>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 24th of February 2021

>>> Up
* BNP Paribas Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 45.20 euros
* Credit Agricole Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 15.50 euros
* EDP Renovaveis Raised to Buy at JB Capital Markets; PT 22 euros
* Enagas Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 17.70 euros
* Epiroc Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 220 kronor
* GN Store Nord Raised to Hold at Stifel; PT 550 kroner
* Greencore Group Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 170 pence
* MTU Aero Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 171 euros
* Paradox Interactive Raised to Buy at ABG; PT 225 kronor
* Simcorp Raised to Hold at Handelsbanken; PT 800 kroner
* Simcorp Raised to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 775 kroner
* Wizz Air PT Raised to 6,000 pence from 5,750 pence at Citi
* Zalando Raised to Buy at Erste Group

>>> Down
* Applus Cut to Neutral at Alantra Equities; PT 9.80 euros
* Assura Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 83 pence
* Bakkafrost Cut to Sell at Pareto Securities; PT 580 kroner
* Enagas Cut to Neutral at Exane; PT 19 euros
* InterContinental Hotels Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank
* JSW Cut to Sell at Citi
* Jyske Cut to Hold at Handelsbanken; PT 290 kroner
* Kosmos Energy Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Natixis Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 3.70 euros
* Sainsbury Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; PT 271 pence
* Sobi Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 150 kronor
* United Utilities Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley
* Wizz Air Cut to Sell at Concorde; PT 4,340 pence

>>> Initiation
* ASML ADRs Rated New Outperform at Haitong Intl; PT $700
* Gamesys Group PLC Rated New Buy at Jefferies; PT 1,930 pence
* Herald Investment Rated New Hold at Investec
* ITM Power Rated New Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 700 pence
* MPC Energy Solutions Rated New Buy at SpareBank; PT 100 kroner
* NEL Rated New Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 28 kroner
* Stellantis NV Resumed Buy at Citi; PT 20 euros
* THG PLC Rated New Market Perform at Bernstein; PT 680 pence

>>> Call
* Norsk Hydro Risk/Reward ‘Compelling,’ PT Hiked at Morgan Stanley
* Stellantis a True Value Play, Expect Consensus Upgrades: Citi
* Synthomer M&A Interest Shows Valuation Attractive: Jefferies
* United Utilities Cut at Morgan Stanley on Valuation Headwinds

(ZH) It Now Only Costs $350 To 3D-Print An Entire Gun

It Now Only Costs $350 To 3D-Print An Entire Gun

The next round of COVID-19 relief could bring up to $1,400 direct payments to millions of Americans. Some people will buy food, save money, pay rent or bills. Others will gamble in the stock market. Some may take the free money and print an entire 3D gun at home. According to Futurism, it now only costs $350 to print to a firearm, including the printer's cost.
Deterrence Dispensed, an online group that promotes and distributes open-source 3D-printed firearms, has designed a fully functional 3D-printable semiautomatic pistol caliber carbine. Designs for the FGC-9, which stands for "f**k gun control 9 mm," were made widely available on the internet in late 2020.
The FGC-9 eliminates the need for factory-made gun parts. Its design was created with careful consideration for anyone, at any skill level, to produce the firearm at home with a 3D-printer. From the body of the weapon to the magazine, much of the gun can be printed. The FGC-9's barrel, which is metal and cannot be printed with a typical 3D printer, is created through electrochemical machining.
Futurism states that the total cost of the weapon is $350, including a $250 printer and $100 in parts.
But the days of people sharing 3D printed gun designs on the internet could be limited. The Biden administration has repeatedly warned they will "stop ghost guns." Here's what Biden's website says:
One way people who cannot legally obtain a gun may gain access to a weapon is by assembling a one on their own, either by buying a kit of disassembled gun parts or 3D printing a working firearm. Biden will stop the proliferation of these so-called "ghost guns" by passing legislation requiring that purchasers of gun kits or 3D printing code pass a federal background check. Additionally, Biden will ensure that the authority for firearms exports stays with the State Department, and if needed, reverse a proposed rule by President Trump. This will ensure the State Department continues to block the code used to 3D print firearms from being made available on the internet.
As for now, Deterrence Dispensed and Cody Wilson's Defense Distributed, another open-source website that develops firearms in CAD files, still operate, but we assume a crackdown is nearing.
US lawmakers could cite Baltimore's massive increase in ghost gun seizures as one reason why these untraceable weapons need to be regulated or banned.

