By Yasin Ebrahim

(Bloomberg) -- The $1.2 trillion leveraged loan market’s biggest players can breathe a collective sigh of relief -- at least for now.A New York judge last week dismissed a claim that a leveraged loan JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other Wall Street banks sold in 2014 could be considered a security and, as such, be subject to the same disclosure requirements as stock and bond offerings.The suit was one of the most consequential threats faced by the market for risky corporate loans during its decades-long emergence from an arcane corner of bank lending into a major asset class whose size now rivals junk bonds.The market’s main industry group and some practitioners had warned of dire consequences if loans were to be considered securities, including for collateralized loan obligations, which have become the largest buyers of the debt. They said issuing the debt would become more cumbersome and expensive, potentially depriving borrowers of needed capital.“Declaring syndicated term loans to be securities would have upended the expectations of borrowers and lenders and wreaked havoc in the large, and vitally important, market for those loans,” Elliot Ganz, general counsel for the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, said in a statement on Tuesday.Bond SimilaritiesLoans typically require lighter disclosure than bond offerings and can be arranged more quickly. They have become one of private equity firms’ favorite avenues to finance leveraged buyouts and are widely used by mid-sized companies, often as their only type of borrowing aside from bank debt.The standardization of terms across borrowers, a gradual weakening of investor protections and the growth in secondary trading of loans, however, have increasingly likened the debt to bonds over the past several years.QuickTake: How Leveraged Loans Are (and Aren’t) Like Junk BondsCritics say the loan market has grown riskier amid little oversight. Concerns have centered around the lack of public disclosures on financial information and other material events, which typically can only be accessed by pre-approved lenders. Some worry this information asymmetry makes loans less liquid during sell-offs.In its ruling, the court said that the investors who purchased the loan from JPMorgan and the other banks were sophisticated enough to know the debt would not be covered by securities laws.“It would have been reasonable for these sophisticated institutional buyers to believe that they were lending money, with all of the risks that may entail, and without the disclosure and other protections associated with the issuance of securities,” District Judge Paul G. Gardephe wrote.The suit stems from a $1.8 billion loan that JPMorgan and others arranged for Millennium Health LLC -- then owned by private-equity firm TA Associates -- and sold to investors in 2014. Within a matter of months, lenders saw the value of their loan plunge as the company disclosed that federal authorities were investigating their sales, marketing and billing practices. Millennium Health ultimately filed for bankruptcy.Investors in the loan later claimed through their trustee that the banks had misled them at the time the loan was syndicated by omitting information they had about the investigation. The defendants argued that loans aren’t securities, a loan syndication is not a securities distribution, and asked the court to dismiss the suit.The plaintiffs have the right to appeal the dismissal of the securities claims to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the LSTA.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

DOW UPDATE Led by positive gains for shares of American Express and Goldman Sachs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is rallying Wednesday afternoon. Shares of American Express (AXP) and Goldman Sachs (GS) have contributed to the index's intraday rally, as the Dow (DJIA) is trading 350 points (1.

The annual stress tests will be different this year, as the Fed incorporates fallout from the coronavirus crisis in its analysis.

Moore Capital Management’s top 1st-quarter buys Continue reading...

DOW UPDATE The Dow Jones Industrial Average is rallying Wednesday afternoon with shares of American Express and Goldman Sachs leading the way for the index. The Dow (DJIA) was most recently trading 281 points, or 1.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has partnered with Calastone, the largest global funds network, to introduce new levels of automation to money market funds via its "Morgan Money" trading platform.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing above 3,000 for the first time since March 5, as the further easing of lockdowns lifted optimism for an economic recovery. Bank stocks powered the day's advance, with the S&P 500 financial index leading gains among major sectors. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co was the leading gainer in the financial index, rising 5.8% as the stock surged for a second day in a row.

