Capital Markets
JOBS Act Changes Reduce Benefits of Equity Crowdfunding? [United States]
The Securities Law Prof Blog pointed us to a paper by Professor Sean O'Connor of the University of Washington School of Law that argues that the "the JOBS Act relaxed disclosure and general solicitation rules for the kinds of unregistered stock offerings currently used by start-ups. This means that there may be less practical value for start-ups to explore crowdfunding."
M&A
Litigation Becoming Standard in M&A [United States]
Over at The New York Times, DealBook's Deal Professor, Steven Davidoff, reports on research he undertook that shows that litigation is being instituted in almost all cases where a takeover is announced. Much of it involves disclosure, leading to criticisms that the only parties benefitting are the lawyers. On the positive side, Davidoff notes "[it] is also a boon to buyers, who are no longer liable for future claims from shareholders. This is not a bad insurance policy for $500,000 or so." Seeing anything approaching this prevalence of lawsuits in Canada would seem unlikely, but stranger things are known to happen. The D&O Diary blog has some additional thoughts on the research here, where the impact of large cash settlements on D&O insurance and insurers is touched on.
Diversions
Your Coffee Habit Ain't So Bad! [United Kingdom/United States]
A story at NPR.org reports on research at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. that concludes that coffee's hydrating qualities are similar to those of water. If that's not enough, ScienceDaily has a story this week on research at Johns Hopkins that finds that coffee is beneficial to long term memory. The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, concluded that "caffeine enhances certain memories at least up to 24 hours after it is consumed."
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