May 5, 2010 at 1:43 pm
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which is looking into the causes for the 2008 economic crash, today questioned former executives from the investment bank Bear Stearns (sold to J.P. Morgan in a firesale after a run on the bank) and explored the open-secret of how Wall Street banks legally fudged their quarterly books to dress up their financial statements. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, a former counsel to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and now director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, says that to deal with such “window dressing” it is time to consider borrowing a principle from tax law.
“Namely, if a pattern of financial and accounting maneuvers has no ‘economic substance’ other than to misstate the firm’s financial condition, it should be per se securities fraud.”
Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu
May 5, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Investigators are trying to determine any connections between a Pakistani-American charges in the failed Times Square car bombing and any international terrorist groups, possibly the Pakistani Taliban. International relations Professor Adil Najam, director of the Pardee Center for the Student of the Longer-Range Future and editor of "Pakistanis in America: Portrait of a Giving Community," spoke with WNYC radio in New York about suspect Faisal Shahzad (l.) and the danger of making assumptions about the Pakistani community in America.
"I think a key element here is for the media as well as society not to take an incident and extrapolate upon it to make large blanket statements about a community as a whole."
Contact Adil Najam, 617-358-4000, anajam@bu.edu
May 5, 2010 at 11:32 am
On the heels of allegations that Goldman Sachs took advantage of clients during the mortgage-market collapse, Congress reportedly is considering new legal standards for investment banks when they deal with customers. Law Professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law and author of "Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroad," says slapping fiduciary duties on investment bankers would prevent them from acting for their own benefit at the expense of the investors.
“The result may be that brokers and investment bankers will innovate less for their own benefit and might even, God forbid, earn less. But the financial system will be less subject to bubbles and crashes, so investors might earn less but they’ll also lose less."
Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu
May 4, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Federal antitrust enforcers are considering a probe into Apple Inc. after changes in the company's licensing agreement with iPhone application developers that forbids the use of software tools other than Apple's to build programs or the transmission of analytical data to third parties like advertisers. It's yet to be decided if the inquiry would be conducted by the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice. School of Management Professor Michael Salinger, a former FTC director, says there was a time when the DoJ might have gone easier on Apple than the FTC.
“During the Bush years, Apple would surely have preferred that DoJ get the case. I question whether that is still true.”
Contact Michael Salinger, 617-353-4408, salinger@bu.edu
May 3, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Continuing its furious buying spree, Google has acquired Bump Technologies, maker of software that makes computer desktops appear to be 3-D. This latest acquisition by the world's most popular search engine, says School of Management Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, just intensifies the competitive battle between Google and Apple.
“Looks like Google and Apple may be defining the battle for user interface when, just a few years back, we would have expected Microsoft to do so.”
Contact N. Venkat Venkatraman, 617-353-7117, venkat@bu.edu
May 3, 2010 at 10:14 am
The month-long British elections are in the homestretch headed for Thursday's vote after a furious weekend of campaigning by Prime Minister Gordon Brown (r.) of the Labour party, Conservative party leader David Cameron (l.), and and Nick Clegg (center) of the upstart Liberal Democrats. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, a native of Great Britain who is in England this week to observe the finale, says it's still too close to call.
"The momentum is with David Cameron and the Conservatives. But due to the bizarre workings of Britain’s electoral system, their lead isn’t enough yet to insure that they can win a majority and form a government. It’s still a cliff hanger."
Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu
May 1, 2010 at 8:49 pm
A major water main break is currently dumping millions of gallons of water into the Charles River. A "boil-water" order is currently in effect for the City of Boston (including BU's Charles River and Medical Campuses) and dozens of surrounding communities.
During this H2O emergency, regular updates will be available on BU Today, or visit www.mwra.com for more information.
April 30, 2010 at 4:10 pm
The Hawaii legislature approved a civil-unions bill and sent it to Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who has 45 days to either sign it or send it back to lawmakers for a possible override vote. Law Professor Linda McClain, an authority on family law and policy, says it's significant this bill emerged through the democratic process in that the federal Defense of Marriage Act arose out of a supposed fear that Hawaii's supreme court would approve same-sex marriage back in 1993.
“The passage of this bill is very significant because Hawaii was the first state that seemed poised to allow same-sex marriage, before the people of Hawaii approved a constitutional amendment reserving to itself the power to define marriage. It would be a notable postscript on this history if Hawaii now, through the democratic process, allowed civil unions."
Contact Linda McClain, 617-358-4635, lmcclain@bu.edu
April 30, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Beleagured Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, already sued by the SEC on securites-fraud civil charges, reportedly is now being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible criminal charges. Law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, both a former SEC attorney and Wall Street lawyer, called the revelations stunning.
"This is not a usual occurrence at all, and it is far more serious, in my view, than the SEC's securities fraud lawsuit.”
Contact Elizabeth Nowicki, 518-867-5355, enowicki@bu.edu
April 30, 2010 at 11:50 am
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, will deliver the commencement address at Boston University’s 137th graduation ceremonies at BU’s Nickerson Field at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 16.
Holder, the nation's 82nd Attorney General, will speak before more than 5,000 graduates and 20,000 guests at New England’s largest graduation ceremony and will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
BU President Robert A. Brown announced the commencement, baccalaureate speakers and honorary degree recipients to the members of the Class of 2010 this morning at the annual Senior Breakfast, held at the George Sherman Union.
The prestigious list of honorary degree recipients includes Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee (Doctor of Letters); Presidential Medal of Freedom winner and civil rights defender William T. Coleman, Jr., and Osamu Shimomura, Ph.D., Nobel Prize-winning chemist (Doctor of Science).
