Sky Blog
There is an increasing worldwide focus on trying to end the problem of “too big to fail” (“TBTF”). Regulators are concerned that systemically important financial firms might engage in excessive risk-taking because they would profit from a success and be …
High-frequency quoting and trading (HFQ) has become a global phenomenon. It’s based on reducing the lag time – known as latency – between order submission and execution or cancellation so that order outcome is reported almost instantaneously. A number of …
In the controversial practice of appraisal arbitrage, activist investors buy shares of a corporation to be acquired by merger so as to assert appraisal rights challenging the merger price – which may already have been approved by the target’s stockholders. …
In a September 22, 2016, post on this blog, available here, Professor Wulf Kaal asked in the title to his piece, “What Happens When Technology Is Faster Than the Law?” He noted that while “innovation driven by science and …
The latest Wells Fargo bank scandal has rekindled debates about breaking up banks that are too big to fail, too big to manage or too big to comply.
Echoing the debate between Louis Brandeis and Teddy Roosevelt in the Progressive …
The New York State Department of Financial Services (the “Department”) issued a guidance memorandum on October 11[1] requiring regulated New York-chartered banking institutions to align their incentive compensation practices with the general principles laid out in the Interagency Guidance …
What is the value of an asset? That is the ultimate financial question, the equivalent of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be.” Of course, we all “know” the answer: the present value of its future cash flows. Push an …
Over the summer, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) concluded the comment period on its reproposed single counterparty credit limits (SCCL) rule issued in March 2016.[1] SCCL is intended to reduce systemic risk by limiting a banking organization’s credit exposure …
Is there a simpler – and better – way to predict a recession? The answer is yes, and no, we are not astrologists – though one would not necessarily be wrong to use the position of stars and planets for …
In this update, we review a number of recent regulatory developments that may impact firms engaged in the industry of new and innovative financial technology (“FinTech”). First, we discuss the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (“FDIC”) new guidance on examining third-party …
Many contemporary discussions of finance or of subjects that implicate finance – for example, federal budgetary or finance-regulatory policy – seem to be systematically colored by a seldom-examined presumption. We call this presumption the “intermediated scarce private capital myth.”
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The UK Government recently indicated that it intends to negotiate a unique EU-UK relationship post-Brexit. It is hoped that the arrangements will be appropriate for the UK and London’s position as a leading international financial centre. A number of existing …
Crowdfunding has emerged in recent years as an alternative financing channel in which entrepreneurs can directly solicit contributions from a large number of investors. In return for their contributions, investors receive non-pecuniary rewards, private benefits, or most recently, monetary payoffs. …
Designing sensible defined-contribution retirement-plan rules is a challenging task since most Americans do not have sufficient financial acumen and self-discipline to manage their own retirement portfolio. In spite of the fact that retirement plans constitute the bulk of their savings, …
As the financial system’s capital was being depleted in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, some banks curtailed their dividends but others, especially securities firms, continued to pay dividends well into the depth of the crisis. Indeed, some firms — including those …
The avalanche of accounting scandals in the late 1990s and early 2000s triggered major changes in the corporate accounting world. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) stampeded in, promising tightened audit regulation aimed at easing the minds of frightened market …
In recent years, activist investors and the companies they target have attracted considerable attention—in the press, in the business and legal communities, in the political arena, and in academia. The fundamental question under debate is whether activist interventions create or …
On September 13, 2016, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS” or the “Department”) issued proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) designed to guard against the onslaught of cyber-attacks faced by banks, insurance companies and other financial services providers.[1]…
The World Economic Forum threw a knockout punch last month when it released its report, “The Future of Infrastructure: An Ambitious Look at How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services.”[1] When Giancarlo Bruno, the World Economic Forum’s Head …
The time value of money, measured by the interest rate at which an entity can borrow or invest, plays an incredibly important role in income tax. Every tax teacher emphasizes the value of deferral to taxpayers, explaining that paying a …