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The purpose of this paper is to discover how firms use issue proceeds from seasoned equity offerings (SEOs).

Utilizing a large sample of industrial corporations, the authors perform a series of regressions in which the dependent variable is one of six use categories and the independent variables are issue proceeds, other sources, and control variables. The impact of macroeconomic conditions on the use of issue proceeds is explicitly considered and the primary use is found to be investment in R&D.

Some evidence is found that issue proceeds are funnelled into cash, capital expenditures, and acquisitions but these do not seem to be the primary use. While the results suggest a motive for issue that does not rely on behavioural theories, they also suggest that investment theories must reconcile the weak post‐issue performance of SEO firms with the fact that, in general, R&D investment is associated with positive abnormal returns and operating performance. To that end the evidence is consistent with equity issues being made in reaction to exogenous reductions in required returns and during periods when growth opportunities are more plentiful.

This is the first paper to explicitly consider the role of macroeconomic conditions in the use of proceeds from seasoned equity issues and to document that the primary use is investment in R&D. The results will help scholars better understand the motivation for SEOs and assist in evaluating explanations of the poor performance of issuers. The results also provide practitioners with valuable benchmarks of the use of issue proceeds, which they can use to evaluate equity as a source of external funding for their company.

As investors' expectations shift toward corporate sustainability, many corporations have jumped on the bandwagon of being “green” by issuing green bonds. However, as a recent green financing tool, little attention has been paid on the value that green bonds actually deliver. This causes the problem of greenwashing, in which firms pretend to be environmentally responsible when in reality they are not. This study therefore aims to explore green bonds' impact on issuers' corporate environmental and financial performance.

The sample is collected from among the green bond and conventional bond issues between 2015 and 2019 issued by corporations from various countries. Using the propensity score matching (PSM) and then difference-in-difference (DiD) approaches, two sub-groups (green bond and conventional bond issuers) were generated for comparison. Changes in environmental and financial performance over time between the sub-groups are then examined.

The overall results show that green bonds are effective in improving environmental performance, but only when they are certified by third parties. Additionally, green bonds do not have an impact on financial performance. The findings imply that green bonds' dependency on external certification may be a consequence of an underdeveloped green bond market, where weak governance still dominates the green bond market. Because of this, corporations tend to take advantage of green finance's growing popularity, causing the greenwashing problem.

Green bonds are an extremely new area of research. Few research studies focus on the effectiveness of green bonds in impacting corporate financial and environmental performance. Therefore, this study strives to fill this research gap. It sheds light on the effectiveness of green bonds in supporting the development of green projects and provides a reference point for decision-making in strengthening transparency and accountability in environmental disclosure and helps regulating authorities develop tighter regulatory controls.

In recent years an emerging global trend of introducing legislation to use civil procedures against criminal assets can be detected. However, these civil forfeiture models, which exist vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This paper seeks to identify issues which need to be considered when such a scheme is being designed and examines the options which have been adopted.

The paper examines the legislative provisions in a number of jurisdictions setting out the common issues which have arisen and the range of options which have attempted as potential solutions.

The paper concludes that jurisdictions which seek to introduce civil forfeiture legislations now have various examples from which to learn but that these models will likely evolve in the face of litigation and experience as legislatures and policymakers attempt to produce fair but effective procedures for the civil recovery of criminal proceeds.

As further jurisdictions respond to this emerging trend and draft their own legislation, there is much to be leant from the issues which others have considered necessary to address and the way in which these issues have been dealt with.

This study aims to investigate the effects of the intended use of initial public offerings (IPO) proceeds that is disclosed in the prospectus on IPO initial returns.

A sample of IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2015 is used. The intended use of IPO proceeds is categorised into three uses, namely, growth opportunities, debt repayment and working capital. In addition to ordinary least squares regression, the study applies a more sophisticated and robust approach using the quantile regression technique.

The results show that the intended use of IPO proceeds for growth opportunities and working capital is positively associated with IPO initial returns, whereas debt repayment is negatively associated with IPO initial returns. When the intended use of IPO proceeds for growth opportunities is further expanded into capital expenditure (CAPEX) and research and development (R&D), the intended use of IPO proceeds for CAPEX is positively associated with IPO initial returns, whereas R&D is negatively associated with IPO initial returns.

These findings suggest that intended use of IPO proceeds provides useful information about IPO initial returns and investors can use this information as guidance to make informed decisions. In addition, regulatory authorities should pay close attention to the amount allocated to each intended use of IPO proceeds as this may play a critical role in the success of a company and the economy.

This study gives new empirical evidence on the desire and motivations of IPO and the usefulness of designated use of IPO proceeds disclosed in the prospectus in explaining IPO initial returns.

