Winter is surely coming. One might hope it will arrive without the sorcery, murder, mayhem and intrigue of that memorable HBO show, but surely it will be freighted by its own quantum of trauma and anxiety. Actually, what am I saying? Winter is coming? Winter is already here, but many have elected to not yet … Continue Reading
As I was saying in my last commentary, it’s time to stay calm and carry on in a market that is flashing green, red and yellow signals simultaneously. These are market conditions in which nimbleness will be rewarded. Whether the economy is going to continue to grow, albeit in a very low gear, or whether … Continue Reading
I had the opportunity to interview Sam Zell last week on an iGlobal podcast. You can see it here. Fascinating. Okay, Mr. Zell might not be the undisputed master of 1.4 billion souls whose thoughts are obligatory reading, but his Thoughts should be accorded considerable weight by us denizens of the US economy. There’s a … Continue Reading
Here is something helpful that has surfaced amidst the fallout, pain and confusion of the global COVID-19 crisis. The implementation date for the all-too-simple in theory but not-simple-at-all in practice CECL accounting standard has been pushed back by the passage of the CARES Act for banks until the COVID-19 national emergency declared by the president … Continue Reading
The spread of COVID-19 has created a new reality for the hospitality industry. As of March 25, the CDC reported 54,453 confirmed cases in the U.S., and the number is expected to grow exponentially. In the hopes of slashing infection rates, governments have implemented international travel bans, shelter-in-place orders and other restrictive measures. The second-most … Continue Reading
I’m a great admirer of Jack Cohen and his periodic market commentary. I answered his last one and then after the two of us talked, we decided we’d publish them together as a duet. So here you go.… Continue Reading
Beany & Cecil was a cartoon. The Current Expected Credit Loss accounting rules, better known as CECL, which the FASB is insisting will go into effect at the beginning of next year for publicly traded banks and lenders and a year later for all other GAAP reporting entities is not. Now, heaven forfend that I … Continue Reading
You can never go wrong starting off a commentary with a butchered bit from the Bard, right? “Now is the winter of our discontent” spake Richard III, an unamiable leader perhaps reminding us all today of our unamiable governing class. Old Gloucester rhymed to presage war and chaos. Apparently, all that happened because the poor … Continue Reading
An increase of defaults and rising debts have Business Development Companies (BDCs) concerned as the trend may lead to a number of distressed credits within their portfolios. Specialists from Dechert and Houlihan Lokey will address these concerns and potential solutions which matter to BDCs during a webinar taking place on Wednesday, September 9. The webinar … Continue Reading
For want of a baker, a job was lost. For want of a job, the economy was lost. For want of an economy, the banking system collapsed. For want of a banking system – well, ultimately Grexit. Grexit, Grexit, Grexit, Grexit, Grexit, Grexit, (China), Grexit, Grexit. The Greeks will be fine, right? There is no … Continue Reading
Here at Dechert, we have seen a slow but steady work stream over the past several years in assisting institutions in either buying or selling of pools of financial assets. Just recently, we advised Wells Fargo Bank in connection with its acquisition of a $4.5 billion performing pool of UK loans and the simultaneous financing … Continue Reading
The warm weather is not the only thing descending on New York City this week as CREFC hosts its annual Distressed Debt Summit at the New York Athletic Club overlooking Central Park. March in New York City is famous for the Big East Tournament (speaking of distressed…), St. Patrick’s Day parades and love blooming along … Continue Reading
Following up on last week’s cheerful exegesis into the data which is the dropping of the impending European banking and sovereign meltdown, I recommend Dechert’s Euro Crisis Website. It contains a series of Dechert OnPoints and White Papers providing in-depth analysis of the impact of Grexit and the rest on asset managers and other financial … Continue Reading
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about investing in distressed bank assets, with a particular focus on the European markets. As you know, we think there are huge opportunities as the European banks disintermediate to meet capital thresholds, while the economy in Europe grinds slower and slower. Last week in this blog we … Continue Reading
We’ve been writing a lot recently about the likelihood that European banks and, to a lesser extent, U.S. banks would be strongly incented to sell assets to improve capital ratios. We had a client briefing in New York on the Eurobank crisis a few weeks ago. We brought together our North American and European regulatory … Continue Reading
While Europe is sorting through Dexia’s assets, it is worth exploring Dexia’s fall in light of Basel III. As mentioned here previously, Dexia had been reporting Tier I capital of roughly 10%. Well done! That would clearly meet the proposed capital requirements to be phased in over the next year. So what went wrong? Dexia … Continue Reading
Although there is renewed optimism for a vibrant CRE lending market in 2011 (or at least a significantly better market than the prior 3 years), many lenders and servicers continue to face challenges in dealing with delinquent or defaulted commercial mortgage and mezzanine loans (whether held on balance-sheet or securitized). The volume of these “scratch … Continue Reading
A recent Boston Magazine piece on Jack Connors (co-founder of Hill Holliday, Boston College alum and heir to the late Ted Kennedy’s position as city patriarch) noted, quite rightly, that the Hub is somewhat unique among major American cities in that no single industry dominates its cultural identity. In New York, Wall Street is (still) … Continue Reading
Two weeks ago, As the World Turns – a CBS soap opera documenting the lives of the inhabitants of the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois – ended a 54 year run on daytime television. A shorter-tenured, but nonetheless compelling, local epic aired this week as Boston Properties announced that it had emerged from a bidding … Continue Reading
