In a speech that was ostensibly on the progress of the Capital Markets Union, Steven Maijoor, the Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") announced, that ESMA is planning possible measures to avoid a...more
Shareholders have accused Under Armour of “concealing the impact” of Sports Authority’s bankruptcy from investors in order to artificially inflate its stock price. The suit comes on the heels of a disastrous Q4 for UA, in...more
Financial Industry Developments - Class Action Against Lending Club and WebBank Headed to Defeat - On Monday, January 31, 2017, a federal district court in the Southern District of New York granted a motion to...more
RBS has agreed to pay $85 million to the CFTC to resolve allegations that its traders “manipulated the ISDAfix benchmark rate over a period of five years to benefit the bank’s derivatives positions”....more
Deutsche Bank and the DOJ have put the finishing touches on the deal to resolve the investigation into DB’s role in its sale of toxic RMBS. The bank will fork over $7.2 billion in total, including a $3.1 billion civil penalty...more
Risk factors related to uncertainties resulting from possible policies that may be implemented by President-elect Trump have begun to appear in SEC filings...more
Rating Agency Developments - On November 2, 2016, DBRS published a report entitled Unified Interest Rate Model for European Securitisations...more
So, it turns out that all of the Brexit-style market freefalling was reserved for overnight trading. US markets actually closed up yesterday after modest opening losses....more
The Prime Minister has set out key principles for the government’s policy on Brexit, which indicate that the UK will not remain fully in the EU Single Market or the Customs Union, but will be negotiating a bespoke trade deal...more
Three months after the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union, the timing and scope of Brexit remain unclear. Until such details are determined with specificity, there is and will continue to be increased economic...more
The Japanese government has stepped into the Brexit debate with an unprecedented warning to the EU and the UK, saying that Japanese inbound investment into the UK could be put at risk by Brexit particularly if withdrawal...more
FCA Chief Executive Comments on FCA Mission and Brexit - The FCA has published a speech by Andrew Bailey, FCA Chief Executive, at the FCA's 2016 annual public meeting on 19 July 2016. Mr Bailey stated that the FCA...more
Brexit and Structured Products: A Framework for Considering Disclosures - The U.K.’s recent referendum to withdraw from the European Union has affected virtually all segments of the financial industry. The structured...more
Stock Market Commentary - The markets endured much drama in the two weeks leading up to quarter - end as the surprise exit of the U.K. from the European Union rattled investors. Brexit knocked over 5% off of the S&P...more
The German bund broke new ground yesterday by going negative—the first 10-year debt offering in the Eurozone to do so—and still going like gangbusters. Germany sold $5.3 billion in the bonds....more
The UK electorate has now voted in favour of the UK leaving the European Union. The impact on the energy market may be significant given the economic uncertainty and impact on the regulatory environment. Much remains...more
The British public voted to leave the European Union on Thursday 23 June. What happens next is far from certain. The implications for global M&A markets are, accordingly, equally far from certain. The volume of M&A...more
Just four days after the Brexit vote the FTSE 100 has recovered much of the ground it lost and the strength of the pound against the dollar has recovered a little from a 31-year low. Why? And what do we say to US businesses...more
How often are we going to be hearing about Brexit aftershocks? I’d expect you better get used to it. Today’s edition: two other real estate funds (these run by Aviva ad M&G) have joined Standard Life in freezing withdrawals...more
Even with US markets shrugging off the Brexit [maybe?] by the end of last week, the effects of the split are FAR from over. One recent ripple: Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate mutual fund—which invests in high-end...more
IN numbers - 82 billion The expected amount, in U.S. dollars, generated for the U.S. economy by the first operational rules for routine use of small unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, known as Part 107. (Source:...more
The United Kingdom has voted in a referendum by a narrow majority to leave the European Union (“Brexit”). The outcome of the referendum will have far-reaching consequences on financial markets and international capital...more
US banks made a strong showing in part 2 of the latest round of the Fed’s stress tests. Only Morgan Stanley didn’t pass unconditionally (concerns over the company’s “internal controls and processes” tripped it up), while the...more
Big financial firm stress test results are out from the Fed later today, and though all banks proved up to the task of reserving enough capital (as reported last Friday), the economic downturn simulation that’s part of round...more
We all woke up on June 24th to the surprising news that the UK voted to leave the European Union following a contentious referendum. The vote was very close, with 52% voting to leave and 48% voting to remain. Markets are...more