As discussed in my earlier blog “‘Measure for Measure:’ LIBOR, SOFR, and the ICE Bank Yield Index”, over $300 trillion of derivatives, loans, and other financial products have floating interest rates based upon the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”).» Read More

On July 12, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Staff published a major and unusual joint statement on “LIBOR Transition.”

The Divisions of Corporation Finance, Investment Management, and Trading and Markets, together with the Office of the Chief Accountant, issued a seven-page, single-space statement.» Read More

On July 22, 2019, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued a joint statement covering their plans to develop new adjustable rate mortgage (“ARM”) products that would be priced based upon the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) instead of the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”).» Read More

At the end of May, I wrote a piece titled “‘Measure for Measure’ LIBOR, SOFR, and the U.S. DOLLAR.  ICE BANK YIELD INDEX”.  As noted there, the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) in 2014 created the Alternative Rates Reference Committee (“ARRC”) to develop alternatives to LIBOR. » Read More

History

Until the 1980s, banks and especially banks located outside the United States (and even more, those in Europe) had to deal with ever-growing U.S. dollar deposits, known as Eurodollars. These Eurodollars arose from both the Marshall Plan expenditures after World War II and the climbing amount of imports into the U.S.» Read More

Although the American banking system is hardly a model of straightforward simplicity at best (at least five primary federal regulators, depending upon the type of bank or whether a savings institution is involved, and not forgetting credit unions, let alone the 50 state bank chartering and regulating authorities), one area of almost impenetrable opaqueness has been the issue of when one company “controls” another company under the Bank Holding Company Act or the Home Owners’ Loan Act (sometimes called the Savings and Loan Holding Company Act).» Read More

On June 16, 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB,” the private, non-profit body which sets and revises Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), adopted a new accounting standard applicable to lenders, primarily banks. The new standard, “Current Expected Credit Losses” (CECL), is to take effect at the beginning of 2020.» Read More

In Pennsylvania, forming a corporate entity for your business (particularly an LLC) is a good first step in liability protection for business owners, but it is only the first step.  Once your LLC has been formed, you must take certain actions (and avoid certain others) to maintain a separate existence between yourself and your entity to ensure maximum liability protection.» Read More

In 1599 the English Elizabethan dramatist Thomas Dekker (1572-1632) saw his play “The Shoemaker’s Holiday” first performed (in London). In Act 3, Scene V of the play, set in a French “neighborhood,” a famed bit of verse is included (relevant to occurrences in the play):

O, the month of May, the merry month of May

So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green!» Read More