>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

DAX:
  • No major moves
MDAX:
  • Telefonica Deutschland (O2D TH) +1.8%
    • Telefonica Deutschland 4Q Adjusted Oibda Meets Estimates
  • Varta (VAR1 TH) +1.2%
  • Duerr (DUE TH) +1.1%
  • Aareal Bank (ARL TH) -0.3%
    • Aareal Bank FY Net Interest Income Meets Estimates
  • Commerzbank (CBK TH) -0.6%
  • Puma (PUM TH) -0.8%
    • Puma Sees FY Ebit, Net Showing Significant Improvement Y/y
  • K+S (SDF TH) -1.6%
SDAX:
  • Hensoldt AG (HAG TH) +4%
  • Global Fashion Group (GFG TH) +3.8%
  • Hornbach Baumarkt (HBM TH) +3.2%
  • Home24 (H24 TH) +3.1%
  • SAF-Holland SE (SFQ TH) +1.8%
  • Instone Real Estate (INS TH) -1.5%
    • Instone Real Estate Cuts 2021 Adjusted Revenue Forecast
  • Corestate (CCAP TH) -5.5%
    • Corestate 2021 Adjusted Net Forecast Misses Estimates

>>> What to look at today - 24th of February 2021

Stocks fell with U.S. and European futures Wednesday as investors balanced the risk of stronger inflation driving global rates higher against the Federal Reserve’s pledge of continued policy support.
A gauge of Asian shares slid the most in almost a month, with Hong Kong equities tumbling on the city’s plan to raise stamp duty on stock trading for the first time since 1993. Chinese gauges retreated for a third day.
The S&P 500 Index reversed losses Tuesday to close in the green following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s message that the central bank was nowhere close to unwinding its easy policy. Cyclicals outperformed, while the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 closed lower despite a late rally.
Ten-year Treasury yields held just below the one-year high reached Monday. The dollar was little changed. The New Zealand dollar advanced even as the central bank said “prolonged” stimulus was needed. Oil declined after an industry report pointed to the first gain in U.S. crude stockpiles in five weeks.
US After Hours UPWK +19.3%, PUBM +9.9%, MCFE +8.5%, INSP +8.2% up big on earnings; FLS -8.1%, SYX -5.8%, VRSK -2.9%, INTU -2.8% lower on earnings

Nikkei -1.61% Hang Seng -2.65% CSI -2.63% Shanghai -2.04% Shenzen -2.13%

Eur$ 1.2157 +0.09% CNH 6.4604 CNY 6.4604 JPY 105.51 GBP 1.41936 CHF 0.9062 RUB 73.9655 TRY 7.1285 GOLD 1,807 +0.10 BTC 49,970 +2800

S&P -0.32% Nasdaq -0.66% EuroStoxx -0.11% FTSE -0.72% Dax -0.07% SMI +0.28%

Macro :
- Hedge Funds Seen Luring Up to $30 Billion in Recovery This Year
- Bitcoin Climbs Past $50,000 After Backing From Ark’s Cathie Wood

