Welcome to the inaugural issue of Greenberg Traurig’s Financial Services Insights. The impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been both unexpected and devastating. As the economic fallout spreads, financial institutions are faced with major challenges in how they conduct business and interact with their customers. This newsletter reviews significant cases and legal developments affecting the financial services industry, including the CARES Act and related litigation, LIBOR developments, and regulatory enforcement actions. Read the full…

On Thursday, Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. EST, join GT Shareholders Carl Fornaris and Oscar Stephens for a complimentary webinar on the status of the phaseout of LIBOR, current trends and action plans. With less than 18 months to go until the expected date of discontinuation of LIBOR by the end of 2021, the program will also focus on the documentation aspects of the transition from LIBOR to risk free rates, regulatory updates and potential…

Welcome to Greenberg Traurig’s LIBOR Transition Newsletter, where we provide updates, analysis, and occasional commentary on the latest developments relating to the highly anticipated phasing-out of LIBOR at the end of 2021 or perhaps sooner. Our sixth issue discusses the following: The FCA Message is Clear: LIBOR Cessation is Coming, Notwithstanding Pandemic Loan Markets: Hardwired Approach Derivatives Market: Waiting for The ISDA Protocol Other Recent Developments Click here to read the full GT Newsletter, LIBOR …

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) published responses to three frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) regarding customer due diligence requirements for “covered financial institutions” (i.e., U.S. banks and savings associations, U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, mutual funds, brokers or dealers in securities, futures commission merchants and introducing brokers in commodities).  The FAQs clarify regulatory requirements for collecting customer information, establishing customer risk profiles and performing ongoing monitoring of…

Proxy advisory firms (Proxy Firms) have long provided institutional investors advice and recommendations with respect to management and shareholder proxy proposals. In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns over the accuracy, process, and conflicts of interests that may affect such advice and recommendations. Consequently, the SEC proposed amendments to the federal proxy rules in November 2019 which would have required that Proxy Firms maintain a review process allowing issuers an…

On July 17, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) announced the terms of an expansion of the Main Street Lending Program to include loan facilities that would allow for nonprofit borrowers. The Main Street Lending Program opened on June 15, 2020, and is meant to increase access to capital for small- and medium-sized businesses that were in sound financial condition before the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)…

On June 25, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a final rule that attempts to resolve the legal uncertainty created by the 2015 holding of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC, 786 F.3d 246 (2d Cir. 2015). The FDIC’s Final Rule follows the May 29, 2020, issuance of a similar rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Madden held that a non-bank…