Worldwide: Finance and Banking

Derivatives have evolved into essential financial instruments whose value derives from underlying assets like stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies. This comprehensive guide examines the global derivatives landscape, exploring various instrument types from futures and options to swaps and CFDs, while analyzing how regulatory frameworks across major financial centers shape modern trading practices.

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon decide whether federal derivatives law preempts state sports gambling regulations, while the SEC proposes eliminating its controversial pay-to-play rule for investment advisers. Federal regulators also clarify how financial institutions can discuss suspicious transactions with customers without violating confidentiality requirements.

Prediction markets have rapidly evolved from a niche financial sector into one of the fastest-growing areas of the derivatives industry, attracting institutional investors, exchanges, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. As the CFTC, courts, and industry participants work to define the regulatory framework for this emerging asset class, questions around market structure, customer protection, and risk management have moved to the forefront. Katten's Financial Markets and Regulation team provides cutting-edge

The SEC has filed a complaint against Eric Munson and Adit Ventures Management, alleging a multi-year scheme involving misrepresentation to investors, misappropriation of fund assets, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. The case involves over 60 funds with at least 1,000 investors, where the defendants allegedly induced investments through false promises, executed unauthorized loans between funds, and engaged in undisclosed self-dealing transactions while failing to properly register as an investment adv

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have announced another extension of the compliance date for Form PF amendments, pushing the deadline from October 2026 to July 2027. This extension comes as the agencies consider proposed amendments that would significantly roll back the 2024 reporting requirements before they take effect. Private fund advisers must continue following existing Form PF reporting frameworks while monitoring these ongoing regulatory developments.

Establishing a hedge fund involves far more than simple replication of existing structures. What critical factors must managers evaluate when navigating the increasingly complex landscape of liquid...

On Friday, California Office of Health Care Affordability (“OHCA”) published proposed final regulations that implement a 2026 law that significantly expanded OHCA’s review authority over health care transactions involving private equity (“PE”) groups, hedge funds, and management services organizations (“MSOs”). Stakeholders involved in California health care transactions should re-assess whether their ongoing or contemplated transactions are implicated by these regulations, because newly covered transactions will need to comply with the 90-day advance notice requirement established in the original OHCA regulations.

On August 20, the District of Columbia’s Medical Debt Mitigation Amendment Act of 2026 became effective after being enacted without Mayor Muriel Bowser’s signature.

In bankruptcies, a debtor or trustee may claw back legitimate payments the debtor made to its creditors within 90 days prior to filing of bankruptcy. In general terms, a preference claim is a transfer made (a) to or for the benefit of a creditor; (b) for or on account of antecedent debt owed by the debtor; (c) while the debtor was insolvent (liabilities exceed assets); (d) within 90 days before the bankruptcy petition was filed or one year if made to an insider; (e) such that it allows the creditor to receive more than it would have received if the debtor had not made the payment and the claim was paid through the bankruptcy process.

Partner Kalish Mullen discusses the current LBO financing market landscape, highlighting how strong market liquidity is creating opportunities for quality borrowers to negotiate better terms. He provides strategic guidance on key considerations for management teams navigating financing agreements in an environment of elevated borrowing costs and economic uncertainty.

How do U.S. leveraged finance and project finance transactions differ in their treatment of hedging counterparties within senior secured credit structures? This analysis examines the documentation architecture, eligibility frameworks, governance mechanics, waterfall priorities, and enforcement coordination that distinguish these two markets' approaches to integrating hedges into collateral packages.

Sponsors and corporates face an increasingly complex legal and regulatory landscape when implementing hedging strategies in debt financings. This comprehensive guide examines the critical coordination required between treasury, legal teams, financial advisors and hedge providers to navigate ISDA documentation, regulatory compliance under EMIR and Dodd-Frank, and deal-contingent structures.