Too Big To Fail in the Dodd-Frank Era
In Short: The Situation: After the nationalization of the Dutch SNS banking and insurance group, the Dutch Minister of Finance offered zero compensation to expropriated bondholders....more
J&J's $8.9 billion talc settlement faces US bankruptcy test | Reuters - A U.S. bankruptcy judge has started to hear evidence and arguments on J&J subsidiary, LTL Management’s second bankruptcy filing. LTL’s bankruptcy...more
Silvergate Bank, the La Jolla based bank that made a name for itself by specializing in providing banking services to the crypto industry, has recently come under scrutiny for using a (quasi) federal lending program, designed...more
Christmas came early this year for the beleaguered Teamsters Central States Pension Fund and its over 350,000 participants – but employers may soon realize they just received a lump of coal in their stockings. On December 8,...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
The federal agency overseeing voluntary private defined benefit pension plans just issued its Interim Final Rule on how withdrawal liability will be impacted by the billions of dollars that will be paid to failing...more
A fiery, deadly Tesla crash outside of Houston over the weekend is prompting a federal probe of the company’s self-driving autonomous mode for “potential gaps in self-driving car technology.” ...more
The White House has “doubled down” on its recent actions against TikTok by “formally giving ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the popular video-sharing app, 90 days to divest from its American assets and any data that TikTok...more
In Washington: Congressional leaders will soon name the chair of the coronavirus oversight commission, which was created by the CARES Act to increase transparency and oversight of the coronavirus relief funds. Retired...more
In Washington: The Small Business Administration (SBA) said it resumed accepting applications yesterday from small businesses for a disaster-aid program, known as the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program....more
This week marked seventy days since the inception of New York on PAUSE (Policies to Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone). As COVID-19 emergency response efforts continue to strategically transition into economic recovery and...more
Unable to reach a last-minute deal with investors, rental car mainstay Hertz filed for bankruptcy late Friday night, doing so “without a clear plan with creditors in place—a rare move for a company of its size.” Though, like...more
In Washington - COVID-19 has forced lawmakers to think outside the box in how they work remotely during the crisis. Over 50 Democrats have signaled they plan to use proxy voting to cast a vote on the floor....more
In Washington: Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that the administration is winding down and disbanding the White House Coronavirus Task Force around the end of the month. Officials say that key medical experts will...more
All the talk of when to reopen the economy is largely gotten in the way of a bigger (and thornier, if possible) question: how to do it. Despite the bold declarations from optimists and wishful thinkers that it’s as easy as a...more
The White House and the US airline industry have agreed in principle to a $25 billion bailout after weeks of “haggling” over the terms, including whether the Treasury Department was “effectively turning the grants into loans...more
New numbers out this week show that retail sales fell 8.7% in March, a staggering figure that still “doesn’t capture the full impact of the sudden economic freeze on the retail industry.” The decline was “by far the largest...more
FERC: No Rehearing on Potomac Pipeline - "A federal commission this week turned down a request to rehear its approval for a proposed natural-gas pipeline under the Potomac River." Why this is important: In 2018, the Federal...more
Markets closed down on Tuesday, a fitting conclusion to the worst month on Wall Street since October 2008 that was marked by wild volatility and record-setting point drops....more
Variety asked my views on that recently. I don't think so. While the crisis is evolving on a day-by-day and hour-by-hour basis, I think that any financial relief to Hollywood will be more generic. Every industry that has...more
The fallout of COVID-19 continues: “S&P 500 futures fell nearly 4%;” the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes fell to 0.788%; Brent crude fell by 4.6%; the stimulus and fiscal relief package hit a roadblock in the Senate; and...more
In a proposal originally penned by the Treasury Department and taken up by Senate Republicans, the Trump Administration seeks passage of a nearly $1 trillion Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus plan that...more
Late action by the Senate to pass a second COVID-19 relief package (that the White House soon signed) may [key word may] help markets yo-yo back upward today after a dismal Wednesday driven by crazy-low oil prices (West Texas...more
Volatility’s the name of the game these days on Wall Street. So what was down on Monday was up (a bit, at least) yesterday, although the basics of the situation haven’t improved at all....more
Boeing has again pushed back the return of its flawed 737Max model, revealing yesterday that it doesn’t expect regulators to sign-off on their return to the air until at least summer....more