Cravath Publishes Finance & Capital Markets Quarterly Review for Q3 2025

On November 10, 2025, Cravath published the latest edition of its Finance & Capital Markets Quarterly Review, which provides insight into practical points, key takeaways and relevant developments related to the bond, equity and loan markets and restructuring activity during the third quarter of 2025. Highlights from this edition include:

MARKET TRENDS

• U.S. financing volumes generally increased in Q3 2025 compared to Q2 2025. Activity for high-yield bonds, IPOs, follow-on equity offerings and syndicated leveraged loans all increased compared to Q2 2025. Activity for investment-grade bonds remained strong and was generally in line with activity during Q2 2025.
• On a year-over-year basis for Q3 2025 relative to Q3 2024, activity increased for high-yield bonds, IPOs and syndicated leveraged loans, but decreased for investment-grade bonds and follow-on equity offerings.
• In particular, there was a strong increase in activity in the high-yield bond and loan markets and the IPO market, both compared to Q2 2025 and compared to Q3 2024.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

• Amidst the federal government shutdown, the SEC issued guidance on operational limitations during the shutdown. The EDGAR filing system remains operational but most staff functions were suspended, effectively pausing most IPOs and other registered offerings subject to SEC review, pending the resumption of normal operations.
• The SEC announced that mandatory arbitration clauses set forth in issuer organizational documents covering securities law claims would no longer, by themselves, prevent registration statements from being declared effective, shifting the focus to disclosure adequacy and marking a notable procedural change in review practices.
• Digital asset regulation continued to evolve in Q3 2025, as the SEC and CFTC advanced efforts to align oversight frameworks and the SEC launched “Project Crypto” to integrate blockchain technologies and innovation exemptions into the U.S. regulatory regime.

Please click here to read the full report.