Boardroom scandal : the criminalization of company fraud in nineteenth-century Britain / James Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, James, 1976-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fraud--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Fraud.

Commercial law--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Commercial law.

Trials (Fraud)--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Trials (Fraud).

History.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

300 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford Univ Press, 2013.

Summary:

Should businessmen who commit fraud go to prison? This question has been asked repeatedly since 2008. It was also raised in nineteenth-century Britain when the spread of corporate capitalism created enormous new opportunities for dishonesty. Historians have presented Victorian Britain as a haven for white-collar criminals, beneficiaries of a prejudiced criminal justice system-which only dealt harshly with offences by the poor. Boardroom Scandal challenges these beliefs. Based on an unparalleled sample of legal cases-many examined here for the first time-James Taylor presents a radical new interpretation of the relationship between capitalism and the law. Initially, there were no criminal sanctions against publishing false prospectuses, concealing losses in balance sheets, and even misappropriating company money. But parliament became convinced of the need to criminalize these practices to protect the culture of stock market investment on which mid-Victorian prosperity increasingly rested. Persuading judges to play along was harder, with many invoking the principle of caveat emptor to exonerate defendants. But by the end of the century, successful prosecutions of company executives were commonplace. These trials performed multiple functions: they stabilized confidence in times of crisis; they dramatized the class blindness of the law; and they were increasingly seen as essential as faith in a self-regulating economy ebbed. The criminalization of fraud, therefore, has far-reaching implications for our understanding of nineteenth-century Britain. It also has relevance today in light of the on-going economic crisis and the issues it raises regarding business ethics and the role of the state. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Company Fraud in Historical Perspective 1

Part 1 Toleration

2 The Morals of Mania: The 1820s 19

3 Mismanagement or Fraud? The 1830s 45

Part 2 Criminalization

4 Baffling Fraud: The 1840s 69

5 Criminalizing Fraud: The 1850s 95

6 One Law for the Rich? The 1860s 124

Part 3 Enforcement

7 Offences Against the State: The 1870s 157

8 A Mixed Economy of Prosecutions: The 1880s 187

9 Regulating the City: The 1890s 213

10 Epilogue: Following the Victorian Path 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [269]-285) and index.

ISBN:

9780199695799

0199695792

OCLC:

819383012