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Colleen Baker

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PhD (Wharton) Professor Baker is an expert in banking and financial institutions law and regulation, with extensive knowledge of over-the-counter derivatives, clearing, the Dodd-Frank Act, and bankruptcy, in addition to being a mediator and arbitrator.

Previously, she spent time at the U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Business, the U. of Notre Dame Law School, and Villanova University Law School. She has consulted for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and for The Volcker Alliance.  Prior to academia, Professor Baker worked as a legal professional and as an information technology associate. She is a member of the State Bars of NY and TX. Read More

Dear BLPB Readers:

The below is from the Call for Panel and Independent Paper Proposals for the upcoming conference, Money as a Democratic Medium 2.0.

“We are delighted to announce Money as a Democratic Medium 2.0. The Conference will be held at two sites in order to maximize participation while minimizing carbon impacts: Cambridge, MA (Harvard Law School, June 15-17, 2023) and Hamburg, Germany (the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and THE NEW INSTITUTE,  June 15-16, 2023).  The Conference is open to all students of money, credit, and finance, the monetary system, and the modern economy, including members of the public. We will offer robust online access and we encourage distant participants to join us virtually.“

The full call is here.  The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2023.

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The World Federation of Exchanges is organising its 40th Annual Clearing and Derivatives Conference, WFEClear, hosted by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and its CCP, JSE Clear. 

We invite the submission of theoretical, empirical, and policy research papers on issues related to the conference topics. Accepted papers will be presented at the conference and posted as part of the Conference Proceedings on the Financial Economic Network (SSRN).“

Note that the submission deadline of December 13, 2022, is fast approaching!  The complete call for papers is here.

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The University of Michigan Law School invites junior scholars to attend the 9th Annual Junior Scholars Conference, which will take place in person on April 21-22, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The conference provides junior scholars with a platform to present and discuss their work with peers, and to receive detailed feedback from senior members of the Michigan Law faculty. The Conference aims to promote fruitful collaboration between participants and to encourage their integration into a community of legal scholars. The Junior Scholars Conference is intended for academics in both law and related disciplines. Applications from graduate students, SJD/PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers, teaching fellows, and assistant professors (pre-tenure) who have not held an academic position for more than four years, are welcome.

Applications are due by January 9, 2023.”
 

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will host its annual Wharton Financial
Regulation Conference on April 14, 2023.

We issue a call for papers to any scholars from any discipline—law, economics, political science,
history, business, and beyond—to submit papers on any topic related to financial regulation,
broadly construed. Special attention will be paid to junior scholars and those new to the financial
regulation community, but we welcome all submissions, including from those who have presented
before.

To submit a paper, please include an unpublished manuscript not exceeding 25,000 words and a CV
to conference organizer David Zaring, by February 1, 2023. Selected presenters will be notified by
email by February 15, 2023.”

The call for papers is also Download 2023 Wharton Fin Reg Call for Papers.

Dear BLPB Readers:

The ABA’s Derivatives and Futures Law Committee’s virtual mid-year event on October 6, 2022, included fireside chats with CFTC Commissioners Johnson, Goldsmith-Romero, Mersinger, and Pham.  I wasn’t able to watch these interesting and highly-informative discussions in real-time, so I’m happy that recordings are now available and wanted to share a link to each with BLPB readers!

Fireside chat with Commissioner Johnson

Fireside chat with Commissioner Goldsmith-Romero

Fireside chat with Commissioner Mersinger

Fireside chat with Commissioner Pham

    

Today, I finally had a chance to watch a recording of the September 20, 2022, meeting of the CFTC’s Energy & Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC). In past posts, I’ve mentioned having coauthored my first energy paper and my involvement with the University of Oklahoma’s Robert M. Zinke Energy Management Program, the first of its kind in the U.S.! The roles of derivatives in energy and commodity markets is increasingly in the spotlight. For example, last spring, European energy traders reached out to the European Central Bank (ECB) for emergency liquidity support because of clearinghouse collateral calls, but the ECB declined to assist. And there was the LME nickel incident of March 2022 (a post here). Undoubtedly, the interconnections between energy and financial markets, particularly derivatives, are set to become increasingly critical, especially in the global transition to a clean energy future.

The EEMAC meeting focused on two topics: 1) “Investment in physical energy infrastructure and the effect on price volatility in the commodities markets” and 2) “The role of the metals market as components in transitional energy sources and the potential impact on financial markets regulated by the CFTC.” The agenda can be found is…

Dear BLPB Readers:

This Friday, October 28th, at 10am ET, the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation is hosting an hour-long online seminar with Professor Joshua C. Macey on Market Power and Financial Risk in U.S. Payment Systems.  It should be a great event!  Registration information and a link to the whitepaper is here: Download Market Power_Financial Risk

Dear BLPB Readers,

Today, I had an opportunity to review a recording of the September 28th meeting of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC).  For those of you who might have also missed the opportunity to view it in real time and are interested in learning more about the Committee’s work, a recording is here and I list the various sections of the meeting, with approximate start times, below.

Section 1: The Future of Finance (32:25)

Section 2: Climate Related Market Risk (1:09)

Section 3: Interest Rate Benchmark Reform – Transition Away From LIBOR (1:43:50)

Section 4: CCP Risk and Governance and the Transition of CCP Services to the Cloud (1:55)

Section 5: Market Structure (2:12:50)   

Dear BLPB Readers:

“The AALS Section of Financial Institutions & Consumer Financial Services will host the first AALS FinReg Conference on November 4, 2022, in-person, at the Antonin Scalia Law School, in Arlington, Virginia.”

The deadline to submit a paper or abstract for consideration is October 16, 2022.  The complete call for papers is here: Download AALS_GMU_Call_for_paper

As co-blogger Joan Heminway mentioned in Monday’s post, I’m soon heading to Connecting the Threads VI.  I could not be more excited! I’m so grateful to the University of Tennessee Law School for hosting the Symposium, and especially Professors Joan Heminway and George Kuney, in addition to all of the hard-working, excellent law student editorial staff of Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law, who help with the Symposium and later edit and publish our symposium-related articles.  Paying for Energy Peaks: Learning from Texas’ February 2021 Power Crisis, coauthored with Professor James Coleman, is my latest article in Transactions and my first in the energy space!  Here’s its first paragraph (with footnotes removed):

“From February 14–19, 2021, winter storm Uri blanketed Texas with extreme cold. Tragically, the severe temperatures overwhelmed the state’s power system. Texas’ power grid ended up more than 20 Gigawatts short of the electricity Texans needed – more power than all of California produces on an average day. Over two-hundred lives were lost and an estimated $295 billion in damage resulted. Yet many had long regarded Texas’ electric power system, and its regulation, as a model for others. What happened? That question