4 min readMoney-market funds (MMFs) may have fought off tighter rules for now, but regulators have a variety of options if they opt to continue the fight. Regardless of regulatory efforts, the age of money funds as havens for corporate cash may have passed. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro called off the commission’s vote on…
3 min readThe financial meltdown in the fall of 2008 prompted many large companies to prep for future calamities, but recent events are pushing them to accelerate the implementation of those defensive moves. Corporate giants including Coca-Cola, Hyatt Corp., Kinder Morgan and J.P. Morgan have issued upwards of $5 billion in long-term debt over the last week,…
4 min readCorporate treasurers who invest in money-market funds and were opposing further regulatory reform of the short-term cash vehicles should hold off on cheering. Last week’s failure by Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro to push through her proposals for additional safety measures is not the last word from regulators in an area some deem…
8 min readCash-burning R&D-stage biotechs have big appetites for cash, which is typically addressed with an equity-based diet. It’s also supported through corporate partnerships and other less dilutive means such as grants and foundation funding. But another important and often under-appreciated source of capital are the debt markets – taking a loan out to provide working capital…
4 min readCorporate treasury executives say they will decrease their company’s investments in money-market funds if the Securities and Exchange Commission implements proposed changes to the regulation of such funds. But they plan to invest more in money funds if the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s unlimited coverage for business demand deposit accounts ends, as it is scheduled…
5 min readA perfect storm could be brewing for treasuries with lots of cash. Companies have unprecedented amounts of accumulated cash sitting in bank accounts, protected by unlimited Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage if the accounts don’t earn interest. But the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program that provides this safe harbor is set to expire at year-end….
3 min readThe top 10 U.S. money market fund managers reduced their overall taxable holdings by 4.6 percent in March, with sizable withdrawals from the euro zone as the region struggles with its sovereign debt crisis. The top tier group’s holdings of taxable assets fell at a faster pace than the overall money market fund industry, which…
7 min readWith his statement in January that the federal funds rate will stay near zero through 2014, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke clearly hopes that investors will bite the bullet and start taking some risks. The government wants banks to lend, institutional investors to roll the dice on equities, and corporations to spend. With his statement…
3 min readThe Securities and Exchange Commission is releasing new rules this spring that would make U.S. money-market funds considerably less appealing to CFOs and treasurers investing corporate cash. The rules also cause yields on money funds to fall in an already low interest-rate environment. The proposed regulations will arrive in the first or second quarter, says…
3 min readExpect U.S. investors to cling to their dollars after Standard & Poor’s downgraded nine euro zone countries and one of the region’s two rescue funds, stoking worries about lending to European banks. The European Central Bank has committed to pumping in huge sums of cash to buy time for banks to raise capital in case…