I took a bit of time during the break to revamp my syllabus for my Intro to Securities Regulation course. (Which for law profs is a big deal!) And I think it’s interesting to see just how much the field is changing, even when folks tend to think about the basic Howey test, disclosure issues that are embedded in the curriculum.
I know from what many folks my age, securities regulation has a couple of core concepts. The canonical approach embraces more or less the following:
• Materiality
• Initial Public Offerings
• Private Offerings
• Insider Trading
But I think it’s time, with all the developments for a revamp, especially with fintech preoccupying the minds of regulators and market participants. (And not just because I wrote a book on them). But it’s hard to imagine nowadays a serious course not also covering:
• Crowdfunding
• Decentralized Finance and Cryptocurencies
• Roboadvisors
My hunch is that we’ll see these and similar changes elsewhere leading to an earlier introduction for students to not only financial products, but also to more issues concerning market infrastructure and participants. Which could revolutionize the course—making it more difficult, and interesting, all in one.