Fresh off the Philadelphia Eagles’ first Super Bowl victory, a group of Dechert attorneys and 3,500 of our industry colleagues descended on San Diego for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo. While those of us on the cross-country flight from Philadelphia were in a particularly jubilant mood, it was clear from the conference that the commercial real estate finance industry was also ready to keep the party going.
Continue Reading 2018 MBA Conference – Soaring into 2018
2018 CREFC January Conference – Plateau or Status Quo?
South Beach played host to the 2018 CREFC January Conference last week, as roughly 1,800 of our best friends in the CRE lending and securitization industry assembled in Miami to reflect on another year gone by and to muse about what’s in store (or out of store, in the case of retail) for 2018. In keeping with tradition, Dechert’s reception at the SLS Hotel was a hotbed of schmoozing, deal talk and employment fair, as over 400 guests took a break from discussing the SEC to… watch the SEC. The excitement of the Alabama-Georgia national championship game was a welcomed excuse to extend the party well beyond the official ending time (a move that is quickly becoming an expected budget buster for this annual event).
As usual, Dechert was well represented at the conference. Dechert’s Laura Swihart served as conference co-chair, and Rick Jones moderated a riveting (ok, not so riveting) panel on “Floating Rate Loans: Circa 2018”.
Conference panelists and attendees were generally bullish, and why wouldn’t they be after a 2017 that saw $95.3 billion in U.S. CMBS issuance (not including the GSEs). For color, that number is up more than 25% from 2016. Not a bad way to usher in the risk retention era.
Continue Reading 2018 CREFC January Conference – Plateau or Status Quo?
2017 CREFC Annual Conference: Into the Heart of the Swamp
CREFC held its Annual Conference last week in Washington D.C. Given the current politically charged climate, 2017 felt like a very appropriate time to move the Annual Conference from its traditional home in New York to Washington. Although attendance was down slightly from last year, over 1000 people attended the conference. Dechert hosted a reception on Monday at The Source restaurant for 250 friends and colleagues, where the excellent food and free flowing drinks lasted well beyond the official closing time.
The conference featured a number of new panels this year, including panels on the state of retail and the New York City real estate market. As usual, Dechert was well-represented in the panels and meetings. Dechert’s Dave Forti participated in a panel on “The Art of the Deal: Large Loan Challenges in 2017”, which discussed the current state of the large loan market and the challenges facing single-asset single-borrower (SASB) securitizations. One highlight of conference was the industry leaders’ round-table, which included Dechert’s Rick Jones and Laura Swihart, who closed out the roundtable in typical satirical, Washington fashion (Covfefe anyone?)
Continue Reading 2017 CREFC Annual Conference: Into the Heart of the Swamp
Have Yourself a Very Trumpy Tax Plan
Well, we’ve had the big reveal and the administration’s new tax plan is out. This plan, announced with a great deal of fanfare, feels more like a campaign promise than an actual executable plan. At two hundred forty-six words from end to end (four different typesets, three different fonts, three colors, weird spacing and a sad little dash at the top), anyone who was hoping for clarity and a plan to go to the bank on, is either disappointed… or perhaps relieved.
Continue Reading Have Yourself a Very Trumpy Tax Plan
New Accounting Rules Regarding AUPs Taking Effect May 1, 2017: More Fun for a Battered Industry
The Auditing Standards Board (the “ASB”) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants recently released new standards as part of the “Attestation Clarity Project” with the goal of redrafting all its standards “in clarity format” (what format were they in before? And, while we’re at it, can we try to use English here? Clarity format?). This Project will require compliance by bankers and issuers with very specific disclosure obligations (reps?) before the auditors will issue an Agreed Upon Procedures Letter (AUPs) for securitizations. Some of this formalized existing practice, but the changes go further and are far more prescriptive. A “new letter of representation” from the party who hires the auditors (the “Engaging Party”) is required as well as similar letters from the parties providing the data that the auditors are reviewing (each, a “Responsible Party”). These new rules will become effective on May 1, 2017. Any AUP that is issued after May 1 will be subject to the new rules.
Continue Reading New Accounting Rules Regarding AUPs Taking Effect May 1, 2017: More Fun for a Battered Industry
Observations from SFIG Vegas 2017 Conference
SFIG Vegas 2017, which took place last week at Aria Resort & Casino, was the largest capital markets conference in the world, according to the Structured Finance Industry Group. With over 6,300 registered attendees, and I suspect thousands more who came to Vegas to attend meetings without registering for the conference, it’s hard to imagine
Dechert’s Financial Regulation Reform Tracker: An Essential Tool for an Uncertain Time
The Trump administration and Republican Congress have big plans for the next four years. The financial industry could face a complete policy 180 faster than the POTUS can tweet out 140 characters. Or a delicately crafted executive order could have no actual real world impact at all.
To keep up with it all, we at
2017 CREFC January Conference – Primed for a Comeback
The 2017 CREFC January Conference, which took place last week at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, provided an opportunity for those in the commercial real estate finance industry to reflect on an eventful 2016, and look ahead to 2017. Although attendance was down by almost 11% this year (we’ll blame Zika), around 1,600 people attended this year’s conference. The mood of the conference was generally upbeat, with most attendees expressing cautious optimism for 2017. As usual, the parties were lively, and 435 people attended Dechert’s reception at the SLS Hotel on Monday night to indulge in sushi surfboards and the national championship game.
While the panels, meetings and forums provided an opportunity to take the pulse of the industry, and we will get to 2017 and beyond shortly, we need to pause for a moment and look back at a year which may be an inflection point in our industry, our country, and possibly the world.
Continue Reading 2017 CREFC January Conference – Primed for a Comeback
CFPB Held to Have an Unconstitutional Structure
We have previously written about some of the overreaches by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held in PHH Corporation v. CFPB that the structure of the CFPB is unconstitutional. Taking issue with the fact that the CFPB was headed by a single director removable by the
Dechert Co-authors CMBS Risk Retention Position Paper
Dechert, together with the three other leading law firms in the CMBS securitization space, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Sidley Austin LLP, published a position paper entitled “Selected risk retention questions and answers for CMBS securitizations.”
Continue Reading Dechert Co-authors CMBS Risk Retention Position Paper