General Electric (“GE”) has had a rough couple of months. GE started 2018 as “the most valuable publicly traded U.S. industrial conglomerate[.]”[1] Now, it is projected that GE could fall as low as the No. 4 spot, making it the least valuable of the four major industrial conglomerates.” The company’s stock price has dropped by nearly 25 percent over the past two months.[2] This devaluation trend has market watchers wondering if GE’s days on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are numbered.[3] If GE does get the boot from the Dow, what will that mean for GE, the Dow, and the…
Author: Alexander Panisch
The BitLicense is a business license issued for cryptocurrency operations in New York State.[1] Intended for companies who operate in New York State and serve New York residents, the license and its regulatory framework is administered by the New York State Financial Services Department or “NYSDFS.”[2] Without a BitLicense, companies and individuals who engage in any “Virtual Currency Business Activity,” as defined by Part 200 of the Virtual Currencies of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, are prohibited from operating in New York or serving New York State residents.[3] From its enactment on August 8, 2015, the BitLicense has…
Participating in hedge funds as an alternative investment vehicle became increasingly popular after the 2008 financial crisis.[1] A hedge fund is an investment fund that obtains capital from investors and invests in a variety of assets, focusing on diversification and risk management.[2] Hedge funds seek to realize large capital gains without increasing the risk of losing an investment.[3] They have been known to generate higher returns than other investments.[4] A key element of hedge funds that public corporations’ investments lack is hedging.[5] Hedging means reducing risk, while maintain or increasing returns on investment.[6] Though in theory, investing in hedge funds can be…
One of the most popular cellphone applications (“apps”) at the start of 2018 was Google Arts & Culture, which featured an algorithm that allowed users to find their historical art doppelganger by taking a selfie.[1] The results were often humorous, but unfortunately, residents of Texas and Illinois missed out on all the fun. Google eliminated the selfie feature in those locations because these two states have implemented privacy laws that strictly regulate the collection of biometric data such as fingerprints, retinal scans, and facial geometry.[2] Illinois was the first state to implement a comprehensive biometric privacy regime, and the law…
“Finance is, arguably, the most regulated industry in the world.”[1] A significant regulation on the finance industry in New York State is 23 NYCRR 500, titled “Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services Companies.”[2] This regulation lays out various requirements that financial institutions must meet in order to ensure the safety of any nonpublic information and proper security from cyberattacks.[3] It is touted as “first of its kind” in terms of regulating cybersecurity in the United States.[4] However, there are those who say that the many regulatory standards governing the finance industry have increased the difficulty and cost of compliance, thus necessitating…
Established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“The Act”), the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) “governs the way in which the nation’s securities markets and its brokers and dealers operate.”[1] In an effort to better regulate the securities markets, the SEC has attempted to implement a program called the Consolidated Audit Trails (“CAT”).[2] CAT allows the SEC to collect information and track securities exchanges.[3] However, issues such as cyber security concerns, fees and costs, and additional litigation have caused the securities industry to push back on the SEC’s implementation of this program.[4] Though there is some debate about the precise…
Eight years ago, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC,[1] which drastically altered the landscape of American campaign finance. In Citizens United, the Court held in a 5-4 decision that political contributions were protected as free speech under the First Amendment, and that corporations could not be restricted from making contributions that were independent of a candidate or political party, such as advertising that promotes or criticizes a particular candidate.[2] The decision, which remains highly controversial today, sparked national attention to the issue of whether political contributions from corporations and other organizations (such as nonprofits…
On February 3, 2018, economist and The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted “I am surely not the only person experiencing a fair bit of cryptofreude — pleasure in watching the Bitcoin etc bubble deflate. Bitcoin cultists tend, after all, to be nasty as well as crazy; not all of them, but surely above the average 1/”.[1] The “1/” indicates that Krugman was penning a series of tweets, which ended with “The point is that even though bubbles are, in effect, natural Ponzi phenomena, they don’t end as cleanly and suddenly as deliberate Ponzi schemes. To realize the full…
Starting with the leveraged buyout (“LBO”) in Smith v. Van Gorkam, the leveraged loan market has become a popular, albeit risky, way for corporations to finance major transactions.[1] A leveraged loan is a commercial loan provided by a group of lenders.[2] These loans are less expensive and more efficient than traditional loans between one lender and one borrower.[3] Generally, a commercial or investment bank – known as arrangers – will structure the loan for a group of lenders.[4] The loan is then sold to other banks or institutional investors, which in turn are loaned to corporations and other business organizations.[5]…
Wages in the United States have remained largely stagnant since the 1970s, growing on average just a fraction of a percent per year.[1] However, if recent headlines are to be trusted, that trend may be changing thanks to the recently passed tax reform bill. Since President Trump signed the tax bill this past December, more than 200 companies have directly cited the new policy as enabling them to pledge wage increases or bonuses.[2] But is the new tax policy really the driving factor behind this increase in worker compensation? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ushered in significant…