DOW UPDATE Shares of American Express and JPMorgan Chase are trading higher Wednesday morning, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average rally. Shares of American Express (AXP) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are contributing to the index's intraday rally, as the Dow (DJIA) was most recently trading 315 points (1.

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Don’t fight the U.S. Federal Reserve — repeat that mantra until it sticks.Jamie Dimon, the boss of JPMorgan Chase & Co., put it well this week. “This wasn’t the bazooka,” he said, referring to Jay Powell’s response to the coronavirus crisis. “The Fed took out the whole military and applied it. Just announcing these programs reduced spreads (the difference between corporate bond yields and their benchmarks) in the market. It’s going to save a lot of small businesses.” In the past month, the equity market’s glass has gone from pretty much empty to at least half full and that’s down to the coordinated fiscal and monetary effort from authorities far and wide. You want some quantitative easing? Please, have some more and take some for the journey home. Even those foot draggers at the European Union are talking about radical fiscal action. We won’t really see a V-shaped economic recovery, but it seems seem like we’ve stopped the L.Nonetheless, this is a recovery based so far on asset-price inflation rather than any economic data. Central bank and government action may have restored financial valuations but real incomes will still suffer dramatically for a long while to come. Unemployment and diminished consumption cannot be magicked away.The stock market is looking even further into the distance than usual to justify its valuations, which is sometimes hard to square away against a constant stream of dire economic statistics and evaporating company earnings. Since QE came to life during the global financial crisis, it has paid for investors to cast aside their usual forward-earnings analysis and focus instead on the rising tide of money. The central banks have learned their post-2008 lessons and have barely put a foot wrong this time. This is having uneven effects, however. The bulk of the stimulus is coming into investment-grade assets because that’s where central banks feel more comfortable. Credit spreads have recovered most in BBB and A-rated bonds. High-yield yield assets improved sharply at first, but this has abated. The spread between the yields on investment-grade debt and those of junk bonds is still nearly double the levels seen in February. Similarly, new debt issuance is motoring again but only for the better-quality names. While U.S. banks such as Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are returning for the fifth or sixth time this year to replenish capital, the junk sector has been restricted to one-off selective deals — often with eye-watering yields.The change in stock market sentiment isn’t just about QE. The oil price collapse has come and gone and fears of a devastating second wave of Covid-19 are easing. Short-selling bans have quietly been lifted in several European countries too, and some of the recent improvement may be explained by that. The sound of economies cranking back into life can just about be made out over the whirring of the monetary printing presses, allowing even bombed-out old economy stocks to recover, not just the new technology darlings.Notably, some of the recent action has been in high-dividend stocks, which had been forced to skip shareholder payouts at the height of the crisis. Investors had feared that the dividend bans might last several years; now they think it may be a quarter or two. Many investment funds work off a dividend-yield model.Investment managers may be doing the natural thing right now and chasing the rising stock market indexes, but that doesn’t mean they’re brimful of confidence. The Bank of America fund manager survey for May shows extreme bearishness pervades, with only 10% expecting a V-shaped recovery and 68% expecting stock prices to fall. Given the recent positive news on the virus and the gradual ending of lockdowns, the June survey might be different.The fiscal response will determine how the economy recovers over the long term but the monetary triage has worked better than anyone could have expected in those ugly days of March. For that we should be grateful, and for the stock market’s semi-rational exuberance.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Marcus Ashworth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European markets. He spent three decades in the banking industry, most recently as chief markets strategist at Haitong Securities in London.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing above 3,000 for the first time since March 5, as the further easing of lockdowns lifted optimism for an economic recovery. Bank stocks powered the day's advance, with the S&P 500 financial index leading gains among major sectors. JPMorgan Chase & Co was the leading point gainer in the financial index, rising 5.8% as the stock surged for a second day in a row.

