Milbank partner Douglas Landy weighs in on regulatory oversight of the considered bid by J.P. Morgan to acquire Worldpay in The Wall Street Journal article “J.P. Morgan’s Worldpay Move Signals Loosened Curbs on Banks.”
In the article Mr. Landy notes, “We’ve seen with the recent stress-test results that the regulators have clearly indicated a more comfortable position with banks’ returning and using excess capital right now. And if you can just return it to your shareholders then why can’t you use it for strategic acquisitions? In some ways that’s a better way to use it: shore up your business model in a traditional space.”
He adds: “there also may be more regulatory leeway on this type of acquisition since it isn’t a bank buying a bank or a consolidation of lending or other core banking functions. Instead, this is more targeted in a part of the industry that is undergoing a lot of change, especially through technology.
Read the article here (subscription required).