Keep an eye on :
- AC FP : Accor FY Ebitda Loss EU391M, Est. Loss EU390.9M
- ARL GY : Aareal Bank FY Net Interest Income Meets Estimates
- AED BB : Aedifica Sees FY Dividend/Share EU3.30, Est. EU3.40
- AGS BB : Ageas Sees 2021 Adjusted Net About EU900M, Est. EU901.6M
- AIR FP : Pratt to Work With Boeing, Regulators on Fan Blade Inspections
- ALC SW : Alcon 4Q Core EPS Matches Estimates
- ALLN SW : Allreal FY Net Income CHF124.7M Vs. CHF142M Y/y
- AMS SW : Osram Names AMS Finance Chief Ingo Bank CEO for 3 Years
- ATE FP : Alten FY Operating Profit EU119.2M Vs. EU238M Y/y
- AZN LN : Astra Told EU It Would Deliver Less Than 90m Doses in 2Q: Rtrs
- ATL IM : CDP, Funds to Present Binding Bid for 88% Autostrade Stake
- ACR NO : Axactor SE 4Q Ebitda Misses Estimates
- BBVA SM : BBVA Aims to Cut as Many as 3,000 Jobs: Expansion
- BSLN SW : Basilea Offering of 1m Shares Prices at CHF45.75/Share
- BDT GY : Bertrandt 1Q Ebit EU4.53M Vs. EU14.3M Y/y
- BIM FP : BioMerieux Sees 2021 Organic Sales +5% to +8%
- CTM SS : Catena Media 4Q Adjusted Ebitda Beats Estimates
- CCAP GY : Corestate 2021 Adjusted Net Forecast Misses Estimates
- EFGN SW : EFG International AUM CHF158.8B Vs. CHF147.8B H/H
- ELE SM : Endesa FY Ebitda Misses Estimates
- FNAC FP : Fnac Darty Sees 2021 Dividend Per Share EU1.50
- INS GY : Instone Real Estate Cuts 2021 Adjusted Revenue Forecast
- KBX GY : Knorr-Bremse Says Majority Holder Heinz Hermann Thiele Has Died
- KPN NA : Slim’s America Movil Raises 2.2 Billion Euros in KPN Notes Sale
- LLBN SW : Gabriel Brenna Named New Group CEO of LLB Group
- MONC IM : Moncler to Buy Temasek’s 30% of Stone Island for EU345m
- NWO GY : New Work FY Ebitda EU92.3M Vs. EU84.7M Y/y
- NKT DC : NKT 2021 Operational Ebitda Forecast Misses Estimates
- POM FP : Plastic Omnium Cancels Treasury Shares, Cuts Share Capital 0.97%
- ROG SW : Roche Granted FDA Orphan Drug Status for Satralizumab-mwge
- SCR FP : Scor 4Q Net Income Beats Estimates
- SEBA SS : SEB Updates Sector Policy on Fossil Fuels, ‘Sharpens’ Guidelines
- SOLB BB : Solvay 4Q Adjusted Ebitda Meets Estimates
- SOLB BB : Solvay to Separate Soda Ash With an Eye on Strategic Options
- SUN SW : Sulzer Sees 2021 Revenue +5% to +7%
- SFZN SW : Siegfried FY Core Ebitda CHF149.4M Vs. CHF140.7M Y/y
- TIT IM : Telecom Italia 4Q Organic Ebitda Beats Estimates
- O2D GY : Telefonica Deutschland 4Q Adjusted Oibda Meets Estimates
- TSLA US : Ark Funds Bought More Than 240,000 Shares of Tesla on Tuesday
- UBSG SW : UBS Is Said to Consider Sale of Spanish Wealth-Management Unit
- UN01 GY : Uniper, Siemens Energy Join for German Hydrogen Plant: HB
- VALN SW : Valora FY Revenue Misses Estimates
- VRLA SP : Verallia FY Adj. Ebitda Grows 1.7%; Sees 2021 Ebitda at EU650M
- WIE AV : Wienerberger FY Ebitda Beats Estimates
- WLN FP : Worldline 4Q Revenue Misses Estimates
- WLN FP : Worldline Says Holding Back on Dividend for More Acquisitions

