What We’re Reading This Week

Reuters reports that the markets in the US have faced their third straight quarterly decline, the longest period of decline for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices since 2008.  This comes amid a period of rising interest rates and persistently high inflation (including double-digit inflation in the Eurozone), contributing to fears that a recession is

CNN reports on the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise its target interest rate by an additional 75 basis points to a range of 3.00% to 3.25% in an effort to combat persistent inflation in the US. This is the fifth time the Federal Reserve has raised rates this year. [CNN; Sept. 21, 2022]

ABC News

Reporting from Reuters indicates that the German government plans to relax certain corporate insolvency rules in response to rising energy costs so that companies with financially sound business plans can avoid being required to file for protection under Germany’s insolvency laws. [Reuters; Sept. 9, 2022]

Bloomberg reports that the United States Court of Appeals for

Bed Bath & Beyond announced a series of measures to address declining sale performance, as announced by press release and reported by Yahoo! Finance. The company has received commitments for $500 million in additional financing. It also plans to sell up to 12 million additional shares of common stock, close 150 underperforming stores and

Judge David Jones in the Southern District of New York has rejected a request for an official committee of equity holders in Revlon’s chapter 11 proceedings, as reported by Reuters. Debtor’s counsel argued that the equity holders “cannot possibly” prove that they are entitled to a meaningful recovery at this stage of the bankruptcy

Reuters reports that Coinbase’s shares rose more than 16% last week after the cryptocurrency exchange announced its partnership with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Under the agreement, Coinbase’s institutional trading platform Prime, which services hedge funds, corporate treasuries and other financial institutions, will provide crypto trading and custody services to Coinbase’s institutional clients using

According to The Wall Street Journal, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has reached a national settlement agreement worth nearly $5 billion, including about $3.7 billion in cash, to resolve thousands of lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid crisis.  The plaintiffs’ executive committee, which represents local and state governments and Native American tribes, reported

Shareholders in the Revlon bankruptcy have asked that an official committee of equityholders, not affiliated with the debtor-retailer’s majority owner Ron Perelman, be appointed in the case.  According to The Wall Street Journal, a group of minority shareholders sent a letter to the US Trustee on July 13th requesting the formation of an official

The Wall Street Journal reports that corporate chapter 11 filings are increasing, reflecting market concern over market volatility, interest rate hikes, and a potential economic slowdown. Many expect default rates to increase this year, though perhaps by not as much as one would expect given the current economic headwinds, based on many companies having taken