Letter: Robert Shapiro to SEC on Regulation SHO

Letter

Robert Shapiro to SEC on Regulation SHO

Robert Shapiro

31 August 2004

I am Robert J. Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon, LLC, an economic advisory firm in Washington, D.C., and a long-time observer and analyst of U.S. and global financial markets. I served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs from 1998 to 2001, Vice President and co-founder of the Progressive Policy Institute from 1989 to 1998, and principal economic advisor to Governor William J. Clinton in the 1992 presidential campaign. I hold a Ph.D. from Harvard University and have been a Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Brookings Institution, and Harvard University. I want to convey my serious concerns about the impact of the final version of Regulation SHO regarding short sales, as issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 30, 2004 1 , on the fairness and transparency of our equity markets.

PDF (4 pages): Letter to SEC on Reg SHO – Robert Shapiro – August 31 2004

Article: Future-Priced Convertible Securities & The Outlook For “Death Spiral” Securities-Fraud Litigation

Academic

Future-Priced Convertible Securities & The Outlook For
“Death Spiral” Securities-Fraud Litigation

Zachary T. Knepper

bepress Legal Series, 29 August 2004

In recent years, many companies in the United States have issued so-called “Future-Priced Convertible Securities.” These companies tend to be small, thinly-traded, and (most importantly) desperate for cash, and look to the Future-Priced Convertible Security as a necessary means of financing to keep their businesses operating. FuturePriced Convertible Securities are thus credited by some with providing an important form of financing in the marketplace.1 Yet these securities are also a source of controversy. Many companies have wound up regretting issuing these instruments, after watching their stock values tumble and their market capitalizations dry-up subsequent to issuing these securities. Issuers have even started to sue.

PDF (71 pages): Future-Priced Convertible Securities & The Outlook For
“Death Spiral” Securities-Fraud Litigation

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