The financial crisis generated concern that banks were taking excessive risks and they did not have adequate capital to run their operations. It was not clear if the existing Basel framework demonstrated weakness to contain the crisis or if it was the framework that led to the liquidity crisis and ultimately to the financial crisis. […]
Private-Equity’s Secondary Market
Private-equity has been an incredibly popular investment tool for institutional investors around the world, and in 2012 the industry surpassed $3 trillion of assets under management. The popularity of this form of investing is generated from the enormous success that Private Equity has attained with many funds regularly providing a return on investment above 20%. […]
SEC Forms a Group to Examine Private Equity and Hedge Funds: Sources
According to a Reuters report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has recently formed a group (the “Group”) dedicated to examine private equity funds and hedge funds. The Group will focus on how these entities value their assets, disclose their fees, and communicate with investors.
Poison Pills in the Era of Shareholder Activism
Shareholder activism is the way in which shareholders leverage their equity stake to put public pressure on a corporation’s behavior. In his keynote address at the 2014 Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy, and Berkeley Business Law Journal Shareholder Activism Symposium, Larry Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, declared that there […]
SEC Proposes Security-Based Swap Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notification Requirements and Capital Rules for SEC Registrants
On April 17, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new regulations that would implement the recordkeeping, reporting and notification requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The proposed regulations would apply to registered security-based swap dealers (SBSDs) and major security-based swap participants (MSBSPs), as well as to […]
The Volcker Rule: Criticisms and Compliance Issues
On December 10, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued jointly developed final regulations. By doing this, federal agencies implemented […]
Regulation and the Future of Money: Mobile Payment and Virtual Currencies
What exactly is Bitcoin? You may have heard a great deal about this in the media. You may know that it is a virtual currency. You may have heard news that the evaluation of Bitcoin once skyrocketed to a record of $900. But you may not have heard an analysis of Bitcoin and other virtual […]
Comcast and TWC Take Next Step in Proposed Merger
In February, the number one and number two cable providers in the US (Comcast and Time Warner Cable respectively) announced a proposed merger whereby Comcast would acquire TWC. The cable giants have already filed the Hart-Scott-Rodino notification with the DOJ, and on Tuesday, 8 April, they took another step towards completion of the merger by […]
Corporate Law Experts Agree: Shareholder Activism Here to Stay
While the corporate law experts at Berkeley Law’s April 4 conference on shareholder activism offered different opinions about causes and impacts, they all found a patch of common ground: it’s here to stay. Active shareholders assert their power as owners of a public company in order to change its behavior and encourage corporate responsibility, and their actions […]
As Some of the Bailout Banks Recover, Taxpayers Start to See Some Payback
Some recent news in the financial industry are indicating that bailout banks that received taxpayer money after the 2007-08 financial crisis may be starting to show signals of recovery and paying back some of the investments made by federal governments.