Voters Wisely Reject Proposed Constitutional Amendment 30 to Eliminate the Montana Board of Regents

Voters Wisely Reject Proposed Constitutional Amendment 30 to Eliminate the Montana Board of Regent

The International Legal Responsibility To protect Against Genocide, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity: Why National Sovereignty Does Not Preclude Its Exercise

Good morning everyone. I am pleased to be here as part of this exciting International Law Weekend to participate with my good friend and Rocky Mountains colleague, Professor Nanda, along with Professor Wojcik, to discuss this important topic of The Responsibility to Protect Victims of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

Montana\u27s Foreign Capital Depository Act

In 1997, Montana attracted national and world financial attention when Montana Governor Mark Racicot signed into law Senate Bill 83, the Foreign Capital Depository Act (Act), creating the first U.S. state-chartered financial entity designed solely for attracting non-U.S. capital. Depicted by skeptics as an unworkable Panama without the Canal, Switzerland of the Rockies and Rocky Mountain High, Montana is nonetheless pursuing a creative approach to increased state revenues that capitalizes on the state\u27s unique privacy laws as well as innovative statutory drafting. The Act warrants attention from offshore assets owners and managers who seek U.S. stability in a state committed to full financial privacy protections. This Article first describes the Act\u27s history, key provisions and implementing regulations. It then briefly assesses several legal issues affecting the Act\u27s likely future. These include: (1) Montana\u27s constitutional privacy rights applicable to foreign capital depositories and their customers; (2) the Act\u27s relationship to federal money laundering laws; (3) the Act\u27s express statutory bar against recognizing and enforcing most non-U.S. court judgments adverse to depositories and their customers; and (4) the implications of newly emerging federalism jurisprudence that suggests that sovereign state activities, including those related to international financial services, may fall outside the scope of international treaty and federal regulatory statutes traditionally deemed applicable to such activity. Finally, the Article draws some preliminary conclusions about the Act\u27s future

Roundtable Discussion

Welcome to the Roundtable panel discussion. Each of the speakers is going to open with a few minutes statement. And then we\u27re going to pose some questions to open discussion, so it will take people through the whole asset protection route from beginning to end, hopefully. And then, any questions you may have we believe we\u27ll have sufficient time to ask those questions and have them answered. You may get very different views. And then we\u27ve just decided that the jury will decide whether asset protection trusts are a good thing or a bad thing. Okay. So pay attention