Equity markets rallied on Wednesday, lifted by enthusiasm for the European Union's plans for a 750 billion euro ($823 billion) recovery fund, but crude prices slid on concerns about unrest in Hong Kong over Beijing's proposed national security laws. The euro edged higher against the dollar on the European Commission's proposed stimulus plan to bolster economies ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, which boosted risk appetite and reduced demand for safe-haven bonds and gold.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon spoke during the Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Conference Tuesday and argued the bank's stock is "very valuable" at current levels, CNBC reported.JPMorgan Will Make Money, Dimon Says A "base case" for the U.S. economy is a 20% unemployment rate in the second quarter followed by improving trends in the back half of 2020, Dimon said. Even under this scenario, the bank will earn "quite a bit of money" in 2020, he said. It goes without saying that 2020 earnings will be lower compared to 2019, as it is impossible to "be a bank and be immune to what goes on in the world out there," he said.Dividends 'A Drop In The Bucket,' Dimon Says JPMorgan remains committed to its quarterly dividend despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dimon said. In the bank's case, the most recent dividend announcement of $3 billion amounts to a "drop in the bucket" at 0.15% of its capital base, he said. If it becomes "pretty clear" that the outlook will worsen dramatically moving forward, the board will obviously "take up the issue," Dimon said.On the other hand, share buybacks aren't expected to resume any time soon and are unlikely to come until the economy is on the other side of the recession, the CEO said. 'Good Chance' Of Recovery, Dimon Says Dimon said there is a "good chance" the U.S. economy shows a "fairly rapid recovery," CNBC quoted the CEO as saying.The Federal Reserve and U.S. government deserve credit for being "very responsive" in supporting the economy, he said, likening the response to "water that fills every crevice."JPMorgan shares were up 3.57% at $99.25 at the time of publication Wednesday. Related Links:JPMorgan Will Only Accept Small Business Loans Under Federal Scheme, Suspends All OthersJPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Urges Government and Businesses To Act For Common GoodBenzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok. See more from Benzinga * Cramer Blasts Big Restaurants, Their Bankers For 'Shameful' Bailout(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

JP Morgan has named Leo Puri chairman of its South and Southeast Asian operations after Kalpana Morparia announced her retirement, according to a statement. As part of the executive changes, Murli Maiya, an investment banker who has been with JPMorgan for 26 years, will become the chief executive for South and Southeast Asia. Maiya is currently the co-head of investment banking for the Asia Pacific region and will report to that region's chief executive, Filippo Gori.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is climbing Wednesday morning with shares of Goldman Sachs and American Express seeing positive momentum for the index. The Dow (DJIA) is trading 185 points higher (0.7%), as shares of Goldman Sachs (GS) and American Express (AXP) have contributed to the index's intraday rally. Goldman Sachs's shares are up $9.16 (4.7%) while those of American Express are up $4.31, or 4.5%, combining for a roughly 92-point boost for the Dow.

DOW UPDATE Shares of JPMorgan Chase and American Express are trading higher Wednesday morning, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory. Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and American Express (AXP) are contributing to the index's intraday rally, as the Dow (DJIA) is trading 112 points higher (0.

Banking stocks turned from laggards to leaders on Tuesday. Explore these trading ideas in three sector heavyweights.

JPMorgan (JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, is of the opinion that there might be a good chance of a fast economic recovery starting from the third quarter of 2020.

The world's second-largest printing ink maker, Flint Group, is nearing a debt deal seen as a pre-condition to proceed with a sales process that its owners launched last year, people close to the matter said. Flint Group has seen its supply chains affected and sales decrease during the coronavirus pandemic and expects its 2020 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to fall from the 266 million in 2019, the sources said. The company, owned by Goldman Sachs' private equity arm and U.S.-based conglomerate Koch Industries, has engaged with its lenders to put its financing on a new footing, the people said.

The strongest performers in the Dow were hard-hit financials. American Express stock surged 7.3%, Goldman Sachs Group stock gained 6.9%, and JPMorgan Chase stock added 5.8%. All three remain in the red for the year to date, however.