The Financial Stability Board stated, in an email to Reuters on January 24, 2014, that it is “is in the process of defining the work it will do on issues around FX benchmarks.”
The Current State of the LIBOR Scandal Investigation
Judge Awards Highest Antitrust Settlement Ever In Massive Credit Card Class Action
In December of 2013, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson of Brooklyn, New York approved what is believed to be the largest antitrust settlement ever made. The case revolves around claims by merchants against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. alleging that the two companies fixed merchant fees charged each time customers used credit or debit cards. The estimated $5.7 billion settlement comes amid a flurry of objections and appeal filings by thousands of retailers who believe the sum is inadequate. The amount was originally even higher—$7.25 billion and certain injunctive relief.
Europe Reaches Deal on Derivatives Trading
D.C. Circuit’s Ruling on “Net Neutrality” Creates Waves in Internet Marketplace
The Silicon Valley and Internet companies worldwide are pouring over a landmark decision, released yesterday, by a three-judge panel of federal appellate judges sitting in Washington, D.C.
The Federal Reserve Approves Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan’s Capital Management Plans
In early December, two Wall Street giants, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, finally satisfied the Federal Reserve’s stiffer requirement with improved capital plans. The banks successfully put the matter behind them by resubmitting capital plans after the regulators found “significant weaknesses” in the ones submitted in March during a stress test. “We are pleased that the Fed determined” the bank’s stress test “process improvements met their expectations,” JPMorgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement.
Volcker Rule challenged in Court: Will Regulators Accede or Demur?
The American Banker’s Association (ABA) filed a petition on December 24, 2013, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging a provision of the recently approved final version of the Volcker Rule (the Final Rule) requiring community banks to divest their holdings in a commonly held debt instrument known as Collateralized Debt Obligation backed by Trust-Preferred Securities or TruPS-backed CDO.
Master Limited Partnerships, newly re-discovered investment structures, are on the rise
A Master Limited Partnership (MLP) is a publicly traded partnership (PTP). It is essentially a partnership, or a limited liability company (LLC) that has chosen partnership taxation, that trades on a public exchange (NYSE, NASDAQ, etc.) or over the counter market.
Prospectus Disclosure Regime in Europe — the Proportionate Disclosure Regime and Supplementary Prospectuses
Regulators have recently clarified two important aspects of the prospectus regime that applies across the European Economic Area pursuant to the Prospectus Directive (Directive 2003/71/EC as amended by Directive 2010/73/EU). The Prospectus Directive provides the overarching European regulatory framework for the publication of prospectuses in connection with debt and equity securities being offered to the public or admitted to trading on regulated markets in the EEA.
SEC Proposes Rules on Crowdfunding
On October 23, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rules which would, if adopted, govern the offer and sale of securities under new Section 4(a)(6) (the “Crowdfunding Exemption”) of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), provide a framework for the regulation of registered funding portals and brokers, and exempt securities sold pursuant to the Crowdfunding Exemption from the registration requirements of Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).
Obama Nominates Yellen to Replace Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chair
On October 9th, President Obama nominated Janet L. Yellen to be the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve and his independent co-steward of the economy. In his nomination, Obama described her as one of the nation’s foremost economists and policy makers.