Our cover story, by Washington bureau chief Bill McConnell, tackles head-on the complexities and challenges of remaking the financial regulatory system. His conclusion: For all the talk and all the schemes, political realities make the possibility of a truly transformed, streamlined regulatory regime very, very long. Also on the subject of regulation, Ron Orol in Washington offers a close look at how hedge funds are viewing the probability that a more intrusive supervision, probably from the Fed, is in the cards. And my Transactions column ponders the dangers to Fed independence of operating in an intensely political climate.
We've got a ton of stuff on Clear Channel as well. David Carey writes the main piece, summing up the action to date and speculating about implications for other big deals like BCE Inc. Carey also raises the question of what relationships between some banks and sponsors will be after the deluge. Answer: ugly, at least for awhile. Vipal Monga in Follow the Money probes the murky legal basis of the financing commitment that's so central to the Clear Channel case. Scott Stuart looks at the deal from an arb perspective, and John Morris and Carey explain in Capital Calls that the sponsors keep flailing away on Clear Channel because the valuation is so rich. Deal Diary meanwhile tackles the litigation lineup for both sides in the Clear Channel case, headlined by flamboyant Texas attorney Joe Jamail who's representing the company and the sponsors and who gets a short profile in Movers & Shakers.
Speaking of faces, Vyvyan Tenorio has gathered a fascinating gallery of dealmakers for Faces of the Middle Market. The special report captures the subtle differences that make the middle market unique and diverse, particularly the challenges of dealing with family-owned companies. This is a dealmaking arena where individual enterprise, brains and personality really stand out.
Finally, Richard Morgan illuminates another corner of the deal world by looking at the major players in the titanic clash between John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. and Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, which ended up in a Delaware courtroom. Diller won the case, but the trial revealed something about the dynamics between the major players -- particularly the contentiousness between Diller and Malone's CEO, the much-traveled Greg Maffei. A great read in a really packed issue. - Robert Teitelman
See cover story "Dreams of a super regulator"
See hedge fund regulation story "An open book?"
See Transactions
See Clear Channel story
See Special Report: Faces of the middle market
See story on Diller, Malone and Maffei
