In response to the stock market crash of 1929, Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. While the Securities Act governed the issuance of securities, the Securities Exchange Act regulated trading in the securities.
The federal Clayton Act contains prohibitions against various specific anti-competitive practices and is designed to supplement the broad prohibitions of the Sherman Act against anti-competitive agreements and monopolization. Section 2 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 13, as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act, specifically prohibits discrimination in the price of commodities or in commissions, allowances, services, or facilities if such discrimination is anti-competitive.
Most states recognize that corporate directors and upper-level officers owe the corporation the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience. The duty to act in good faith has emerged in some jurisdictions as an equally important fiduciary duty imposed upon directors and officers. Historically, directors and officers were frequently exonerated of personal liability for business decisions because of courts' long-standing deference to the business decision under the business judgment rule or because the transaction was deemed fair to the corporation and its shareholders overall. In the wake of recent corporate scandals, however, officers and directors are under ever-increasing scrutiny by shareholders, the courts, state governments, and the federal government. Many corporate commentators bemoan the fact that conduct once protected under the business judgment rule may not be viewed with such deference in the future.
(Shareholder Proxy Solicitation Rules)
Agreements In Restraint of Trade
