The Ross Parsons Address 2009: Henry Hu, University of Texas
12 June 2009
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| Henry Hu |
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Entry is free however registration is essential. Register Online
Keynote Speaker
Professor Henry T Hu, Allan Shivers Chair in the Law of Banking and Finance, University of Texas Law School
Professor Hu holds a B.S. (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry), M.A.(Economics) and J.D. from Yale.
Commentator
Commissioner Greg Medcraft, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Chair
Professor Jennifer Hill, Sydney Law School
'Decoupling', Governance and the World Financial Crisis
Market integrity is an important issue in current Australian corporate law debate.
Traditional understandings of "equity" and "debt" contemplate bundled packages of rights (such as economic, control, and other rights) and obligations (such as disclosure obligations). Because of the derivatives revolution, hedge funds, and other factors, the elements of these packages can now be "decoupled."
Professor Hu will offer an overview of the decoupling phenomenon itself, an analytic framework that sets out its functional elements and the phenomenon's worldwide significance. As to "equity decoupling" he will discuss how patterns such as "empty voting" and "hidden (morphable) ownership" can affect key substantive and disclosure mechanisms of corporate governance. He will also discuss how the viability of individual corporations as well as the stability of the world financial system can be affected by "debt decoupling." Because of the current global financial crisis, debt decoupling-related matters might be especially topical.See Henry T. C. Hu, Empty Creditors' and the Crisis - How Goldman's $7 billion was not 'material', Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2009, online version
About the speaker
Henry Hu holds the Allan Shivers Chair in the Law of Banking and Finance at the University of Texas Law School. Interested in law and modern finance, he has written on such matters as bank derivatives; hedge fund and mutual fund regulation; corporate governance; 'decoupling' of debt and equity rights from economic interests; financial rationality and sophistication; global competitiveness of US derivatives markets; model risk; risk management; swaps and other financial innovations; and Warren Buffett.
Professor Hu teaches corporate law and securities regulation at the University of Texas and has also taught at Harvard Law School. He has testified before Congress on the role of credit default swaps in our financial crisis; on the New York Stock Exchange's going public; and on the collapse of Long Term Capital Management. He has also testified before the Securities and Exchange Commission on hedge funds' use of derivatives-based 'decoupling' to try to avoid 13D disclosure.
About the Commentator
Greg was appointed as Commissioner to ASIC in December 2008. Greg's responsibilities include Investment Banking, Funds Management and oversight of Exchange Market Operators.
Greg is the co-founder of the American Securitization Forum and was its chairman from 2005 until his recent return to Australia. The American Securitization Forum is an industry group representing some 350-member institutions comprising all major stakeholders in the US$1 trillion US securitisation market.
This event is part of the Sydney Law School Distinguished Speakers Program 2009. Click here for more details.
This Seminar is also part of the Ross Parson Corporate and Commercial Seminar Series 2009.To view the brochure, please click here.
Time: 5.30 - 7.00pm
Location: Sydney Law School, Building F10, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney
Cost: Entry is free however registration is essential
Contact: Events Coordinator
Phone: (02) 9351 0238