The students of Professor Robert Clark’s and Vice Chancellor Leo Strine’s Mergers, Acquisitions, and Split-Ups class were recently treated to a fascinating discussion on the future of mergers and acquisitions, with a particular focus on transactions involving financial institutions, by Rodgin Cohen, the current chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Mr. Cohen is one of the most influential private-sector players in the financial crisis—during September alone, Mr. Cohen acted as an adviser to Fannie Mae, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Wachovia, Barclays PLC, American International Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in a variety of transactions.
Mr. Cohen talked about the current state of the financial system and the importance of confidence to the effective functioning of any financial system, before moving on to discuss a number of recent transactions. He focused on the significant differences in financial transactions, due to the regulatory overlay, and provided numerous insightful examples of recent transactions where these issues were of critical importance. He also provided specific examples of the government’s role, which facilitated transactions that involved asset sales without the assumption of all the corresponding liabilities, either explicitly, through stop-loss relief or capital adequacy exemptions. Mr. Cohen also provided interesting insights into what he expects in terms of forthcoming regulatory changes.
A video of the discussion can be accessed on the here.
Our federal government is failing tremendously at governing/protecting it’s fellow citizens. They are consistently swinging behind the curveball and every Capital Hill conference is looking more like the movie Blazing Saddles.
They lack foresight, proactive measures, sense of urgency to duty and foremost leadership in corporate governance. The common individual investor is being taken to the cleaners. How did we get so far out of bounds with simple investing? I understand that we may have incompetent CEOs, Board of Directors and inappropriate corporate strategies but what about the good hard working CEOs and board members. Working diligently everyday forced to manage the business against the tides of short sellers, LEAPS, day traders, manipulative analysts, options, puts, etc.
These diversified investment startegies/trading tactics all work against the prosperity of the business being effected! And most often the uneducated individual investor is left holding the bag during bankruptcy tactics, employees laid off, homes lost, borrowing slows, lending discretion hightened, which causes numerous trickle down economical emergencies.
Mr. Cox must protect his fellow American Citizens and restore integrity, accountability, transparency, appropriate individual investor representation and honor to the corporate structure before the ink dries on his personal legacy. Why should the common American feel more comfortable burying their money in the backyard vs investing in our country’s businesses for individual prosperity and family structure?
Every American citizen has a responsibility to country but we have some governing entities that are maliciously deficient, SEC, Federal Reserve and the Treasury. The SEC has the Invisible Man, Treasury has the Mummy and the Federa Reserve has Frankenstein.
The next government stimulus that will be needed very soon will be in the Agriculture/Farming Industry, just affordable food prices, feeding our people, financial support for american farmers and service to our elderly citizens. I hope we are all aware of the deeds of a few have done to our Great Country, we should be ashamed of ourselves. Is this type of greed, business practices and investment tactics from folding chair robber barons what we want to teach our children?
The federal government must protect these good hard working CEOs, Boards, individual investors and citizens. We have allowed an investment environment of no boundaries, order, sportsmanship and manipulation at the cost of uneducated investors. Most individual investors don’t have the experience or time to protect themselves against these prosperity robbers but the above mentioned entities have the resourses. It’s like allowing the opposing team in football take off with the football before the referee blow the whistle and the out of bounds line is in the stands disregarding the potential for casualty…
I love my country and the great potential/history we have of taking care of our own but the War against fellow Americans must stop. We are hurting, starving, jobless, houseless, credit less, friendless and not represented by our government! I know the boogey man is still out there just waiting to steal my hard earned money thru some smart scheme or bankruptcy tactic. We are in desperate need of men of Honor , Integrity and Governance!
God Bless America and the Individual Investor!
— Trent
Comment by Trent — December 6, 2008 @ 10:44 am