Tamar Frankel
Tamar Frankel

Professor Tamar Frankel has written and taught in the areas of mutual funds, securitization, financial system regulation, fiduciary law and corporate governance.

She is the author of The Regulation of Money Managers (with Arthur Laby) (Ann Schwing ed.) (3d. ed) (2015) (Aspen Publishing) (updated annually); Investment Management Regulation (with Kenneth Burden) (5th ed) (2015); The Ponzi Scheme Puzzle, (2012) (Oxford U. Press); Fiduciary Law (2011) (Oxford U Press) (translated to Japanese, 2015); Trust and Honesty, America's Business Culture at a Crossroad (Oxford University Press 2006); Securitization (2d ed.) (2005) (Fathom Publishing Co.) (translated to Chinese, 2006).

She has published more than 70 articles and book chapters, and co-chaired for more than 10 years the ALI-ABA Investment Management Advanced Course with Clifford E. Kirsch. In 1998, Professor Frankel was instrumental in the establishment and corporate structure of the Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers (ICANN).

A long-term member of the Boston University School of Law faculty, Professor Frankel was a visiting scholar at the Securities and Exchange Commission (1995-1997) and at the Brookings Institution (1987).

Tamar Frankel has taught and lectured at Oxford University, Tokyo University, Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, University of California Law School, Berkeley and consulted with the People's Bank of China.

A native of Israel, Professor Frankel served as an attorney in the legal department of the Israeli Air Force, an assistant attorney general for Israel's Ministry of Justice and the legal advisor of the State of Israel Bonds Organization in Europe.

She also has been in private practice in Israel, Boston and Washington, D.C., She is married and has two children.

She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the American Law Institute, The American Bar Foundation.

Columns by Tamar Frankel
Bitcoins: The Evolution of Money and the Enforcement of the Law

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel describes the history of money and its role in societies and governments, leading up to today’s bitcoin and the issues governments face in attempting to regulate the cryptocurrency. Rather than purport to provide answer to these pressing questions, Frankel seeks instead to open the door to plain English discussions about the duality of money as asset and as money, the legal control of money transfers to prevent violations of the law, and the government’s control of money supply, which affects the economy and financial systems.

The Story of Grades: A Fable

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel pens a fable as a means of providing commentary on law school grades and the debate between pro-regulation approaches and more laissez-faire approaches. Through the voice of a fictional character, Frankel points out that the cost of relying on the market to correct itself is lingering mistrust, which erodes a community's prosperity and undermines its success for a very long time.

Rewarding Honesty in Institutions

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel describes a model for institutional compliance that provides financial rewards for honesty and compliance with the law. Frankel explains the logistics of such a model and why, for some companies, a bottom-up approach may serve as a superior model than the traditional top-down approach for bringing about desirable results.

The Rise of Robo-Advisers

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel comments on the increased use in “robo-advisers”—machines that purport to offer investment advice and order the performance of their advice by securities trades. Frankel describes how the Securities and Exchange Commission has responded to the rise in robo-advisers and summarizes some of the legal challenges they present, particularly when used by brokers and by financial advisers.