An executive order signed by President Biden in early July is expected to bring more scrutiny of banking mergers, a significant development given that the number of deal announcements continues to gain steam heading into the second half of the year. The order encourages the Department of Justice, the ... READ MORE >
Financial services
How an ESOP can preserve a business, and a legacy
After more than a year of whipsaw change brought on by the pandemic, many business owners have decided to retire. A recent survey of business owners conducted by the Wilmington Trust found that the pandemic is behind this rush to retire, adding another unexpected wrinkle to a devastating year. But ... READ MORE >
SPAC IPO market pauses as investors and regulators reevaluate
Initial public offerings of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have almost ground to a halt, a rapid and spectacular reversal of one of the hottest trends in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. SPACs’ share price performance—as reflected by the Defiance Next Gen SPAC Derived Exchange-Traded ... READ MORE >
5 key themes from SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s House testimony
With Gary Gensler sworn in as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission in April, the direction of the agency under his leadership is now beginning to take shape. This was especially clear during the third and final House Financial Services Committee hearing Thursday on the surge in meme stock ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: The CLO market is back
The market for collateralized loan obligations (CLO) is back in full swing after more or less freezing in March and April last year. The bulk of leveraged loans used to finance private equity buyouts generally end up packaged into CLO products, making the volume and pricing of new issuances in the CLO ... READ MORE >
Federal Reserve to end supplemental leverage ratio capital break
The Federal Reserve announced on Friday that it would not extend an important rule accommodation put in place last spring that helped banks continue to lend to small and medium-size businesses as the economic effects of the pandemic took hold. The rule change allowed banks to exclude Treasury ... READ MORE >
Short-term rates and economic expansion at risk without Fed’s SLR extension
With the economic recovery still in its early stages, an important component of the Federal Reserve’s response to the economic collapse last spring is in danger of expiring. It’s called the supplemental leverage ratio, or SLR, and the Fed lowered it last spring to help banks maintain liquidity and ... READ MORE >
With embedded finance, Walmart takes aim at consumer financial services
The recent announcement that Walmart has hired away two executives from Goldman Sachs to run its nascent fintech division was the clearest sign yet that the retail giant intends to compete in the consumer financial sector, especially with players in the middle market. David Stark and Omer Ismail, ... READ MORE >
Low interest rates offer private equity firms a rare opportunity to invest
As the Federal Reserve maintains historically low interest rates, private equity firms in the middle market have an opportunity to make more affordable capital investments that will pay off in the future. It's the result of the unusual current environment on interest rates, with the yield on ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: ESG comes to financial services
As more and more companies adhere to environmental, social and governance practices, or ESG, financial services firms have started to fall under scrutiny for their practices. It marks a shift from the early days of ESG, when much of the attention was focused on industrial companies and environmental ... READ MORE >