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In June 2020, three of the large global rating agencies – Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) and S&P Global Ratings (“S&P”) reviewed India’s sovereign credit rating. Interestingly, the agencies diverged in their approaches – Moody’s, which had previously rated India a
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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed, at least temporarily, all facets of society and has had a truly global impact. The scale of fatalities and the losses suffered by families are truly tragic. Whilst the impact of the virus from a medical perspective is starting to become clearer, the economic impact of the pandemic is still largely unknown. From Europe to Asia and the United States, businesses have been tested to their very limits by having to deal with often very stringent lockdown measures in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. This blog examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the Indian economy, especially non-performing assets (NPAs).
Continue Reading India – a special situation? The impact of COVID-19 on Indian non-performing assets
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Innovation and creating purposeful change for communities is at the very heart of what social impact finance is all about. Such impact investments have never shied away from embracing that latest technological innovation or challenging the status quo. In this vein, FinTech initiatives such as blockchain have the potential to prove that they can be the catalyst for democratising data and opening new worlds of possibility to users and stakeholders around the globe. A recent Harvard Business Review research project backs up these claims, and believes that there is strong evidence that blockchain can not only transform businesses and governments, but also have a profound impact on society as a whole.
Continue Reading Waves of change – how FinTech can drive the future of social impact finance
This may be a slightly odd question with which to start a legal blog post, but do you like burritos, wine, or chocolate? Who doesn’t, right? If only there was a way of making money off your addiction to tasty Mexican treats or decadent Swiss truffles? Well, as it turns out, there might be…
Mini-bonds
The Investment Plan, developed by the European Commission, has the potential to be one of the most important and radical changes to how the European Union operates in the last 25 years. Not only will it seek to harmonise the financial and regulatory barriers to investment, but it will look to harness the collective
As one of the newest junior associates to join the growing Structured Finance Group at Reed Smith, there are times when I feel that I have the best seat in the house to witness the changes going on in this tumultuous period for our financial markets. The economy as a whole, and its associated regulatory regime are in a clear and sustained state of flux.
The main benefit of this for someone at my stage of their career is that it encourages you to “challenge the unchallengeable.” Ideas and concepts that were previously accepted practice are now being reformulated and reconsidered. The building blocks which were simply taken as read are now questioned and analysed in detail.
Continue Reading Challenging the Unchallengeable