Credit Chronometer

ABOUT THE BLOG

Economic, market and political events shape the legal landscape and impact loan and credit markets, each time moving us closer or farther away from a cycle’s end, a crisis’ beginning or the next boom. From the perspective of lawyers and other professionals who have lived through past cycles, the Credit Chronometer™ is dedicated to analyzing the effects of these events on future performance and participants’ legal exposure.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joseph Cioffi is a partner at Davis & Gilbert in New York City where he is Chair of the Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products Practice Group, a multidisciplinary practice spanning corporate, insolvency and litigation. He has a unique perspective afforded by his experience in all stages of credit and market cycles, including in subprime lending investments, operations and litigation. Joseph and his group have been deeply involved in disputes and litigation resulting from the last financial crisis. He has written for or has been quoted by numerous publications, including American Banker, Law360, Asset Securitization Reporter, The Banking Law Journal, The Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Auto Finance News, regarding auto loans, student loans, marketplace lending, subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

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Read Joseph’s recent article in the Consumer Financial Services Law Report discussing how subprime RMBS could serve as a guide for subprime auto litigation.

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ABOUT THE INSOLVENCY, CREDITORS’ RIGHTS & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS GROUP

Davis & Gilbert’s Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products Practice Group represents clients in a broad range of corporate, insolvency and litigation matters. The group has been actively involved in many of the most notable and highly visible business events in recent years related to the last economic downturn and has vast experience in the area of subprime lending, including the operation of origination platforms, relationships with servicers and defending large-scale asset-backed securities litigation. The broad and diverse experience of their attorneys makes them particularly well-equipped to advise clients in rapidly evolving markets, such as, those for auto loans, student loans, marketplace lending, mortgage loans and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Additional highlights of the practice include the following:

Litigation: The group regularly prosecutes and defends litigation involving complex financial transactions and instruments and has defended residential mortgage-backed (RMBS) securitization litigation, including fraud and repurchase claims, involving nearly $2 billion in claims.

Bankruptcy: The group guides clients through financially distressed situations and helps formulate and execute creditor enforcement strategies, in particular, in the case of intermediaries facing obligations to third parties. The group has defended nearly $1 billion in fraudulent transfer claims brought by the trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

Corporate: The group also advises on a full range of financing transactions, including secured revolving and term credit facilities, receivable financing arrangements, intercreditor agreements, warehouse lending facilities and loan purchase agreements.

For more information about the Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products Practice Group, click here.

Marketplace Lending Mortgage Loans and MBS Auto Loans Student Loans ESG

Market Insights in a Time of Crisis

Mar 26, 2020 | By JOSEPH CIOFFI

COVID-19

Distance – the space between – defines our present in so many respects, but that’s not what will lead to success in any market.

We have distance from each other, distance from our normal life of just days ago and distance from a future without COVID-19. But that distance has underscored the interconnection of people and markets and their actions like nothing has before. Sure, we knew we were all connected, and we knew the cause and effect of factors that drive our economy, but the coronavirus has inextricably linked the health of one to the health of many, the health of one market to all, and all markets to the economy at large.

This heightened recognition of connection – within market dynamics and without – is the foundation for insight into what may be waiting on the other side of the pandemic, and the steps that should be taken to endure today and thrive tomorrow. The bridge from here to there will be a catenation of market events; identify the chain and follow it to get to the other side.

In an emergency, I’m reminded of the response Chuck Yeager would give when asked if he ever got scared when he found himself up in the air, engaged on a life-threatening experimental mission or battle and things weren’t going his way: “What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn’t help anything. You better try and figure out what’s happening and correct it.”

At the same time, Stephen Covey’s timeless guide tells us that success comes to those who focus on things that are “not urgent, but important” as opposed to those who toil on “urgent, important” activities. The idea is that if you spend your time on non-urgent matters, you stay ahead of, and avoid being reactive to, urgent matters. Easier said than done when crisis is thrust upon us.

The reality of the coronavirus is that market participants need to do it all: be engaged in the current battle in all respects (staying abreast of new proposals, regulations and relief programs), anticipate how today’s events will shape tomorrow (if it takes as little as 18 days to form a new habit and 66 days for behavior to become automatic, how much is consumer behavior about to permanently change?) and, at the same time, plan for coming issues that existed before COVID-19 and may not go away after its vanquished (for example, the LIBOR phaseout).

In the coming weeks, Credit Chronometer will provide information and insights to help the markets do all of these things. As the former Brigadier General said, “at the end of the day, there are either reasons or results.” Markets need to create today the reasons for results tomorrow.

If you’d like to discuss any of the topics we cover or seek input related to any challenges you see in the loan or credit markets, feel free to email me at jcioffi@dglaw.com (Like the rest of us, I’m not going anywhere for a while.)