Sky Blog
Notwithstanding numerous COVID-19-related challenges faced by market participants, UK regulators have affirmed that—at least for now—the anticipated cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) at the end of calendar year 2021 remains unchanged. Complying with regulators’ and working groups’ …
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) sit at the center of the COVID-19 crisis selloff.[1] This isn’t surprising, since ETFs are a low-cost highly liquid vehicle for trading entire sectors, asset classes, and even global economies. Yet the use of ETFs …
On March 4, the Federal Reserve finalized a significant integration of its stress testing regime with its ongoing supervisory capital requirements, by introducing a new “stress capital buffer” requirement for firms subject to the Federal Reserve’s CCAR supervisory stress tests. …
Past financial crises have been characterized by panics, runs, and restrictions on the availability of credit, and our crisis prevention measures (including capital regulation, deposit insurance, and the lender of last resort) have been adopted in light of this historical …
The rapid spread of Covid-19 and massive change in behavior required to curb it have transformed the trajectory of the world’s economy. Just a few short weeks ago, the United States was basking in the longest period of sustained economic …
With confirmed cases of COVID-19 now in more than 50 countries and the death toll rising almost daily, experts are predicting that the situation will get significantly worse before it gets better. Concerns over the impact of the virus have …
On March 2, 2020, the SEC adopted rule changes to simplify the financial disclosures that are required when an issuer offers debt securities with guarantees.[1] The old requirements were complex, and in some circumstances burdensome, and the utility of …
The impact of technology on finance (FinTech) is one of the hottest topics in business, law, and regulation, with academics and practitioners considering a host of issues that include cryptocurrencies, robo-advice, initial coin offerings, and algorithmic analyses of big data. …
On March 4, the Federal Reserve finalized a significant integration of its stress testing regime with its ongoing supervisory capital requirements, by introducing a new “stress capital buffer” requirement for firms subject to the Federal Reserve’s CCAR supervisory stress tests. …
The greatest single-day decline in the stock market this century, widespread fear and uncertainty, shuttered schools, an end to large gatherings everywhere from NBA games to the South by Southwest festival – these are just a few of the signs …
If stocks were still traded in pits, stock exchanges would have been shut down in China, Korea, Italy and possibly elsewhere a while ago. A bunch of men shouting and feverishly passing each other sheets of papers would have …
Modern finance is fast moving, extremely complex, and contributes to pervasive unknowns. Yet the processes governing how finance is regulated are typically slow, highly deliberative, and often reflect deeply ingrained and incredibly optimistic assumptions about our ability to understand the …
In recent years there has been a surge in research that explores the sources of variation in corporate tax avoidance. Following this stream of research, tax scholars have begun to acknowledge the potential effect of ownership patterns on firms’ tax …
Several decades of research have found that capital structure and financing decisions are influenced not only by market frictions such as taxes and bankruptcy costs but also by conflicts between managers and shareholders. In a new paper, we test whether …
Advancements in financial technology (FinTech) are revolutionizing product offerings across the financial services industry. As of 2018, more than $50 billion had been invested in 2,500 companies that are redefining the way in which individuals participate in financial markets (Accenture, …
Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth of passive funds at the expense of active funds. This trend picked up in 2019, a year that saw passive funds surpass active funds in total assets under management. The continuous decline of …
To assist legal and compliance officers of financial institutions, this memorandum summarizes key recent developments in criminal prosecutions and regulatory enforcement actions involving financial institutions during November and December 2019.
Among the significant matters and trends:
Bloomberg’s multi-talented Matt Levine recently wrote:
One of my favorite recent stories in bond documents is the one about how private equity firms changed a sentence in bond documents, which usually says that companies can’t make restricted payments if “a …
The Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) recently revised guidelines (the 2019 Guidelines)[1] on how it will identify and address financial stability risks are a major shift from the guidelines it issued in the immediate aftermath of …
2019 was another strong year for corporate borrowers, continuing a decade-long run marked by historically low interest rates and strong credit markets. Over the last 10 years, total U.S. corporate bonds outstanding rose from $6 trillion to nearly $10 trillion, …