March 2014

Earlier this month, I and a few of my colleagues here at Dechert attended CREFC’s 2014 High Yield Distressed Realty Assets Summit. The general sentiment of optimism and exuberance for 2014 felt in Miami was not as palpable at the NY Athletic Club, although this may have been brought on more by the fact that this is a distressed debt conference, rather than anything having to do with the market.
Continue Reading 2014 CREFC High Yield Distressed Debt Summit

It’s still in the early days of 2014.  I think it’s finally stopped snowing in the East, the sun has come out and the stock market is continuing to outperform the woe purveyors.  Republicans and Democrats have gotten something done on the budget; lions have laid down with lambs; geopolitically, the world’s a mess but no one seems to care back home.  The financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 is beginning to fade into history.  Things are pretty good and likely to get better for quite some time.

Isn’t it, therefore, a great time to reset? To reset some of the regulatory and legislative excesses stitched together with little reflection during the crucible of the late, great credit crisis?  What appeared to make sense in the middle of that crisis simply doesn’t make a great deal of sense anymore and it’s time for a reset.   As John Maynard Keynes famously said, when the facts changed, he changed his mind.  Shouldn’t we?  It is the height of hubris and willful incuriousness to ignore four years of data and not recalibrate.

If we were to recalibrate, let’s think of some of the things we might rethink.Continue Reading Time for Regulatory Reset

Almost a month ago, the SEC surprised many people by including a vote on the final Reg AB II rules on its February 5 meeting agenda. In a highly unusual move, the SEC then removed the vote from the meeting agenda on February 3, two days before the vote was to take place. This left many to speculate as to the reason the vote was cancelled and what internal politics were taking place at the SEC. Was the vote not supposed to be on the agenda in the first place?
Continue Reading SEC Reopens Comments Period for Reg AB II