Rating Agency Developments - March 28, 2016

Fiduciary relationships involve the delegation of authority to an agent who is charged with investing assets for the benefit of third-party beneficiaries.

Private credit markets are showing signs of stress, with enterprise software borrowers particularly vulnerable as AI disruption threatens their business models. Four critical warning signals—deteriorating credit health, rising PIK interest, mid-market concentration of defaults, and strategic misalignment with AI—suggest lenders need to shift from passive monitoring to active portfolio management before the 2028 debt maturity wall arrives.

The SEC's Division of Investment Management has issued groundbreaking no-action relief allowing Franklin Templeton registered funds to custody tokenized shares of a blockchain-integrated government money market fund with an affiliated transfer agent. This marks the first time SEC staff has applied the Investment Company Act's self-custody framework to digital assets, establishing a precedent for how registered funds may hold tokenized securities using blockchain technology and multi-party computation protoc

Loeb & Loeb partner Stephen Cohen attended the Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "SEC") Open Meeting held today at the SEC's offices in which the SEC approved a series of rules related to the implementation of Title IV of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which will impact both advisers and private funds.

The SEC has proposed rescinding its controversial Pay-to-Play Rule, which has governed political contributions by investment advisers since 2010. The proposal reflects a philosophical shift toward principles-based regulation and addresses longstanding industry concerns about the rule's strict liability standard, complex definitions, and severe consequences for minor violations.

On August 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement Section 3 of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act). The proposal would establish rules governing who may issue payment stablecoins in the United States and when digital asset service providers may offer, sell, or otherwise make payment stablecoins available to U.S. persons. Comments are due October 19, 2026.

A publicly traded fintech company has announced a $590 million acquisition of its longtime national bank partner, marking a strategic shift from the traditional bank-partnership model to direct ownership of a national bank charter. The transaction, expected to close in the first half of 2027 pending regulatory approvals, would make the fintech a bank holding company while consolidating its banking activities and eliminating certain sponsor-bank fees. This deal represents a faster alternative to pursuing a d

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) examines its portfolio of rated subscriptions facilities in a report published this week. The report reviews KBRA's $11.3 billion of rated debt portfolio spanning over 40 funds...

Moore & Van Allen's Derivatives & Trading team provides comprehensive analysis of recent CFTC and SEC enforcement actions, proposed regulations on crypto assets...

On March 3, 2026, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) and the Emerging Markets Traders Association (“EMTA”) published the 2026 FX Definitions (the “2026 FX Definitions”)...