“U.S. hedge funds should anticipate heightened regulatory scrutiny and enforcement risk in France. ” – by Freshfields
Best Reads
Wave of U.S. Bankruptcies Builds Toward Worst Run in Many Years (Bloomberg)
“So far in 2020, the pace of corporate bankruptcy filings in the U.S. has already surpassed every year since 2009, the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Bloomberg data show.” – by Eliza Ronalds-Hannon, Katherine Doherty, and Davide Scigliuzzo
Spain Throws Lifeline to Companies Battling to Survive Pandemic (Bloomberg)
“Spain scrapped the threat of forced liquidation for companies that run up major losses this year as part of a series of changes announced by the government to stave off insolvencies amid the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus.” – by Irene Garcia Perez
Supervisory Board and Management Board should be completely renewed – Der Spiegel
“KPMG said that certain Wirecard sales, cash holdings and customers could not be verified. And that after five months of investigation. In our opinion, this also means that Ernst & Young, as a long-time auditor, did not properly check the balance sheets. How can anyone – be it shareholders, creditors, regulators or customers – still trust this company? […]
Leveraged loan downgrades continue threat to Europe’s CLO investor base (S&P Global)
“A credit rating downgrade wave of historical proportions is following in the wake of economic disruption caused by COVID-19.” – by David Cox
France lifts lid on gradual virus deconfinement plan (Euractiv)
“Prime Minister Edouard Philippe unveiled, in a speech to MPs before the National Assembly, the outlines of the country’s deconfinement plan, which is due to begin on 11 May.” – by Cécile Barbière and Daniel Eck
Greece unveils plan to loosen lockdown (Ekathimerini)
“The plan will unfold in three phases – from May 4 to mid-June – and, depending on the data, it will change accordingly.”
Spain’s prime minister announces coronavirus deescalation measures
“The transition to a “new normality” will last six to eight weeks, explains Pedro Sánchez, with continuing restrictions on travel to other provinces and Spanish islands.” – by Carlos E. Cué, Javier Salvatierra and Isabel Valdés and Simon Hunter
Spain breaks euro zone demand record with new 10-year bond (Reuters)
“Spain, like other euro zone sovereigns which have used syndications, is paying up to attract investors to its debt. Spain is paying a premium of around 12 basis points to its outstanding bonds, similar to Italy a day earlier.” by Yoruk Bahceli
Oil prices go negative — and Washington is paralyzed over what to do (Politico)
“U.S. oil futures prices fell to their lowest-ever level by far on Monday, at -$37.63 per barrel, meaning owners of the futures contracts were paying to offload them. ” -by Ben Lefebvre