>>> US After Hours Summary: UPWK +19.3%, PUBM +9.9%, MCFE +8.5%, INSP +8.2% up b

After Hours Summary: UPWK +19.3%, PUBM +9.9%, MCFE +8.5%, INSP +8.2% up big on earnings; FLS -8.1%, SYX -5.8%, VRSK -2.9%, INTU -2.8% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: RRD +48.5%, ARLO +28%, UPWK +19.3%, PUBM +9.9%, MCFE +8.5%, INSP +8.2%, ESPR +5.8%, SPT +5.7%, PEN +3.5%, XP +3.5%, HEI +3.4%, TX +3.2%, SYKE +2.7%, COG +2.4%, TOL +2.4%, HTGC +1%, INFN +1%, MASI +0.7%, WES +0.4%, PEB +0.2%, AGR +0.1%, ORCC +0.1%, Y +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: WSFS +8.9% (to be added to the S&P SmallCap 600), SOS +6.4% (files $1 bln mixed securities shelf offering), TLRY +3.1% (APHA and TLRY transaction remains on-track to close in Q2), FTI +2.1% (receives letter of award for Energean's Karish North development in Israel), VST +0.8% (increases dividend), CGC +0.8% (files mixed securities shelf offering), APHA +0.7% (APHA and TLRY transaction remains on-track to close in Q2), GLPI +0.5% (increases dividend), AMK +0.3% (new CEO), AGI +0.3% (reports updated mineral reserves and resources), AZN +0.3% (co expects its vaccine could receive EUA at the beginning of April and could immediately deliver 30 mln doses, according to Reuters), SAIC +0.1% (wins Navy contract), DESP +0.1% (stock offering)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: FLS -8.1%, XPER -7.9%, MTDR -6.2%, SYX -5.8%, HALO -5.7%, SQ -5.1% (also purchases $170 mln worth of bitcoin), PXD -3.6%, VRSK -2.9%, INTU -2.8%, ARNA -0.9%, BTG -0.8%, SUM -0.4%, APLE -0.3%, CSGP -0.2%, CHE -0.1%, MATX -0.1%, SWIR -0.1%, LXFR -0.1% (also to exit non-strategic aluminum product lines)

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: GTES -11.5% (stock offering), TROX -5.8% (stock offering), HALO -5.7% (convertible notes offering), CLF -3.1% (to be added to the S&P MidCap 400), GME -2.5% (CFO resigns), LPI -0.9% (announces "at-the-market" offering program for up to $75 mln of its common stock), SOAC -0.7% (DeepGreen Metals in talks to go public through merger with SOAC, according to Bloomberg), EH -0.6% (completes first trial flights for EH216 in Beijing), GOOG -0.3% (Antitrust officials from France say GOOG breached orders regarding talks with news publishers, according to Reuters), CMRX -0.3% ( Point72 (Steven A. Cohen) discloses 5.0% passive stake), WEN -0.2% (increases dividend), AAPL -0.2% (sign in button might be subject of antitrust inquiry, according to The Information), TMO -0.2% (increases dividend), PFE -0.1% (FDA accepts TicoVac BLA for Priority Review), KRG -0.1% (files mixed securities shelf offering; also authorizes new $150 mln "at-the-market" stock offering program)

FT : London should be centre of ‘Spac revolution’, says ex-LSE chief

London should be centre of ‘Spac revolution’, says ex-LSE chief
Xavier Rolet and Matthew Elliott call for reforms to attract blank-cheque companies

The City of London should strive to become a global centre for Spacs to fend off rivals in the wake of Brexit, said Xavier Rolet, former London Stock Exchange head, and Matthew Elliott, Vote Leave co-founder .

Special purpose acquisition companies — which raise money from investors and list on a stock market, then look for an acquisition target to take public — have become one of the hottest areas of finance over the past year. New York has dominated the market.

“The UK needs to promptly consider the Spac revolution,” wrote Rolet and Elliott, together with broker Shore Capital’s head of research Clive Black, in a paper submitted to the government’s Future Regulatory Framework review, which is considering how the UK’s financial rules should change now that the country has left the EU.

Easing UK rules around these blank-cheque vehicles could help channel capital to British and European entrepreneurs and allow London to grab some of the equity-raising deals that have so far gone elsewhere, they argue.

