#mergers

21 12, 2022

FedFin on: Nonbank Enforcement-Order Registry

2022-12-21T16:54:37-05:00December 21st, 2022|The Vault|

The CFPB is proposing to create a public registry of certain enforcement actions that would initially cover nonbanks (including BHCs) with a goal of drawing public and enforcement-agency attention to what the Bureau’s director calls “serial offenders.” …

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

21 12, 2022

CONSUMER47

2022-12-21T15:27:45-05:00December 21st, 2022|1- Financial Services Management|

Nonbank Enforcement-Order Registry

The CFPB is proposing to create a public registry of certain enforcement actions that would initially cover nonbanks (including BHCs) with a goal of drawing public and enforcement-agency attention to what the Bureau’s director calls “serial offenders.”  The new filings would be extensive and likely expensive in terms not just of the filings, but also of the analytical processes needed to ensure accuracy and the internal controls assuring officers making requisite attestations that their statements are complete and accurate.  Public disclosure of much in the filings – including information that companies consider confidential – would make it easier for other enforcement agencies to identify institutions that may also have violated their own standards as well as alert state and federal banking agencies to entities under their supervision with potential compliance and risk-management shortcomings.

CONSUMER47.pdf

21 11, 2022

FedFin on: Treasury Plumbs the Depth of Nonbank Finance, Seeks New Merger Policy, Rules

2022-11-22T13:19:47-05:00November 21st, 2022|The Vault|

As promised, this report provides an in-depth analysis of Treasury’s report and resulting recommendations to the President’s Competition Council on the impact of new nonbank consumer-finance entrants from a competition, consumer-protection, and financial-stability perspective.  Although the report calls for reconsideration of bank-merger policy with an eye to the growing role of fintechs and bigtechs, its overall view of market power fails in our view to capture the actual landscape in which…

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

21 11, 2022

FINTECH31

2022-11-21T12:00:14-05:00November 21st, 2022|5- Client Report|

Treasury Plumbs the Depth of Nonbank Finance, Seeks New Merger Policy, Rules

As promised, this report provides an in-depth analysis of Treasury’s report and resulting recommendations to the President’s Competition Council on the impact of new nonbank consumer-finance entrants from a competition, consumer-protection, and financial-stability perspective.  Although the report calls for reconsideration of bank-merger policy with an eye to the growing role of fintechs and bigtechs, its overall view of market power fails in our view to capture the actual landscape in which these important new entrants compete with banks.  For example, its focus on deposit-market concentration compares banks principally to neobanks, failing to consider deposit-like products such as prime MMFs and in many cases also credit-union deposits.  As a result, erroneous conclusions are drawn about market power that exists when all competitors – not just bigtechs or fintechs – are considered.

FINTECH31.pdf

16 11, 2022

REFORM215

2022-11-22T15:02:46-05:00November 16th, 2022|5- Client Report|

HFSC Session Brings Crypto Action to Fore, “Holistic” Capital Under Scrutiny

HFSC today largely focused bank regulators on the same range of questions posed at yesterday’s Senate Banking session (see Client Report REFORM214).  However, Chairwoman Waters (D-CA) emphasized the importance of federal legislation in sharp contrast to Chairman Brown (D-OH), also announcing a hearing in December on FTX.  Ranking Member McHenry (R-NC), who will become HFSC chairman in the next Congress, concurred with the chairwoman’s views on the need for digital-finance statutory reform.  However, he took strong issue with inter-agency policy with regard to new capital rules, merger restrictions, and third-party relationship constraints.  Republican members also targeted Vice Chairman Barr’s holistic capital review, arguing that banks are currently well capitalized and that additional standards would hamper lending.  Mr. Barr indicated that an SLR rewrite is part of the holistic review but not immediately necessary to quell Treasury-market volatility or illiquidity.  As discussed in more detail below, regulators promised banking-sector crypto rules at least as stringent as Basel’s proposal.

REFORM215.pdf

 …

21 10, 2022

Al102422

2022-10-24T11:05:45-04:00October 21st, 2022|3- This Week|

Resolved…What Was That Again?

