TSL Feature Articles

Ever since the early days of blockchain with the 2009 introduction of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies have been prone to periods of high and low valuation. After going through another “crypto-winter,” or period of low prices, lasting three years, cryptocurrencies have once again caught the attention of a broader investor community.

Since the second half of 2020, the sheer number of new cryptocurrency offerings and the price volatility have been breathtaking. For example, Ethereum—the number two cryptocurrency and blockchain platform by market cap—grew by 800 percent from October 2020-October 2021. As new investment vehicles for Bitcoin are introduced in the United States, the hype is at an all-time high.

On August 3 and 4, YoPro members from across the country gathered to attend the SFNet's YoPro Leadership Summit 2021 in Chicago. The conference provided in-person networking opportunities and insightful panels featuring industry leaders.

The leadership summit would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors – Event Co-Sponsor Hilco Global and Winston & Strawn LLP, Reception Sponsor, Wells Fargo, and our Supporting Sponsors, Gerber Finance and Gordon Brothers.

When documenting an ABL facility alongside a separate term loan, borrowers and financial sponsors increasingly request that the ABL credit agreement be drafted to essentially match material terms of the term loan agreement. This understandable desire for conformity often overshadows fundamental differences between ABL and term loan facilities and can create significant issues for ABL lenders. The goal from the ABL lender’s perspective should be to understand the tradeoffs involved and provide a level of functional conformity in principal terms, while maintaining customary availability-based metrics and liquidity protections of ABL loan documentation which are often absent or inadequately covered in term loan documentation.

In this installment of our series of executive interviews, Charlie Perer sits with Tim Stute to understand his views on the ABL industry, consolidation, new trends including specialization and state of the M&A market, among other things.

Meredith Coffey of LSTA provides readers with an update on the LIBOR transition.

1. When is LIBOR ending?

   The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) – the regulator of the ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR – has said that all sterling, Swiss franc, euro and Japanese yen LIBOR settings will cease or no longer be representative after year-end 2021. The FCA also said that the settings for one-week and two-month USD LIBOR will also cease or will be non-representative after year-end 2021. The remaining USD LIBOR tenors will cease or be non-representative after June 30, 2023. Importantly, while USD LIBOR will continue to exist after the end of 2021, this is only for pre-existing “legacy” contracts. The U.S. banking regulators have said that banks should not originate new LIBOR contracts after the end of 2021.

Nneoma Maduike, member of SFNet’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusiveness Committee interviews Anthony C. Hood, PhD, executive vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer of First Horizon National Corp. Dr. Hood is responsible for cultivating and expanding First Horizon’s strategic leadership in developing and implementing programs and initiatives that advance the Company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts.