REGULATORY CAPITAL IS BROKEN Basel needs to change. Pro-cyclicality should be the first thing to be reformed.
How Basel should change Basel II needs to be fully audited to identify and repair its mistakes. First on the list should be pro-cyclicality
Give Basel II a chance It would have helped prevent the credit crunch, and we haven’t begun to see what it can do
Sponsored article: Continuous legal review How financial institutions can satisfy the Basel II requirements for continuous legal review of credit-risk mitigation arrangements
Aegon hires in-house counsel; Ex-SEC director joins Cravath in New York; O'Melveny & Myers hires from Lehman Asia
Don't drive banks offshore If regulation is not cost-effective, banks will have to radically change their business model to be profitable
Reform bank capitalisation There is growing consensus that rights issue processes can be reformed to the benefit of both issuers and shareholders
Katrina Jackiewicz, Goldman Sachs The difficulties with working in Hong Kong for the first time. A diversity of laws and trying to find somewhere to go running
90A: Fuel for litigation The UK implementation of the Transparency Directive opens the way for US-style stock-drop litigation. Investors are busy lining up candidates
Reforms to benefit everyone The need to improve borrowers’ rights when a lender defaults has been shown up by the credit crisis. Syndicates should consider these reforms in their next deal
New agreements forced to fit political demands Project finance managers’ search for alternative capital is causing lawyers to revise simple contract stipulations that don’t fit the needs of government agency banks
Asia private equity Private equity activity has slowed in Asia, but a close look at the facts and figures predicts strong competition next year
Capitalism’s advocate Aaron Goach of Merrill Lynch on how law supports the free market and helped him launch a business from the back of his car
Tweaks to a sound system The Basel Committee’s proposed adjustments are in stark contrast to the Commission’s hurried additions
Don’t regulate hedge funds The Madoff scandal creates no credible arguments for greater European regulation of hedge funds. The responsibility lies with investors and fund managers
A unique way to avoid volatility The acquisition of British Energy featured unique CVRs that could be a model for future deals in uncertain markets
Central regulation of European banks? Basel may provide the model for regulatory cooperation, with the help of a college of supervisors
Foreign-cubed case rejected The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that US securities laws have no extraterritorial application to a foreign corporation
Bonds must be financed, whatever the cost Companies would like to buy back their debt but worry about opaque market abuse rules. The other options aren't great
Federal Reserve will help distressed bank takeovers Distressed-asset acquisitions will boom as more private equity firms take advantage of relaxed bank-holding requirements from the US Federal Reserve
Insolvency will depend on politics Foreign investors will try to avoid unsophisticated civil courts imposing antique bankruptcy statutes