As evidenced again last week at the FDIC meeting (see Client Report DEPOSITINSURANCE115), structural  change is under way in how larger regional banks are required to prepare for an orderly demise.  This comes not just from the new FRB/FDIC request for views on what will clearly now be new resolution standards for these companies (see FSM Report RESOLVE48), but also how large M&A transactions are reviewed even while these standards undergo the lengthy comment-and-approval process kicked off by a release that hasn’t yet even hit the Federal Register.  As we noted in our assessment of the approval of the USB/MUFG acquisition (see Client Report MERGER11), the FRB and OCC have altered the conditions they impose on super-regionals even if – as in this case – the Fed thinks the resulting company is already resolvable.  Our analyses assess the strategic implications of what could be structural rewrites not only of how large regionals are resolved, but also even of how they operate while still in the pink.

Al102422.pdf

21 10, 2022

FedFin on: DSIB-Resolution Requirements

2022-10-21T15:51:53-04:00October 21st, 2022|The Vault|

The FRB and FDIC have moved beyond the resolution-planning requirements mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act then implemented over the years to what could be a new resolution regime for banking organizations considered category II or III companies under the inter-agency tailoring rules.  Initially described as guidance when the agencies first announced this initiative, it appears likely that final standards will be more binding, which would almost certainly need to be the case under administrative procedures if the agencies decide not only to revise resolution planning on a sector or bank-by-bank case.  This would be particularly likely if ….

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

21 10, 2022

RESOLVE48

2022-10-21T14:12:50-04:00October 21st, 2022|1- Financial Services Management|

DSIB-Resolution Requirements

The FRB and FDIC have moved beyond the resolution-planning requirements mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act then implemented over the years to what could be a new resolution regime for banking organizations considered category II or III companies under the inter-agency tailoring rules. Initially described as guidance when the agencies first announced this initiative, it appears likely that final standards will be more binding, which would almost certainly need to be the case under administrative procedures if the agencies decide not only to revise resolution planning on a sector or bank-by-bank case. This would be particularly likely if the agencies decide to include them in total loss-absorbency capacity (TLAC) standard for covered banking organizations akin to those now governing GSIBs.

RESOLVE48.pdf

19 10, 2022

FedFin on: USB/MUFG Orders Point to New Merger, Regulatory Policy

2022-10-19T10:27:40-04:00October 19th, 2022|The Vault|

As promised, this analysis focuses on the OCC and FRB approvals of the acquisition by U.S. Bancorp of MUFG’s Union Bank in California. Derided in a tweet from Sen. Warren (D-MA) as another “rubber-stamp” approval, both the nature of the transaction – which included massive commitments to community support – and the approvals themselves suggest otherwise. We shall continue to evaluate agency action on larger transactions and shortly provide clients with an analysis of the FDIC/FRB advance notice of proposed rulemaking on new resolution standards approved for public comment by the FDIC (see Client Report DEPOSITINSURANCE115). However, while policy and politics formulate new standards, pending….

The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here and here.…

19 10, 2022

MERGER11

2022-10-21T14:03:33-04:00October 19th, 2022|5- Client Report|

USB/MUFG Orders Point to New Merger, Regulatory Policy

As promised, this analysis focuses on the OCC and FRB approvals of the acquisition by U.S. Bancorp of MUFG’s Union Bank in California.  Derided in a tweet from Sen. Warren (D-MA) as another “rubber-stamp” approval, both the nature of the transaction – which included massive commitments to community support – and the approvals themselves suggest otherwise.  We shall continue to evaluate agency action on larger transactions and shortly provide clients with an analysis of the FDIC/FRB advance notice of proposed rulemaking on new resolution standards approved for public comment by the FDIC (see Client Report DEPOSITINSURANCE115).  However, while policy and politics formulate new standards, pending transactions are directly and immediately affected by the new approach epitomized in these orders.  We thus note the financial-stability and resolvability conditions applied to this transaction, which clearly signal those – i.e., “severability” – for near-term deals as well as for future standards.

MERGER11.pdf

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