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- Faculty Publications (14)
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- Article
Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations
By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon
When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates firms for financial fraud, investors learn about the investigation only if managers disclose it, or regulators sanction the firm. We investigate the effects of such disclosures using confidential records on...
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- March 2021
- Article
The Effectiveness of White-Collar Crime Enforcement: Evidence from the War on Terror
By: Trung Nguyen
This paper analyzes the impact of changes in regulatory priorities and resource allocation on criminal enforcement of white‐collar criminal activities. Using the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a shock to the FBI's priorities and allocation of investigative resources, as...
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- August 2019
- Case
Creating Accountability in Afghanistan
By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos, Eugene F. Soltes and Grace Liu
By early 2019, the United States had contributed $132 billion to the Afghan reconstruction. John Sopko, in his role as the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), was in charge of providing accountability for U.S. aid funding. Sopko’s oversight...
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- February 2019 (Revised September 2019)
- Case
Theranos: The Unicorn That Wasn't
By: Joseph B. Fuller and John Masko
In 2003, 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes founded a startup dedicated to making blood testing easier and more affordable. By 2015, her company, Theranos, was worth $9 billion. It boasted a star-studded board and contracts with national pharmacy and supermarket chains...
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Keywords:
Theranos;
Blood;
Lab Testing;
Fraud;
Holmes;
Balwani;
Shultz;
Carreyrou;
Securities And Exchange Commission;
Food And Drug Administration;
FDA;
SEC;
Health Testing and Trials;
Corporate Accountability;
Organizational Culture;
Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising;
Crime and Corruption;
Entrepreneurship;
Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
- October 2018 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission
By: Aiyesha Dey, Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah Gulick
Keywords:
Coal Mining;
SEC Enforcement;
FCPA;
Mining;
Fraud;
Acquisition;
Financial Reporting;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Ethics;
Financial Management;
Investment;
Corporate Governance;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Risk Management;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Energy Industry;
Mining Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
Mozambique;
United States;
Australia;
England
- 2020
- Working Paper
Arbitration with Uninformed Consumers
By: Mark Egan, Gregor Matvos and Amit Seru
This paper studies the impact of the arbitrator selection process on consumer outcomes by examining roughly 9,000 consumer arbitration cases in the securities industry. Securities disputes present a good laboratory: arbitration is mandatory for all disputes,...
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- November 2017 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
Fair Value Accounting at Noble Group (A)
By: Siko Sikochi, Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
Noble Group was a large commodities trader based in Hong Kong and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. In 2012, Noble shifted its business strategy towards an asset-light model. Under this model, Noble did not own mines or farms to produce commodities but built...
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- February 2016
- Case
Banking and Politics in Antebellum New York
By: David Moss and Colin Donovan
After a long period of solid Democratic control, Whigs secured a majority of seats in the New York State Assembly in 1837, the same year that a major financial panic had crippled the banking system and shaken public confidence in the state's governance. The next year,...
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- September 2013
- Case
United Rentals (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch, Kathleen Durante and Emily McTague
In December 1997 United Rentals (URI) went public on the NYSE. Ten years later, during the peak of the economic meltdown, the company's performance was in decline. United Rentals had experienced its share of problems in the prior years and was still struggling to... View Details
- March 2013
- Case
NovaStar Financial: A Short Seller's Battle
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser
The NovaStar case describes the challenges faced by short seller Marc Cohodes of hedge fund Rocker Partners as he tried to expose what he thought was widespread fraud in mortgage lender NovaStar Financial. The case is set in the time period from 2001 to 2007 and tracks...
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Keywords:
Short Selling;
Financial Accounting;
Financial Analysis;
Financial Analysts;
Valuation;
Business Analysis;
Financial Statement Analysis;
Financial Statements;
Securitization;
Securities Analysis;
Fraud;
Accounting Quality;
Accounting Red Flags;
Accounting Restatements;
Hedge Fund;
Hedge Funds;
Accounting Scandal;
Accounting Fraud;
Financial Crisis;
Financial Intermediaries;
Financial Firms;
Corporate Accountability;
Subprime Lending;
Mortgage Lending;
Accounting;
Accrual Accounting;
Fair Value Accounting;
Governance;
Governance Compliance;
Corporate Governance;
Governance Controls;
Financial Services Industry;
United States;
California
- Working Paper
Benchmarking Against the Performance of High Profile 'Scandal' Firms
By: Emre Karaoglu, Tatiana Sandino and Randy Beatty
In recent years, several high profile firms engaged in accounting fraud that resulted in severe investor losses and erosion of trust in the capital markets. We examine high profile accounting "scandals" prosecuted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike most...
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- November 2004 (Revised January 2006)
- Case
Martha Stewart (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Explores Martha Stewart's December 2001 sale of ImClone Systems common stock, the ensuing federal investigations into possible insider trading, and Stewart's criminal prosecution and sentencing. Discusses the impact of publicity on Stewart's company, Martha Stewart...
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- November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire
By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas
Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,...
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- Research Summary
Overview
Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial markets. Her book manuscript and working papers shed light on the evolution of securities markets and the relationship between finance, governance, and society. Some of the topics she pursues include:...
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