Weekly Brief: BoA Sued; SCOTUS Shortlists; Fund Fights Argentina
Fiat Chrysler and rival Peugeot have agreed to binding merger terms that, if approved by US and European regulators, would create a “$50 billion auto giant that would rank among the world’s largest car companies by sales”....more
Carlos Ghosn, the onetime “savior” of Nissan, faced another indignity while again behind bars in Japan—the automaker officially removed the former chair from the board altogether....more
Monsanto’s (and, in turn, Bayer AG’s) terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court over its Roundup products’ links to cancer continued yesterday, as a jury awarded $80 million to the California man who it had already...more
US banks are reporting that cases of financial abuse of seniors are on the rise. Treasury department data showed a 2-fold increase in suspected cases from just 5 years ago and a 12% increase from just a year ago....more
Less than a day after the Journal reported that CBS and the Redstones are nearing a deal to resolve their many differences, we’ve learned that CBS chief Les Moonves—facing an investigation into alleged sexual harassment...more
U.S. Financial Industry Developments - Credit Agreements Will Require Important Updates If a Proposed New Delaware Law Is Passed - The Delaware legislature is currently contemplating an amendment to the Delaware Limited...more
A couple of big-time SCOTUS opinions released yesterday will leave their mark on the financial world— First, the High Court found that internet retailers can be “required to collect sales taxes in states where they have no...more
U.S. Financial Industry Developments - Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act - The "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act," signed by the President on May 24, amends...more
CFTC Statement on Self-Certification of Bitcoin Products by CME, CFE and Cantor Exchange - On December 1, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") issued a Statement on the Self-Certification of Bitcoin...more
FHFA Updates Progress on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Credit Risk Transfer Programs - On November 22, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA") issued a status report on credit risk transfer transactions done in...more
FHFA Updates Progress on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Credit Risk Transfer Programs - On July 26, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency released an update on the credit risk transfer programs of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae...more
Financial Industry Developments - FHFA Announces $5.5 Billion Settlement With Royal Bank of Scotland - On July 12, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA"), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,...more
With all of Europe closely eyeing the ECB for hints about its move away from aggressive bond buying, some cities that have benefited disproportionately from the QE are being forced to consider what life on the other side will...more
On July 12, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA“), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced it had reached a settlement with Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, related companies and specifically...more
Financial Industry Developments - Changes Proposed to CAS and STACR Programs - On May 8, 2017, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they are considering certain changes to the structure of their CAS and STACR...more
Financial Industry Developments - Federal Reserve Board Announces Finalized Rule Adjusting the Board's Maximum Civil Money Penalties - On January 18, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it was adjusting...more
FHFA Issues Final Rule on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Duty to Serve Underserved Markets - On December 13, 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a final rule implementing the Duty to Serve provisions...more
Commercial real estate (CRE) is a tremendously important asset, as the content of this book will discuss. However, the CRE lending and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) markets are, at the time of writing, largely...more
FHFA Announces Increase in Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2017 - On November 23, 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an increase in the maximum conforming loan...more
FHFA Requests Input on Credit Risk Transfer Transactions - On June 29, 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency published a report outlining its perspective on the credit risk transfer programs of Fannie Mae and Freddie...more
Financial Industry Developments - FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Announce Independent Dispute Resolution Program - On February 2, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the "FHFA") announced that Fannie Mae and...more
Barclays and Wachovia Settle with NCUA - On October 19, 2015, Barclays PLC and Wachovia Capital Markets LLC agreed to pay $325 million and $53 million, respectively, to settle claims brought by the National Credit Union...more
European Commission Unveils Tax Transparency Package - The European Commission has laid out its plans in a new Tax Transparency Package to clamp down on tax deals made between EU governments and multi-national...more
FHFA Updates Requirements for Freddie and Fannie Sales of Non-Performing Loans - On March 2, FHFA announced changes to requirements for sales of non-performing loans (NPLs) by Freddie and Fannie to reduce the number of...more
ESMA Publishes Final Technical advice on the MiFID II Directive and MiFIR - On December 19, 2014, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published final technical advice (ESMA/2014/1569) to the European...more