Michael Klimes

1 week ago | thebanker.com | Michael Klimes

The European Commission has published long awaited proposals to boost the role banks play in the securitisations market to meet the EU’s critical funding needs. The measures are meant to enable banks to free up capital held on their balance sheets and thereby encourage greater financing and investment across the EU.

3 weeks ago | thebanker.com | Michael Klimes

One of the acronyms in private credit that has received attention over the past several years is “payment-in-kind”, otherwise known as PIK. Regulators consider it when assessing the risks private credit may pose to the broader financial system. It is also something banks have to watch in any work they do with alternative asset managers in private credit. In a PIK structure, an alternative asset manager or private credit fund allows borrowers to defer cash interest by issuing more debt or equity.

3 weeks ago | thebanker.com | Michael Klimes

Financial institutions will have to pay considerably more to implement T+1 in Europe compared to North America due to the greater complexity of the European market. Findings from Firebrand Research, a capital markets research and advisory firm, show that it could cost a large global custodian many millions of dollars more to carry out T+1 projects in Europe.

3 weeks ago | thebanker.com | Michael Klimes

There are many distinctive buildings in New York City but few are as memorable as 45 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan. This Art Deco masterpiece from the 1930s is one of the rare structures whose interior is as elegant as its exterior. A banker who needs to impress a client (or journalist) is certainly lucky if they have the option to host them for a meeting there. And that is what Steve Valentino, co-president of Rockefeller Global Investment Banking, does when he meets The Banker.

1 month ago | thebanker.com | Michael Klimes

When mergers and acquisitions bankers come to reflect on 2025 they will probably divide the year into pre and post “liberation day”. Before April 2 deal sentiment was improving and the valuation gap between buyers and sellers of companies seemed to be narrowing. This second point is critical for private equity funds that need to sell companies in their portfolios, or have them listed on the stock market, and return money to investors.