Social Enterprise Law: Trust, Public Benefit, and Capital Markets, by Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean. Oxford University Press. New York, U.S.A., 2018, ISBN: 9780190249786 How do you persuade social entrepreneurs and impact investors to trust one another’s commitment to impact? That’s the question Social Enterprise Law attempts to answer. Social enterprises (here defined…
This is the sixth article in a series about European philanthropy. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and The Lawson Foundation. For some time now, a new player has been getting ready to “hit the stage” of the social economy in Italy. The Italian government, with legislative decree no. 112 of July 3, 2017,…
This article is the third in a series about European philanthropy. The series is published as a collaboration between The Philanthropist and The Lawson Foundation. The European Foundation Centre (EFC) was formally established on the same day the Berlin Wall fell: November 9, 1989. As such, it has always been axiomatic in telling our history…
Les Canadiens se sont habitués, en particulier depuis que le président Donald Trump préside à la disgrâce de son pays sur la scène internationale, à entendre des éloges presque embarrassants au sujet de notre pays en tant que bastion mondial de la démocratie, de la tolérance et de la saine gouvernance. Le fait de lire,…
Canadians have become accustomed – especially with President Donald Trump presiding over his country’s fall from grace on the world stage – to hearing almost embarrassingly glowing reviews of our nation as a global bastion of democracy, tolerance, and good governance. So it is somewhat sobering to read, in none other than The Washington Post,…
Regulating Charities: The Inside Story, Myles McGregor-Lowndes and Bob Wyatt, eds, New York, Routledge, 2017, ISBN 978-1-315563-92-3 Regulating Charities: The Inside Story is a text that is not about the regulation of charities; it is about the inside story(ies) that illustrates why there is no regulation of charities. This comment is not a criticism…
This article has been adapted from a keynote address to the Canadian Bar Association symposium on charity law, held in Toronto on May 12, 2017. Many people have heard of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is so named because it was uncovered in the Egyptian town of Rosetta in 1799 by French soldiers of…
The Public-Private Nature of Charity Law, by Kathryn Chan, Oxford and Portland, Oregon, Hart Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78225-848-3 The 19th century social reformer Lord Brougham, commenting on opposition to the establishment of a regulatory apparatus for charities, said: Th[e] law [of England] regards the inheritance of the poor as a matter of public, not…
The following paper is the culmination of The Philanthropist’s series “Canadian Charities Working Internationally,” which began in March 2015. In it, Toronto charity lawyer Andrew Valentine outlines the challenges with the current “direction and control” rules that apply to Canadian charities working abroad. He also presents proposals to reform the system, ranging from simple administrative…
Recent high profile debate over regulation of registered charities’ political activities is only part of broader sector concern about onerous Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requirements with respect to other aspects of registered charities’ operations, such as reporting obligations, and constraints over foreign activities or on operating through intermediaries. Additionally, what is required and reviewed under…