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To describe and analyze in detail an Interpretive Release (the “2006 Interpretation”) approved on July 12, 2006 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding the soft dollar safe harbor under Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Following a brief discussion of the history of soft dollars, describes and analyzes in greater detail relevant aspects of the 2006 Interpretation, including an explanation of the three‐part test concerning the use of soft dollars to pay for products and services under the safe harbor, a discussion of “mixed use” items, further detail on soft dollar arrangements, an explanation of liabilities and obligations of managers and broker dealers, and an implementation timeline.

Under the 2006 Interpretation, a money manager may rely on the safe harbor to acquire products or services only upon satisfaction of each part of a three‐part test. First, does the product or service meet the eligibility criteria of Section 28(e)(3)? Second, does the eligible product or service provide lawful and appropriate assistance in the performance of relevant responsibilities? Finally, may the money manager properly conclude, in good faith, that the commissions paid are reasonable in relation to the value of the research and brokerage products and services provided by the broker (in relation either to the particular transaction or to the money manager's overall responsibilities with respect to discretionary accounts)? The 2006 Interpretation also is relevant to broker‐dealers who may receive soft dollars. Under Section 28(e), a money manager can pay soft dollars only to broker‐dealers who “provide” research or brokerage services and “effect” transactions. Under the 2006 Interpretation, the circumstances under which broker‐dealers will be seen as “providing” services and “effecting” transactions will be interpreted more broadly than under past interpretations, allowing brokers and money managers greater flexibility to structure soft dollar and commission‐sharing arrangements in a manner that will better serve the interests of investors.

Provides a detailed analysis of the 2006 Interpretation concerning soft dollars.

An optimal investment strategy is “memoryless,” because it depends on present and expected future conditions, but not on the past. This article discusses the conditions required for a single, optimal investment strategy which the authors refer to as the memoryless trading rule. As a normative theory for investment decisions, memoryless trading requires an investment strategy or future course of action to describe what the trader will do when the markets achieve a given state. Memoryless trading also implies that when traders share a common utility function (which incorporates their risk preferences), wealth level, and trading orientation, there is a single, optimal investment strategy based upon market conditions. The authors show how some standard financial tools for comparing traders and measuring risk‐adjusted portfolio performance, e.g., the Sharpe ratio, violate the memoryless trading rule. They also discuss the relationship between memoryless trading and traditional equilibrium models of asset pricing.

The purpose of this paper is to bring to the fore that soft laws should be taken very seriously because they have demonstrated their importance in helping to reduce corruption and money laundering. Liberalisation of the markets and globalisation, undoubtedly, enabled the increase in the volume of commercial and economic interactions among natural and legal persons. As a result, the generation of profits and losses are noticeable. However, it became evident that some of the actors involved in corruption endeavour to dock the regulatory radars by way of laundering their illicit wealth. It is as a result of this, that the authorities reacted to checkmate this by way of fashioning out legislations that have cross-border and national characteristics. However, it was as a result of the inadequacies noticeable in the Conventions and their inability to contain the malaise that the soft laws surfaced to fill the lacunae to help dampen the momentum of corruption and money laundering. These significant soft laws include but not limited to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Organisation of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), Wolfsberg Group (WG) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Although reservations were raised as to the composition of their decision-making apparatus, it is evident that countries still adhere to their pronouncements by way of adaptation, and they have made significant contributions in reducing corruption and money laundering.

This paper relies on primary legal documentations such as but not limited to the Financial Action Task Force, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Wolfsberg Group, International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Convention on Corruption 2003, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 and the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010.

There is undoubtedly glaring indications that soft laws have made very significant impact to slow down the level of corruption and money laundering in many polities. It is evidently clear that most countries usually adapt the nuances of these laws into their domestic legislations in order not to be frozen out from the financial and economic activities of the dominant wider members. Evidentially, some of these countries may have been excluded from the core decision-making apparatus of the organisations with particular reference to mostly the developing countries. On the whole, the soft laws are a welcome relief in view of the impact that they have made.

This paper is addressed to policy makers who are concerned on the negative implications of the scourge of money laundering and corruption. They should continue to inculcate the emissions that usually come from soft laws when formulating their policies in planning for economic growth.

The originality of this paper lies on the fact that it is essential that we awaken the importance of soft laws in containing the malaise as it has become evident that excuses have been made that it was forced on some of the recipient participants.

The purpose of this paper is to readily bring to the fore, the vital dimension that the Bretton Woods Institutions, exemplified by both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, has brought into the global economic template to dampen the momentum of corruption and money laundering through the impact of their activities in less developed countries (LDCs). The original mandate of the two institutions was to address the balance of payments and developmental issues of countries as a result of the devastating effects of the Second World War. However, this could not be achieved in an atmosphere engulfed with corruption and money laundering. As a result, it became necessary for them to intervene albeit through direct or indirect mechanisms demonstrated by the use of soft law bodies such as Basel Committee on Banking Supervisors (BCBS) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

This paper relies on primary legal documentations such as BCBS, FATF, articles of both IMF and World Bank to mention but a few in the analysis. The paper is doctrinal.

There is undoubtedly glaring indications that through the efforts of both IMF and the Bank, tremendous inroad has been made in LDCs in modulating the tempo of the malaise.

