Sky Blog
For better or worse, over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to participate in the response to three financial crises – the thrift and banking crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s as a member of …
On October 16, 2024, the Republic of El Salvador (“El Salvador”) announced the financial close of a $1 billion debt-for-nature (“DFN”) swap, which was both the world’s largest conservation-focused operation of this kind to date and the world’s largest DFN …
On December 31, 2024, two separate appellate courts issued notable decisions addressing so-called “uptier” transactions. In a typical uptier transaction, a majority of lenders under a credit agreement, in connection with amending the credit agreement and providing additional financing, are …
The recent scandal involving TD Securities LLC[1] has served as a stark reminder of the dark side of high-frequency trading. While this particular case has garnered significant attention, it is far from an isolated incident. Spoofing, a form of …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) recently released a report identifying limits in federal privacy protections afforded by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the GLBA). The report strongly encourages state policymakers to consider how consumers …
Striking a balance between pursuing economic growth and addressing social and environmental challenges is not easy, yet it’s crucial for emerging markets. There’s no doubt that growth has lifted millions of people from poverty over the last half-century, but it …
In late October 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) issued its final rules (the Outbound Rules) implementing President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 14105 on “outbound” U.S. investment. See our prior mailers here and here. The Outbound Rules will take …
A well-trodden path for banks to achieve regulatory capital reductions by mitigating credit risk is through a synthetic securitization, either by issuing credit-linked notes (CLNs)1 or engaging in bespoke bilateral credit derivative transactions. These transactions—while complex to execute—offer the …
On October 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit cleared the way, at least for the time being, for betting on the outcome of U.S. elections.[1] The D.C. Circuit denied the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s …
On October 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued final regulations implementing an outbound investment control regime targeting AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing investments involving China that raise national security concerns. The regulations’ prohibitions and reporting requirements go …
I teach a course on “Financial Crises/Regulatory Responses” with the economist Patrick Bolton. This course addresses the struggle to establish and maintain financial stability, an apex goal of the financial system. Last week, I told the students that by the …
On October 9, 2024, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued new guidance for financial institutions on best practices for compliance with export control laws and regulations (the Guidance).[1] The Guidance caps a series of notes …
On September 17, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) announced the settlement of administrative cease-and-desist orders with 11 institutional investment managers for failures to timely report securities holdings required on Form 13F, as required by …
It appears a new item must soon be added to the list of life’s certainties: “death, taxes and the CTA.”
Effective January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) requires many entities to report information about their beneficial owners, senior …
Economic downturns disrupt firms’ operations and strategic decisions and impair their financial health. During the recent pandemic, for example, many companies were forced to reduce expenses or lay off employees, driving the U.S. unemployment rate to 14.7 percent in 2020, …
The DOJ, FDIC and OCC have revised their bank merger review standards. The new standards are a major shift for bank M&A and will require a careful, detailed analysis to evaluate the viability of any proposed transaction.
The Federal Deposit …
The Treasury Department and the IRS have released long-awaited proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) on the 15% corporate minimum tax on the book income of certain large corporations (the “CAMT”), more than two years after the CAMT was created as …
In the rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology, smart contracts have emerged as a revolutionary tool for documenting transactions. These self-executing contracts, with terms transcribed directly into code, are designed to automate and enforce agreements without the need for intermediaries.
Two weeks ago, there was big news for “event contracts,” which provide for fixed payouts upon the occurrence of specified events and are sometimes referred to as “prediction” products. Kalshi – an exchange that has popularized event contracts on everything …
Although we use money every day, few of us really understand it. Most define it by its most obvious manifestation – government-issued paper certificates or coins that specify units of currency, such as dollars or euros. But that superficial definition …