Credit default swaps became notorious financial instruments and symbols of financial engineering run amok during the 2007-8 financial crisis. Once worth over $60 trillion a year, the credit default swap market has shrunk significantly, but it is still worth nearly $10 trillion a year.1 A credit default swap is a financial derivative contract that pays…
Tag: Finance
Getting to a Financial Stress Test Equilibrium
On May 24, 2018, President Trump signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (“EGRRCPA”).1 This law loosened several regulatory requirements instituted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) after the 2008 Financial Crisis.2 The EGRRCPA removed, inter alia, a Dodd-Frank requirement that prudential bank regulators and bank holding…
The SEC, Cybersecurity, and Voya
Introduction According to Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2017, there were 16.7 million victims of identity fraud and $16.8 billion was stolen.1 Even more shockingly, “30 percent of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach last year.”2 With another large company being hacked seemingly every week,3 the SEC is feeling the pressure to do…
Green Finance to Fuel Sustainable Development
Nations around the world have taken action to address climate change. The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 set goals for participating member states to reduce their impact on climate change and keep global temperatures below a certain threshold.1 Governments have enacted various regulations taking environmental effects into account, such as the Clean Air Act and…
The Investment Modernization Act of 2016, Part 2 of 2
Policy Considerations And Potential Business Impact Perhaps the two most relevant provisions of the Investment Modernization Act of 2016 are the changes to restrictions on advertising in sections 2(b)(1)-(2), and the reduction in reporting requirements on the Form PF for many investment advisers in section 3(a).1 The bill passed the House on September 9, 2016.2…
Investment Modernization Act of 2016: Part 1 of 2
PART I: What Is The Investment Modernization Act of 2016? The Investment Modernization Act of 2016 is a bi-partisan bill that would amend the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and update selected Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules to “modernize certain requirements relating to investment advisers.”1 The bill passed the House on September…
SENATE COMMITTEE SCRUTINIZES TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR PRIVATE MUSEUMS
The Senate Finance Committee has recently set its sights upon nearly a dozen private museums opened and operated by individual collectors located all over the United States. The committee has begun scrutinizing and putting to question whether the tax-exempt status the museums enjoy “provides sufficient public benefit to justify what amounts to a government subsidy.”1…