A blue-ribbon committee of business leaders and academic experts will consider reforms aimed at boosting the competitiveness of American financial markets.
Professor Hal S. Scott, who launched the group after becoming concerned that American markets were losing ground to foreign competition, will be the committee’s director. Scott is the faculty director of HLS’ Program on International Financial Systems.
The committee has no official status but is expected to be influential with key policy makers, including Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who welcomed its contribution.
Students in Scott’s corporate securities class will be directly involved with the project, and will be tasked with formulating recommendations on various aspects of the competitiveness problem. Scott called it a “highly unusual opportunity for students to contribute to the study and solution of major financial and regulatory issues, and to have a direct impact on decision makers and policy makers at the highest levels of the government.”
The committee will consider a number of subjects, including:
HLS Professors Allen Ferrell and Reiner Kraakman will also serve on a task force supporting the work of the panel. Ferrell is expected to report on shareholder rights issues, and Kraakman on liability issues involving directors and investment banks.
Harvard is the only law school whose students are involved in the task force. Additional information is available in a related New York Times article.