Blackstone predicts regulatory overhaul

TRUMP PRESIDENCY

DAN FREED NEW YORK • Blackstone Group LP chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said on Tuesday he expected to see a “very substantial reversal of regulations of all types,” for the financial sector, following Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory.

Schwarzman, who was picked by Trump to chair a panel of business leaders who will give him advice during his presidency, said the changes would boost U.S. growth and attract foreign investment. Blackstone is one of the world’s largest investment companies.

Speaking at an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Schwarzman said the changes would be the largest in his 45-year career. He expects them to spur inflation and rising interest rates.

Trump has pledged to dismantle the 2010 financial overhaul known as DoddFrank, and Republicans in Congress have crafted legislation aimed at doing that.

Draft legislation from Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee would reorganize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, throw out the Volcker Rule restricting banks from making speculative investments and eliminate the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to designate non-banks as “systemically important.”

Schwarzman said rising interest rates would benefit Blackstone’s lending businesses, while the outlook for its hedge fund and real estate businesses is positive.

Asked about corporate tax reform, Schwarzman said any changes would need to apply to individuals as well as corporations because 80 per cent of U.S. companies use a “pass-through” structure in which business taxes are passed through to the personal income tax returns of the owners of the business.

Meanwhile, private equity firm KKR & Co. said on Tuesday it would acquire a majority stake in cybersecurity company Optiv Security Inc., which is majorityowned by Blackstone Group.

Blackstone will maintain a minority interest in Optiv, which in November had filed with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering.

Optiv said its management would also continue to hold a minority stake in the company and said that other selling shareholders included Investcorp and Sverica. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.