“Spacs represent a financial instrument that should not be overlooked and where agility could realise considerable benefits to credible British and European entrepreneurs and dealmakers,” they wrote.

The investment structure has proven popular with institutional investors, who can park cash in Spacs while they wait for a deal to be done. Since the start of last year, 421 such vehicles have been listed globally, raising $127bn, according to Refinitiv. Of these, 405 were listed in the US, raising $125bn.

Amsterdam, which recently attracted the listing of a Spac launched by LVMH founder Bernard Arnault and former UniCredit chief Jean Pierre Mustier, is starting to emerge as Europe’s centre for these blank-cheque companies, thanks to its more flexible listing rules. UK regulations mean a Spac may have to suspend trading in its shares when a deal is announced, which is widely seen as a barrier to the adoption of the vehicle.

The UK has appointed former EU commissioner Jonathan Hill to conduct a review into factors that may be hindering UK listings. Rolet, Elliott and Black wrote that the review represents “a golden opportunity” and said that making tweaks such as permitting the disclosure of forward-looking statements by the company to investors during a Spac transaction could “draw a lot of business to the UK”.

“New York has taken the bulk of Spac issuance and Amsterdam has just started listing a few. London’s out of the race at the moment,” said Rolet, who is a board director at New York-listed Spac Golden Falcon. He is also non-executive chairman of Shore’s capital markets business, while Elliott serves as senior political adviser to the broker.

The calls to make the City more competitive comes after a series of blows to London’s longstanding dominance in European markets following the end of the Brexit transition period. Some trading in stocks and derivatives has flowed out of London, while Amsterdam last month supplanted London as Europe’s main share trading hub.

The trio also called for the City to become a leading centre for the trading of cryptocurrencies. Government agencies should be resourced to understand cryptos and attract top policymakers, so that London can be “at the heart of what will eventually be a regulated and very large component of financial markets”, they said.

In the paper, the authors also wrote of the need for a “serious reconsideration” of the EU’s Mifid II market rules to make London “faster, leaner, cheaper and better for global asset owners”. They called for an overhaul of Solvency II rules, which they said had pushed pension funds and insurance companies out of stocks and into bonds.

FT : Vegan milk maker Oatly targets $10bn IPO

Vegan milk maker Oatly targets $10bn IPO
Swedish group whose backers include Oprah Winfrey and Jay-Z taps rising demand for alternative products

Oatly, the Blackstone-backed Swedish vegan milk maker, is eyeing a valuation as high as $10bn in a US listing that would tap into both the IPO boom and consumers’ growing thirst for plant-based alternatives to animal products.

The Malmo-based group said on Tuesday that it had submitted a confidential filing for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, less than a year after a funding round led by Blackstone also brought in Oprah Winfrey and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company as investors, valuing Oatly at about $2bn.

Two people briefed on the situation said it was looking at a New York listing with a valuation as high as $10bn. Oatly declined to comment.

The offering is expected to take place following the SEC’s review, subject to market conditions, Oatly said.

The main aim of the float would be to raise money to fund growth, said one of the people, but a listing would offer a chance to cash in for investors who range from Blackstone to the Hollywood actor Natalie Portman and the Belgian family investment group Verlinvest, which bought a majority stake in Oatly five years ago.

Oatly sold about $200m of products in 2019, roughly double the previous year, and had aimed to double sales again in 2020, though no figures have been made public.

The oat milk specialist, which also makes plant-based ice cream and yoghurt, has tapped into growing demand for plant-based equivalents to dairy, fuelled by environmental concerns — especially around emissions from cattle — and a perception of such foods as healthy.

In the US, total retail sales of non-dairy milks rose 28 per cent to an estimated $2.9bn in 2020, according to market researchers Mintel.

That was dominated by almond milk, which accounted for $1.8bn. But according to the Good Food Institute, a research and lobbying non-profit for alternative proteins, consumers have embraced a growing range of plant-based dairy ingredients including seeds, legumes, pulses, grains and nuts.

