This Palgrave Pivot presents the first in-depth study of the pioneering Kansas Blue Sky Act of 1911, the first effort in American financial history to regulate the sale of securities in the US. Though offering a balanced examination of critiques of the legislation as a barrier to individual liberty, interstate commerce, and economic growth, the author challenges the prevailing view of the Kansas Act as a complete anomaly, instead exploring sensitively what ‘blue sky laws’ can tell us about small-town market values during the nineteenth-century. Drawing on contemporary accounts of rural commerce and popular stereotypes about rural society, the author takes a cultural-historical approach to the politics of regulation and government intervention in the economy. Situating the Blue Sky Act in the broader context of Progressive Era reforms, the author demonstrates how distinctive patterns of commerce and finance in the self-contained, miniature economies of mid-continental rural communities were often at odds with the “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) standard of American law and commerce in larger markets. Instead the author explores how paternalistic assumptions about individual investment decisions led to the creation of the Act, yet how it was doomed to failure in the context of emerging national stock markets, changing attitudes that regarded stock primarily as a vehicle for trade and the market boom of the 1920s. The book also explores how the initial acceptance of the Kansas model in other states and its later rejection provides a lens through which to examine the fluidity of notions of individual liberty during this period of fast economic and social change. This book will be of interest to researchers working in American financial history, as well as legal history and securities law.

The first complete, expert guide to securities and investment fraud Filled with expert guidance for detection and prevention of all kinds of securities fraud and investment misconduct, Securities Fraud helps you identify red flags of fraud and offers practical ways to detect and prevent it. Written by a Wall Street professional with three decades of experience spanning the most critical period of our financial markets This book challenges classic fraud theories, describing how to dismantle information silos that permit fraudsters to conceal their activities. Begins with an overview of the evolution of securities regulation and the impact of securities fraud Offers real cases and examples which illustrate recurring themes and red flags Provides the first guide of its kind to offer a complete look at the various kinds of securities fraud and investment misconduct Securities Fraud is the essential guide you need for a bird's-eye view of fraud that may be taking place even now within your own organization and with your portfolio.

This book, first published in 1986, is a close analysis into management’s financial disclosure practices of the first half of the twentieth century. With criticisms of existing financial disclosure practices continuing to today, this study aims to make sense of the present through an examination of past practices, difficulties and solutions.

American law in the twentieth century describes the explosion of law over the past century into almost every aspect of American life. Since 1900 the center of legal gravity in the United States has shifted from the state to the federal government, with the creation of agencies and programs ranging from Social Security to the Securities Exchange Commission to the Food and Drug Administration. Major demographic changes have spurred legal developments in such areas as family law and immigration law. Dramatic advances in technology have placed new demands on the legal system in fields ranging from automobile regulation to intellectual property. Throughout the book, Friedman focuses on the social context of American law. He explores the extent to which transformations in the legal order have resulted from the social upheavals of the twentieth century--including two world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, and the sexual revolution. Friedman also discusses the international context of American law: what has the American legal system drawn from other countries? And in an age of global dominance, what impact has the American legal system had abroad? This engrossing book chronicles a century of revolutionary change within a legal system that has come to affect us all.

Shareholder Activism Handbook is the single most comprehensive guide on all matters relating to enforcing shareholders' rights. As shareholder activism becomes a more integral part of investing, the law continues to respond accordingly. Legislators

The Ninth Edition of Securities Regulation: Cases and Materials brings onboard two new co-authors—Ann Lipton and William Sjostrom—to a casebook that has long set the standard for providing students with an in-depth, sophisticated, practical look at contemporary securities law. As it has since its first edition, Securities Regulation: Cases and Materials contains a very teachable mix of problems, cases, and textual material, encouraging students to build their knowledge base by being active problem-solvers. Always forward-thinking, stressing current developments and controversies, the book is also highly modular, so that professors can easily pick and choose how to structure their courses without being locked into any given progression. New to the Ninth Edition: Coverage of “cryptocurrencies” and coin offerings Commentary on market developments such as indexing and algorithmic trading A tighter set of problems and materials on gun-jumping under Section 5 The SEC’s latest reforms of Regulation D and the intrastate offering exemption Spotify and the trend toward direct listings as a way of going public Coverage of Supreme Court decisions from the last three years, including Lorenzo, Salman, Cyan, Lucia, and Kokesh, as well as important lower court cases The SEC broker-dealer proposal (and perhaps adoption) of Regulation Best Interest Professors and students will benefit from: The book’s highly modular organization, enabling different teaching formats and coverage Concise notes that introduce the reader to both theory and real-life practice issues A book that is always up to date and on the cutting edge