Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicles (a “SPAC” or “SPACs”) offer a valuable alternative to emerging companies considering going public via IPOs, especially amid times of crisis. A SPAC is essentially a shell company that exists for the sole purpose of raising capital through its own IPO, before acquiring (typically through reverse merger) the target company.[1] How, […]
By: Jason Ziegler, RBFL Student Editor In the United States, student loan debt currently stands at an all-time high of approximately $1.5 trillion spread across 44 million borrowers. Student loans can be categorized as either federal or private. Unlike federal loans, which are subject to maximum fixed rates and have interest rates set by regulation, […]
By: Katherine Pino, RBFL Student Editor The Department of Labor recently fast-tracked a controversial rule that would make changes to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) limiting plan fiduciaries’ ability to incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their investment decisions. Proposed on June 23, 2020, the rule was finalized by […]
By: Justin Brogan, RBFL Student Editor Delaware law permits corporations to assign classes of stock differential voting rights.[1] For example, Class A stock at a given corporation could be assigned ten votes per share, while Class B stock could carry just one vote per share. Traditionally, this stock structure has been utilized by family-owned corporations […]
By: Dalton Battin, RBFL Student Editor For years, a majority of courts have followed the “make-whole” subrogation approach between the competing interests of health insurers and insureds in settlements with third-party tortfeasors. However, this approach is not equitable and allows for inadequate policy limits on other forms of insurance. Now, you may be asking what […]
By: Colby Trace, RBFL Student Editor Everybody wants to blame the financial industry in times of financial crisis, and the flames only get fanned when banks need to be bailed out from what is viewed as their own risky behavior with taxpayer dollars, as was the case in the financial crisis of 2008. The Volcker […]
By: Tyler Winterich, RBFL Student Editor The payday lending industry has a significant and controversial economic footprint. In 2018, consolidated payday loan volume across brick and mortar and online lenders was $29.2 billion. While more precise and recent industry data is challenging to identify, as of 2012, 12 million individuals are estimated to use payday […]
By: Helen Park, RBFL Student Editor In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the U.S. government established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a $669-million business loan program, to help small businesses pay for urgent expenses, namely payroll, rent, interest, and utilities. These “loans” would be forgiven so long as they are used towards qualifying […]
By: Bailey Meideros, RBFL Student Editor In recent years, stock-trading apps have become increasingly popular among young investors. In particular, the stock-trading app, Robinhood, has become the topic of various financial news outlets thanks to its unique features catered to young traders. Robinhood, founded in 2013 by Stanford University graduates Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev, […]
By Beyond Bi, RBFL Student Editor Financial technology (“Fintech”) covers technologies that seek to “improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services,” including common peer-to-peer (“P2P”) mobile payment applications such as Paypal and Apple pay and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.[1] The global growth of non-cash transactions, blooming adoption of digital wallets, and the […]