The Role of the States – Foreign and Domestic

The General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Harvard Law School graduate, Brian G. Cartwright, recently gave the Distinguished Scholar Address at Widener University School of Law. Entitled The Role of the States (Foreign and Domestic), the speech addressed the question of what the increasingly global nature of securities markets and business will mean for Delaware general corporation law. After reflecting on changes in securities investing and commerce in recent decades, Mr. Cartwright envisioned a world in which “a global stockholder base trades the stock of transnational companies in just a few market centers with a global reach.” As greater parts of the world embraced the benefits of free-market capitalism, he predicted, the U.S. might lose the commanding dominance it once enjoyed, although it would likely remain one of the world’s leading capital markets. Mr. Cartwright likened competition for corporate charters in the U.S. to the situation now prevailing in Europe, and questioned how state competition for corporate charters would play out at the international level.

The speech is available here.