes in many other areas of law. The two-credit version of the course will culminate in a seminar paper which addresses a facet of securities reform. For an additional credit, students may write a more substantial, supervised paper to satisfy the writing requirement. Corporations, though useful, is not required for the course.
Optionally satisfies the writing requirement. |
