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NERA Inaugural Law and Economics Thought Leader Roundtable
London, England
09 July 2013
Hosted By: NERA Economic Consulting
NERA held its inaugural roundtable on law and economics in London on 9 July 2013 to discuss some of the thorny legal and economic questions currently arising in the areas of bribery, corruption, insider dealing, and fairness to investors. A group of 15 specialists, including barristers, solicitors, regulators, and economists, shared a lively exchange of thoughts and ideas about the likely forces driving bribery and corruption claims in the UK in the coming years, and how innovations in technology are shaping new challenges for regulators and market participants in relation to how information is disseminated in the market place.
The first part of the session focused on the potential role for private actions to offer a market solution to bribery and corruption. The participants discussed whether private actions would help to reduce bribery and corruption as compared to other enforcement mechanisms, and whether their proliferation would be desirable for society. In particular, the group examined the characteristics of so-called "competitor claims" (an action brought up by an honest bidder against a dishonest bidder in a procurement process), including the need to develop a robust economic framework to recognise the losses derived from fraudulent procurement processes as well as the incentives and disincentives of the parties involved in a bribery or corruption matter to engage in a private dispute resolution mechanism (such as mediation or arbitration).
The second half of the roundtable focused on recent economic and legal issues involving insider information. First, the participants discussed different kinds of behaviours that fall in the grey areas of regulation; for example, in those cases where, for an agreed price, information providers release information to a few market participants before the official release to the rest of the market or companies use social media to communicate corporate information. This discussion raised issues such as the need to distinguish between different types of information and the relevance of the way information is disseminated, specifically when assessing the materiality of that information. The group also examined the differences between insider dealing regulations in the UK and the US, the need for clarity under each regime, and how these differences may influence investors' decisions regarding securities trading in different jurisdictions. The economic issues discussed included how market segmentation between informed and non-informed investors can ultimately raise the cost of financing.
Panel Participants:
Karen Anderson
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Neill Blundell
Eversheds LLP
Christopher Brennan
Addleshaw Goddard LLP
Sarah Clarke
Serjeants' Inn Chambers
Patrick Conroy
NERA Economic Consulting
Graeme Hunter
NERA Economic Consulting
Vinita Juneja
NERA Economic Consulting
Paul McGrath QC
Essex Court Chambers
Patrick Meaney
Financial Conduct Authority
Chudozie Okongwu
NERA Economic Consulting
Eoin O'Shea
Reed Smith LLP
Vivian Robinson QC
McGuireWoods LLP
Clara Segurola
NERA Economic Consulting
Satnam Tumani
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
To learn more about NERA's Law and Economics Thought Leader Roundtable, please contact Dr. Vinita Juneja or Dr. Graeme Hunter, Co-Chairs of NERA's Global White Collar Criminal Litigation, Investigations, and Compliance Practice.
To contact us about this event, please click here.