The institute said sales of oat-based dairy products jumped almost eight-fold in the US in 2019. Oatly’s signature oat milk was especially successful ahead of the pandemic with a “barista edition” used in cafés that produces a froth similar to that of cows’ milk for cappuccinos and macchiatos. 

Rival Chobani, a New York-based company that built its reputation on plant-based yoghurts, has also reportedly been considering a listing, while Oatly competes with companies such as France’s Danone, which has branched out from a history in dairy to produce plant-based alternatives such as the Alpro brand.

Oatly faced a customer backlash on social media over its decision to accept funding from Blackstone last year, with consumers criticising the private equity group’s sustainability credentials and a history of support for Donald Trump by its chief executive Stephen Schwarzman.

Oatly said at the time: “Our bet is that when Blackstone’s investment in our oat-based sustainability movement brings them larger returns than they would have been able to get elsewhere . . . a powerful message will be sent to the global private equity markets, one written in the only language our critics claim they will listen to: profit.”

Companies have been rushing to list in recent months and take advantage of an equity market rally that has bolstered IPOs such as that of Blackstone-backed dating app Bumble, which raised $2.15bn in a Nasdaq listing this month, and Israeli mobile games company Playtika, which raised $2.2bn in January.

WSJ : Private Equity May Face Return of Attention-Getting SEC Fines Under Gensle

Private Equity May Face Return of Attention-Getting SEC Fines Under Gensler
Chairman-Designate Gary Gensler is expected to be tougher on investment firms

The largest U.S. financial regulator has turned its focus away from private equity in recent years, but new agency leadership could mean tougher enforcement and heavier fines for buyout firms, attorneys and lobbyists say.

President Biden’s nomination of Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has Wall Street firms bracing for stricter oversight. Mr. Gensler, a former partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., gained a reputation as an aggressive enforcer while running the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2009 through 2013.

Mr. Gensler, who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management after leaving government, has made few public statements of his views on private equity, however, and it is unclear whether he sees reforming buyout-fund practices as a priority.

Regulatory experts see a likelihood that if Mr. Gensler is confirmed by the Senate, the SEC could return to large, headline-making fines against private equity, which became less common under Jay Clayton, who led the agency from 2017 through 2020. Mr. Clayton last week said he would join the board of buyout firm Apollo Global Management Inc. as a lead independent director.

Mr. Gensler “got a lot done because he made a big splash” leading the CFTC, said Joe Weinstein, head of the securities and shareholder litigation practice at law firm and lobbying group Squire Patton Boggs. “I do think he’s going to try to send a message to whatever subset of the industry he is focusing on.”

From 2014 through 2016, the SEC issued fines for tens of millions of dollars against leading buyout firms including Blackstone Group Inc., KKR & Co. and Apollo, and a Gensler-led SEC may seek to bring similarly large cases to highlight violations by private-equity managers. However, “the question is whether private-equity funds got the message” from cases brought earlier and reformed their practices, said Coates Lear, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs and former senior counsel in the SEC’s enforcement division.


Message-sending fines targeting private equity would mark something of a break with the tenure of Mr. Clayton, who focused more on protecting ordinary investors rather than the institutional investors that back private-equity funds.

Under Mr. Clayton, the SEC issued more frequent but less costly penalties against private-equity firms. The number of enforcement actions the agency announced against private-equity managers reached its annual peak of eight in 2018, twice the number brought in 2016, the last year under previous SEC Chairman Mary Jo White, based on law firm Proskauer Rose LLP’s list of significant SEC enforcement actions against private equity.

The rise was in keeping with an overall increase in SEC penalties against investment advisers under Mr. Clayton. The number of enforcement actions against advisers reached a peak of 191 in 2019, before falling to 87 last year, agency records show.