The issue of export instability exerts an enduring fascination for economists with an interest in the area of economic development. Over several decades a voluminous literature has emerged embracing debates on the domestic consequences and on the causes of export instability. The purpose here is to examine these debates and an attempt is made to set out different theoretical stances, to classify and examine empirical findings, and to indicate the directions in which the debates have moved. Such a statement of a review article's purpose is, of course, incomplete without more specific delineation of the boundaries within which the general objectives are pursued. Here that delineation has three facets.

Since the 1970s, the North Carolina Legislature has authorized its counties to levy four local option sales taxes (LOST). Proceeds from two of them are partially restricted for school capital needs; two other LOST are used to augment counties' general revenues that may also affect school capital funding. Experiences from other states have raised concerns that the adoption of LOST may increase inequality in school finance, but the empirical results have been mixed. Using a data set of one hundred North Carolina county school districts from 2004 to 2006, this study examines how public school facilities are funded, and investigates whether the adoption of LOST aggravates or alleviates inequality in public school capital revenues in the state.

The language in respect of the money laundering offence of concealing or disguising criminal property is drawn from various international conventions. It is therefore surprising, given the number of jurisdictions, which have incorporated that language into their domestic legislation, that more foreign case law is not used to interpret and properly apply these offences. The purpose of this paper is to rectify that position.

This paper uses case law from the USA, where there are frequent money laundering prosecutions, to throw light on the underlying concepts of the concealing or disguising offence and to provide examples of activity which may amount to its commission.

The offence of concealing or disguising criminal property is drafted in broad terms. Many of the issues, which have been explored in the US jurisprudence are likely also to arise in criminal proceedings in the UK.

The paper examines a number of issues, which have not yet been explored by the UK courts. It looks at the approach of the US courts to the differentiation between the mere spending of criminal proceeds and the spending, which is the doing of an act for the purpose of concealing proceeds. It looks at whether concealment must be intended by the defendant's actions or whether it is sufficient if it is an outcome of his actions. It considers how effective any concealment must be and explores the different attributes of criminal proceeds, which may be concealed.

Since May 2016, small firms have been able to issue debt and equity securities in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's “Regulation Crowdfunding”. This regulation provides unsophisticated investors a chance to participate in the securities markets, and it gives small businesses an opportunity to raise funds. This paper investigates the determinants of crowdfunding success, security design in a crowdfunding setting, the amount of crowdfunding campaign proceeds and campaign duration.

The sample used in this study is based on 750 completed securities crowdfunding offerings that were launched between May 2016 and May 2018. The data on crowdfunding issues were webscraped from Form C filings available through SEC EDGAR filing system. Additional data were hand-collected from a variety of platforms that list and aggregate crowdfunding offerings.

We show that relatively larger and more profitable companies have a better chance to achieve crowdfunding success. We find that the issuance of equity results in a lower probability of success compared to issuing debt. In addition, the issuance of equity is negatively correlated with the amount of proceeds from a crowdfunding campaign. A novel finding is that a choice of a funding instrument has a negligible impact on the amount of proceeds. This finding, combined with reduced probability of success for equity issuers, can be interpreted as a signal to rely more on debt and convertibles when designing crowdfunding campaigns.

Organized under “Regulation Crowdfunding,” the US securities-based crowdfunding market has been operating for several years. Relative to other securities markets it is still considered to be in its infancy. Given a relatively small data sample, the results have to be interpreted with caution.

The paper shows that small businesses and unsophisticated investors can benefit from securities-based crowdfunding, which is subject to oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although the mission of the regulator is to protect investors, the SEC took on a rather relaxed approach in regulating types of instruments used in crowdfunding. Our paper shows that equities, including “Simple Agreements For Future Equity” (SAFEs) might not be the best choice for crowdfunding success. This sentiment is mirrored in law literature which considers securities known as SAFEs more suitable for venture capital campaigns rather than for crowdfunding.

The paper adds value to the novel field of securities-based crowdfunding by testing several hypotheses on the crowdfunding success, the amount of proceeds and campaign duration.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contentious issue whether lawyers become launderers when they accept dirty money as legal fees. Lawyers represent criminal defendants who may wish to pay for their legal fees with proceeds of their criminal activities. The paper analyses the legal position of Namibia and Zimbabwe on such tainted fees and proceeds to compare with the different position taken by the United States.

The paper adopts a desk research methodology with reliance on various sources such as statutory laws, case laws, books, journal articles and the internet. Its scope is limited to issue and content analysis relating to the use of dirty money as legal fees.

The paper shows that lawyers become launderers when they accept dirty money as legal fees with knowledge or suspicion of its origins. It concludes that the prohibition of dirty money as legal fees is important in the fight against economic crime in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Even though it is decriminalised in the USA, the continuous prosecution of lawyers for tainted fees shows that state authorities are aware of the dangers of tainted legal fees.

This paper adds to the few available literature on dirty money and legal fees. It provides sound reasons why prohibition of tainted attorneys’ fees adds muscle to the fight against economic crime. No prior literature is available on tainted legal fees in Namibia and Zimbabwe specifically.