African Capital Markets: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo

By Georges Ugeux and John Mbuluku October 24, 2022 by renholding

On June 21, 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) weighed in on the economic situation in Africa, and the news was not good.

“African economies are at a pivotal juncture,” the IMF said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought economic activity …

Finance Without Law: The Case of China

By Shitong Qiao September 20, 2022 by renholding

In a new article. I investigate how two financial markets of trillions of dollars each have developed extralegally in the past two decades, creating risks of regulatory enforcement actions and contract defaults. More specifically, I examine (1) how Chinese internet …

Machine Learning, Algorithmic Trading, and Manipulation

By Megan Shearer, Gabriel Rauterberg, and Michael Wellman September 19, 2022 by renholding

Trading in financial markets is increasingly dominated by algorithms. They enable trading at speeds and levels of adaptiveness that are impossible for human beings. A key question for the legal system is whether these algorithms will disrupt the efficiency and …

SEC Chair Gensler Speaks at Conference on Financial Market Regulation

By Gary Gensler May 9, 2022 by renholding

The field of economic research is central to our work at the SEC. It helps shape every aspect of our policymaking, from the early design phase to the proposing releases to the consideration of public comments to the adopting releases.

…

SEC Chairman Gensler Speaks Before the Investor Advisory Committee

By Gary Gensler March 11, 2022 by renholding

It’s good to be back with the Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) again. As is customary, I’d like to note that my views are my own, and I’m not speaking on behalf of the Commission or SEC staff.

I’d like to

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How Does Better Access to Public Firm Disclosures Affect IPO Firm Financing?

By Shawn Shi January 7, 2022 by renholding

Financial markets affect the economy in a fundamental way by facilitating the creation of capital. The market for initial public offerings (IPO) – also known as the “primary market” – is especially important because it allows fast-growing and innovative companies …

SEC Chair Gensler Testifies Before U.S. House Committee on Financial Services

By Gary Gensler October 7, 2021 by renholding

Good afternoon, Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and members of the Committee. I’m honored to appear before you today for the second time as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. As is customary, I will note that my views

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Reforming the Macroprudential Regulatory Architecture in the United States

By Kathryn Judge and Anil Kashyap July 26, 2021 by renholding

When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered major economies in March 2020, it also wreaked havoc on financial markets. In the first few weeks of March, investment-grade corporate bonds lost roughly a fifth of their value, on par with the declines in …

Risk and Ambiguity in Turbulent Times

By Menachem Brenner and Yehuda Izhakian July 9, 2021 by renholding

Over the past 50 years, the financial markets have been rocked by major shocks, which have led to the introduction of financial instruments that could cope with uncertainty in general and extreme events in particular. To manage the uncertainty surrounding …

Mind the (Data) Gaps: SEC Commissioner Speaks at Conference on Financial Market Regulation

By Caroline A. Crenshaw May 17, 2021 by renholding

Before I begin my remarks, I need to mention that the views that I express today are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission or its staff.

To start, I want to note that I

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How Blockchain-Based Financial Markets Can Create Systemic Risks That Harm Lower-Income People

By Heather Hughes March 29, 2021 by renholding

Blockchain-based platforms create exciting possibilities for financial inclusion: widespread ownership of deposit accounts and access to payments services. From a macro-level perspective, however, these platforms can aggravate systemic risks. Systemic instability, in turn, threatens financial inclusion and sustainability.

Sustainable finance, …

The Government Tools for Responding to Market Distress

By Anthony J. Casey March 1, 2021 by renholding

In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down economies around the world, pressure arose for governments to respond to the growing threat of pandemic-related market distress. In the United States, the initial proposals for government action varied …

The Case for Prudential Regulation of the Litigation Finance Market

By Andrew S. Jacobs and Jack B. Jacobs January 21, 2021 by renholding

[Editor’s Note: This and the piece that immediately follows offer a point/counterpoint on litigation finance.] The past decade has witnessed a steady stream of innovative capital markets products. Among these developments is litigation finance – a transaction form …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses New EU ESG Disclosure Obligations for Financial Services Firms

By Géraldine Bourguignon, Helena Grannis, Caroline Petruzzi McHale, Ferdisha Snagg and Clara Cibrario Assereto January 19, 2021 by Nisha Chandra

Over a year ago, on December 29, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures for the financial services sector (the “Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation”, or “SFDR”) entered into force. Just a few months remain before key …

What Factors Affect Global Investment in Private Equity?

By Serdar Aldatmaz, Gregory W. Brown and Asli Demirgüç-Kunt October 6, 2020 by renholding

Since the1990s, global investment in private equity has increased from under $10 billion per year to well over $100 billion. Over the same period, there has also been a shift from public markets in major economies like the U.S. and …

SEC Commissioner Speaks on Financial Market Regulation

By Hester M. Peirce September 21, 2020 by renholding

Whenever I talk to economists, since I cannot awe you with a fancy equation, I have to start with a bad joke. It is a knock-knock joke, which is especially hard to pull off when trying to physically distance. “Knock,

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Financial Markets and News About the Coronavirus

By Harry Mamaysky July 14, 2020 by renholding

From its February 2020 peak to a March 2020 trough, the S&P 500 index fell 34 percent. This fall was accompanied by extreme volatility, at a level last seen during the global financial crisis. Invariably the selloff was accompanied by …

Evidence of Systemic Risk from Major Cybersecurity Breaches

By Shaen Corbet and Constantin Gurdgiev September 27, 2019 by renholding

In general economics, “asymmetric information” refers to information about a transaction in which one party knows more than another party, to the potential benefit of the former at the expense of the latter. An example often occurs when consumers and …

Beyond Disclosure: A New Way of Examining Securities Regulation

By Jena Martin May 2, 2019 by renholding

When it comes to the U.S. securities markets, the game has changed. Historically, the U.S. securities markets were dominated by retail investors who engaged in a buy and hold strategy: purchasing stocks as a vehicle to invest in a corporation …

Disruption and the Credit Markets

By Bo Becker February 27, 2019 by renholding

In the past 30 years, defaults on corporate bonds have been substantially higher than the historical average. Dividing the years from 1970 to 2016 into two equal periods, the default rate of U.S. corporate bonds rose from 0.12 percent to …

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