News
Should We Be Alarmed About Empty Voting?
Should we be alarmed about empty voting? According to a recent article, “A Call to Arms on Empty Voting!” by Andrew MacDougall, Robert M. Yalden and Jeremy Fraiberg, yes, we should indeed. Using a proxy battle over a proposal by Canadian company, TELUS to eliminate its dual class share structure earlier this year as an example, MacGougall, Yalden, and Fraiberg assert that as “the number of public M&A transactions increases, and if U.S. hedge funds continue to look for opportunities in Canada to engage in strategic gamesmanship, concerns about empty voting will also increase.”
SEC Gives the Green Light to Active ETFs Using Derivatives
In an address before the ALI Conference on Investment Adviser Regulation in New York City on December 6, 2012, Norm Champ, the new Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment, announced that the “Division staff will no longer defer consideration of exemptive requests under the Investment Company Act relating to actively managed ETFs that make use of derivatives.”
Forex Swaps and Forwards Win Vital Exemption from Dodd-Frank
“Unlike other derivatives, FX swaps and forwards already trade in a highly-transparent, liquid and efficient market. This final determination is narrowly tailored.
FSB Renews its Focus on Shadow Banking
“Appropriate monitoring and regulatory frameworks for the shadow banking system needs to be in place to mitigate the build-up of risks.”
FOMC Mulls Change of Tactics to Fed Funds Rate Changes
The latest Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (“FMOC”) minutes reveal serious consideration of an approach to monetary policy whereby the Fed uses quantitative triggers based on unemployment rates and inflation, as opposed to date-based thresholds, to guide its changes in the federal funds rate.
FSOC Pulls Rank and Issues Its Own Money Fund Reform Proposals
Pursuant to powers granted to it by Section 120 of the Dodd-Frank Act, on November 13, 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) approved proposed recommendations for the structural reform of money market mutual funds (“MMFs”).
EU Members Tinker With Short-Selling Bans, But to What Effect?
On October 19, 2012, Spain’s financial regulator the CNMV announced that it would extend its ban on short selling until October 31 and has also submitted a proposal to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to impose a further three month ban, effective November 1, 2012.
Stricter Capital Requirements Forcing as Many as 25% to Exit the Market
Increased capital requirements are squeezing as many as 25% of financial firms out of certain business lines, according to the fourth annual survey by the Professional Risk Managers’ Association (PRMIA), which was co-sponsored by SunGard. The survey finds, among other things, that the introduction of central clearing is expected to result in lower margins, increased collateral requirements, and generally increase the cost of doing business in OTC derivatives.
SEC Proposes OTC Derivatives Reforms. Defers Cross-border Worries.
On October 17, 2012, the SEC published its long awaited proposals for new rules governing “security-based swaps.” Recognizing the considerable concern over the cross-border effect of this proposed new regime for OTC derivatives, the Commission chose to set those worries aside to be addressed more fully in a forthcoming separate release. They explain that this approach will allow market participants, foreign regulators, and others an opportunity to weigh in on the issues raised by the proposed OTC Derivatives framework as a whole.
Novel Monetary Policy Has Its Risks, But Also Its Rewards
In an October 14, 2012 address in Tokyo, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the Fed’s near term economic outlook, and discussed in an international context the basic rationale underlying the Federal Reserve’s recent policy decisions. According to Bernanke, the outlook is for the economic recovery to proceed at a moderate pace in coming quarters, with the unemployment rate declining only gradually and inflation running less than 2%.