When things go wrong, it is always good to find someone to blame. As the credit crisis started to unfold in 2007, credit rating agencies (“CRAs”) emerged as the villain – or scapegoat, one might say – for commentators and regulators alike. To sum up, observers accused CRAs of doing a...

The report describes the current developments of the German market for Non Performing Loans/Distressed Debt as it is influenced by the financial crisis/credit crunch. Furthermore the sale of (small and medium sized) real estate portfolios since summer 2007 is analysed in more detail. -- Non...

Private equity has seen an impressive activity surge in Germany over the last ten years. This working paper meets the increasing thirst for information on the German buyout market with an overview of its historic development, a quantitative analysis of its performance and a future outlook. While...

The European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) was established by the EU at the beginning of 2011. Participating in its operation are national authorities and EU bodies (or agencies), which are known as European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). Under the ESFS, day-to-day supervision remains...

The trigger for this article was the crisis caused by the collapse of an investment product arranged by Lehman Brothers Asia Limited and marketed in Hong Kong under the name ‘Minibonds'. As outlined in Part III below, this product proved popular among retail investors, many of whom incurred...

When contemplating Chapter 11, firms often need to seek financing for their continuing operations in bankruptcy. Because such financing would otherwise be hard to find, the Bankruptcy Code authorizes debtors to offer sweeteners to debtor-in-possession (DIP) lenders. These inducements can be...