Yet the sizes of individual penalties against private-equity firms have declined, data show. Between 2015 and 2016, the SEC issued civil monetary penalties of $12.5 million against Apollo and $10 million each against Blackstone and KKR, not including required reimbursements to investors. In Mr. Clayton’s tenure running the SEC, its largest penalty targeting a private-equity manager was a $3 million fine against TPG in 2017.

Individual fines against private-equity managers have more often been in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past four years. The SEC hasn’t hit a private-equity manager with a civil monetary penalty of more than $1 million since 2017, Proskauer Rose and Dow Jones data show.

“Enforcement has been pretty active, but not so much with a focus on [the] private funds side,” said Amy Lynch, founder and president of Frontline Compliance and a former SEC examiner. The large number of actions against private equity around 2018 were likely the effect of the agency “cleaning out its pipeline” of cases begun under the Obama administration, she said, since it typically takes two or three years to complete a case.

The SEC declined to comment on its enforcement efforts against private equity. Mr. Gensler didn’t reply to a request for comment.

SEC examiners continue to uncover myriad compliance problems at private-equity firms. Last June, the regulator issued a risk alert saying it has encountered undisclosed conflicts and poor fee-and-expense disclosures in its recent examinations of private-equity and hedge-fund managers.

New SEC leadership likely means private equity will face “broken windows-style policing,” where the agency moves to prosecute even small lapses, said Philip Moustakis, a counsel for law firm Seward & Kissel LLP and a former senior counsel in the agency’s enforcement division. The theory of that type of enforcement is that bringing small cases encourages firms to take compliance more seriously, benefiting investors.

If Mr. Gensler is confirmed, Democrats would hold a three-to-two majority of SEC commissioners, who vote on every enforcement action. That should make the agency more amenable to pursuing penalties over lapses that may have been seen as too marginal to prosecute under the previous regime, Mr. Moustakis said.

But any change won’t be sudden. “The SEC’s enforcement program is like an ocean liner,” Mr. Lear said. “It takes a lot of time to turn, and it will take a couple years to see the impact of any change in philosophy.”

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

  • NLS -15.2%, API -13.1%, AAN -8.6%, REAL -8.1%, EPZM -7.4%, TTCF -6%, GDOT -5.5%, BIGC -4.6%, LDOS -3.7%, FRPT -2.6% (also announces stock offering), TREX -2.5%, HD -2.3%, TRI -2.3%, OXY -2%, SPR -2%, JBT -1.8%, VNOM -1.5%, BWXT -1.5%, ETRN -1.4%, OKE -1.3%, PANW -1.1%, O -1.1%, DDS -1%

Other news:

  • CCIV -33.9% (CCIV and Lucid Motors announce merger agreement at PIPE offer price of $15/sh)
  • PAVM -17.3% (stock offering)
  • DPW -14% (equity raising update) 
  • XENE -12.8% (to present new preclinical data of XEN1101 program)
  • SHOP -6.5% (prices offering of 1,180,000 Class A subordinate voting shares at $1,315 per share)
  • CCL -4% (prices offering of 40,450,619 shares of common stock at $25.10 per share)
  • MRNA -3.4% (releases testimony ahead of hearing on Tues)
  • GNMK -3.1% (ePlex RP2 Panel predicted to detect known SARS-CoV-2 variants)
  • EXPR -2.8% (files for 25 mln share common stock offering)
  • VMAR -2.8% (has acquired MAC Engineering's intellectual property relating to marine outboard electronic systems)
  • DBX -2.4% (convertible notes offering)
  • FREQ -2.1% (announces publication of Phase 1/2 study results for FX-322)
  • TGTX -1.8% (announces publication of final results from Phase 3 GENUINE trial)
  • TSN -1.1% ( announces organizational changes; names Donnie King as COO)

Analyst comments

  • ICPT -7.9% (downgraded to Sell at H.C. Wainwright)
  • JE -4% (downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at National Bank Financial)
  • GLOG -2.2% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies)
  • KR -2.2% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities)
  • DISH -1.4% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Pivotal Research Group)
  • CCEP -1% (downgraded to Sell from Hold at Societe Generale)