This paper is addressed to the authorities that are concerned about the scourge of the malaise and the impact to pay more attention to the mechanisms of soft laws used by the Bretton Woods Institutions to get their anti-corruption message through in LDCs.

This lies on the fact that the efforts of both IMF and the Bank have awakened the importance that should be attached to some soft laws in curtailing the issues.

Political fund‐raising practices in the US have created what might be considered institutionalised bribery, resulting in growing concerns about the role of foreign money, entrenchment of politicians, an intergenerational shift of resources and consolidation of key industries. The new political environment has also spawned a growing sense that all votes and candidates are for sale. This paper reviews a bit of history about American political campaign financing, outlines current abuses, highlights implications of those abuses, and offers a few solutions.

Soft drinks consumption in Saudi Arabia is high, although these drinks are nutritionally poor and might lead to various health problems. This paper aims to assess sweetened soft drinks consumption patterns among adult Saudis and explore the association between different attitudes and these patterns.

In total, 1,194 eligible Saudi adults answered an online questionnaire including soft drinks consumption patterns (frequency of consumption and quantity) and attitudes influencing them. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Pearson test was used to assess the association of attitudes with frequency of sweetened soft drinks consumption. A p-value of <0.05 was set as the significance cut-off.

Sixteen per cent of participants consumed sweetened soft drinks either daily or usually. Frequency and quantity of consumption were significantly and positively associated (R² = 0.4, p < 0.0001). The highest correlations were obtained between frequency of consumption and positive attitudes towards perceiving sweetened soft drinks as enjoyable, value for money and indispensable at eating (R² = 0.55; 0.43 and 0.6, respectively, p < 0.0001). Average score in different attitudes was significantly lower frequency of consumption “never” compared to “always” (p < 0.001) (Healthy: 1 vs 1.9, Enjoyable: 1.5 vs 4.4, value for money: 1.7 vs 3.9, indispensable at eating: 1.1 vs 4.0 and social gathering: 1.2 vs 3.8, respectively).

Main limitation of this study relates to the sampling technique through a snowballing, which could influence on the representativeness of the study population.

Findings advance the understanding on the high consumption of sweetened soft drinks among Saudis, making an emphasis on the complexity of this dietary pattern and the importance of different attitudes influencing on it. Thus, changing this pattern implies a global strategy to reduce both frequency and quantity of consumption.

Revelation of controversial fundraising practices by the Clinton‐Gore reelection campaign in 1996 and continuing controversy over proposed campaign finance reform legislation has brought this subject into public focus and discussion. This article provides an overview of key recent developments in campaign finance accompanied by coverage of literature and Web sites produced by scholars, government agencies, and participants in the ongoing debate over campaign finance and its role in the American political process.

This study aims to analyse the effects of the Presidential Powers (Temporal Measures), amendment to the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act to include legal practitioners under the list of designated non-financial business and professions.

The study is a textual analysis of anti-money laundering legislation [anti-money laundering (AML) legislation] within the context of legal practice in Zimbabwe.

The amendment put Zimbabwe on the international standard in the fight against money laundering, as legal practitioners have become a soft target for money laundering. Despite its noble aim, in Zimbabwe there is anecdotal evidence that the AML legislation turns lawyers into watchdogs or law enforcement agents. On the contrary, the amendment prevents lawyers from falling to the mercy of organised criminals and money launderers. Furthermore, there is a dearth of empirical research that can demystify the impact of some of the provisions of this law on contested issues, such as legal professional privilege.

This study aims to outline the rationale for anti-money laundering policy and law. This study will analyse how the issue has been approached in other jurisdictions such as England and Wales. The paper will then try to establish coherent principles in the prevention of money laundering. This study will also suggest a number of recommendations as to how Zimbabwe could approach some of the issues while still considering the need to balance competing influences of legal privilege and money laundering regulations.

The paper will bring this issue to the fore and initiate an informed debate, as well as provide practical talking points for legal practitioners to embrace the AML regime and to engage policymakers on the issues that need reform.

This paper provides the first in depth analysis of the money laundering legislation in the legal fraternity in Zimbabwe and goes to offer practical tips and entry points on the application of the regulations or for advocacy towards any reform as might be needed.

Drawing on the strategic choice and resource dependence perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation in the manufacturing industry in the USA.

The paper proposes two competing views on the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation building on strategic choice and resource dependence perspectives.

The results show support for the resource dependence perspective, suggesting that corporate political strategy is complementary to innovation. The paper also tests for the moderating effects of firm characteristics such as firm size and financial resources, and industry characteristics such as industry concentration and growth on this relationship. The findings indicate that firms that invest heavily in innovation strategies may also want to consider investing in corporate political strategy to create favorable conditions for innovation.

The paper suggests that corporate political strategy can be viewed as alternative or complementary to innovation strategy. Firm characteristics such as firm size and financial resources, and industry characteristics such as industry concentration and growth, moderate the relationship between corporate political strategy and innovation.

One cynic has speculated that years hence people will look back and be forced to conclude that ‘money laundering was one of the greatest problems facing mankind towards the end of the second millennium’. This would be true of lawyers, politicians, economists, sociologists and many others who have sought to examine the problem, each from their own viewpoint. Yet, the persis‐tently non‐definable trend of globalisation has seemingly demonstrated that uni‐causal or uni‐disciplinary explanations of change in the international arena tend to yield unilateral perspectives on problems, solutions to which are subsequently limited in scope.