Law Roundtable

The new technical rule on short sales has technical problems. Small banks, not covered by the rule, wonder whether it will drive short sellers their way. Market makers, exempted by the rule, wonder have the exemption works. A short sale...

There is an advantage to having Cox, a politician, as head of the SEC. When a false crisis is in the press he knew to respond with a largely symbolic answer that the press can trumpet as well -- emergency...

August Busch IV announced that Anheuser-Busch would never be sold to a foreign buyer "on his watch." He is now extolling the virtures of the new deal with InBev. We know he gets a seat on the InBev board of...

Well, the other shoe has finally dropped. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government sponsored entities, are essentially bankrupt and Paulson is trying to figure out how to keep them afloat. They are "too big to fail" because they are too...

The national banks get all the news but the real rot is in the small regional banks. They hold bad paper and have much less cushion to survive the hard times. caveat emptor

Early Monday, Anheuser-Busch agreed to a $52 billion buyout by Belgian brewer InBev. When reporters called me about the case and asked for predictions they were always a bit disappointed by my view that the buyout would go through at...

On Thursday, Dow Chemical Co. announced that it will buy rival Rohm and Haas Co. for $18.8 billion. Financing for the acquisition includes an equity investment by Berkshire Hathaway and the Kuwait Investment Authority in the form of convertible preferred...

The federal government subsidies small business through a variety of programs. The necessary reauthorization of one of those programs, The Innovation Research Program, has put the focus on the vagaries of federal subsidies of business. Should small businesses that have...

InBev, the Belgian brewer attempting to purchase Anheuser-Busch has announced a slate of directors that it will run in its consent solicitation contest. Eventually, Anheuser-Busch will negotiate with InBev, which it currently refused to do, demand a higher price of...

Judge Kaplan's ruling that swaps should be counted in the calculation of five percent ownership under Rule 13D disclosures has the corporate bar wondering whether swaps will be counted in a host of other stock calculations that trigger regulations, Rule...