Category — Credit Crisis & Government Intervention

July 29, 2010
12:00PM  -  1:00PM

Please join us for a webinar to discuss the new financial regulations and how they may affect your business.

ABOUT THIS EVENT
This program covers portions of the Act of interest to a wide range of banks and other financial companies, including Regulatory Restructuring and Reforms, Orderly Liquidation Authority, Mortgage Lending Reforms and Consumer Financial Protection, Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation Reforms, and Derivatives and Related Securities Matters.   [Read more →]

The financial reform bill passed by the Senate on July 15 tightens the definition of “accredited investors” eligible to participate in private placements of securities.  The bill has been sent to the White House for final enactment upon the signature of President Obama.  The relevant provision of the bill changes the financial test used to define an “accredited investor” under Regulation D, a widely used exemption for private placements. [Read more →]

On February 10, 2010, the Congressional Oversight Panel released its much-anticipated report regarding “Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability.” In the report, the Panel expressed its deep concerns that a wave of commercial real estate failures could threaten America’s already-weakened financial system and that “[c]ommercial loan losses could jeopardize the stability of many banks, particularly the nation’s mid-size and smaller banks.” [Read more →]

On February 2, 2010, President Obama announced a proposal (the Proposal) to establish a new Small Business Lending Fund (the SBLF) to encourage and facilitate increased lending by community banks to small businesses.  As proposed, the SBLF would offer up to $30 billion for equity investments in community banks, which are defined as banks with assets under $10 billion. The SBLF would be separate and distinct from the Treasury’s TARP program but would be funded with $30 billion of repaid TARP capital.  [Read more →]

The credit crisis that gripped U.S. and global markets and the subsequent recession have created fresh investment opportunities for private equity funds.  Traditionally, private equity funds were discouraged from investing in banking institutions by two primary factors: (1) high entity valuations dominated the banking industry, and (2) significant investments in banking institutions could trigger considerable regulatory burdens.  However, recently announced regulatory policy changes and significant declines in stock prices across the financial industry have combined to create a more attractive environment for private equity to invest in banking institutions.  [Read more →]

The Obama Administration has announced a comprehensive plan for regulatory reform of the financial services industry. The plan, entitled “A New Foundation: Rebuilding Financial Supervision and Regulation” was announced by President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner at the White House on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. [Read more →]

The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

On May 20, 2009, the President signed The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. The new law contains a number of provisions, including amendments to the HOPE for Homeowners Program, protections for servicers of mortgage loans who modify mortgage loans, and extensions of the credit facilities from the U.S. Treasury to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, Section 404 of the Act amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to require that a new notice be given to consumers within 30 days after the sale, transfer or assignment of the consumer’s mortgage loan. [Read more →]

In addition to the previous announcement that commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) issued on or after January 1, 2009 are eligible collateral under the TALF, the Federal Reserve has announced that certain high-quality commercial mortgage-backed securities issued before January 1, 2009 (legacy CMBS) will become eligible collateral. [Read more →]

The Treasury Department announced that the results of its comprehensive bank stress tests will be made available soon. The comprehensive stress tests and other traditional methods of evaluating bank performance are yielding results that some banks will find of critical importance in dealing with regulators, their customers and their shareholders. The public disclosure of this information by Treasury complicates matters. During this critical time, financial institutions in crisis need to focus on four key areas among the many challenges they face. [Read more →]

Created by the Economic Stabilization Act or 2008, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (“SIGTARP”) has the powers to audit and investigate TARP awards and to make recommendations to the Treasury Department on how it should manage TARP programs.  Acting with the attention of the Congress, oversight over Treasury, the authority to deal directly with TARP recipients, and the required cooperation of the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state law enforcement, SIGTARP Neil Barofsky has a broad jurisdiction and extensive powers.  While his formal power of compulsion ends with court-enforced subpoenas and he must refer criminal matters for prosecution to the Department of Justice, in two months of activity, he has initiated 20 criminal investigations, audited the use of TARP funds and the executive compensation of its 364 recipients, and set a schedule of audits and investigations across the spectrum of TARP programs. [Read more →]