SACRAMENTO — A private prison company is challenging a new California law requiring detention centers to provide medical care, privacy and other civil rights to people detained by federal immigration authorities.
GEO Group, a for-profit prison company, filed a complaint in federal court over Senate Bill 942, also called the Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights Act of 2026. It mandates that immigrant and other detainees are afforded privacy, safety, hygienic living conditions and other rights.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law last week as part of a package of bills to push back on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, which the Democratic governor described as “Orwellian.” GEO Group filed its complaint the day after Newsom signed the law.
SB 942 declares that detainees at state, local and privately run facilities have the right to medical, dental and mental health care; physical exercise; clean drinking water and functioning toilets; and other rights. It allows the attorney general to bring civil action against private and public entities that allegedly violate those rights.
GEO Group attorneys argue in the federal complaint that while California elected officials “may disagree with federal immigration policy,” the state “may not impose its preferred immigration-detention standards on federal detention operations, whether those standards would tighten, loosen, supplement, or otherwise alter the federal framework.”
According to its website, the company operates six detention facilities in California, four of which are housing detainees under contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That includes a shuttered state prison that began holding ICE detainees earlier this year.
GEO Group has had some previous success challenging laws seeking to undermine the private prison industry’s role in federal immigration enforcement. A federal court struck down a 2019 law that attempted to bar any “private detention facility within the state” after the company filed suit.
Representatives for GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Newsom, Atty Gen. Rob Bonta and state Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), who authored the bill, did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.
The market is just emerging, but domestic banks may already be exposed to global risk.
This article appears in the October issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Japan’s private credit market may still be small, but its exposure to private credit is not.
That is an important distinction as the Bank of Japan warns that growing links between Japanese financial institutions and global private credit funds could have implications for financial stability.
The BOJ’s concern is not that Japan has suddenly embraced the $2 trillion-plus private credit industry. It is that Japanese banks and institutional investors are becoming part of it, just as vulnerabilities in the asset class are attracting greater scrutiny.
For now, regulators see no evidence of a systemic problem. According to reports, Japan’s Financial Services Agency has been examining financial institutions’ lending and investment exposure to private credit, while Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has said Japan’s exposure is not substantial.
But Japanese banks have increased financing to global private credit funds in search of higher returns, while exploring domestic strategies in the same vein, creating potential channels through which overseas stress could spill into Japan.
In 2020, for example, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s (SMFG) banking division took a 4.9% stake in U.S.-headquartered Ares Management Corp., making a strategic commitment to support the U.S. entity’s private credit business.
Earlier this spring, SMFG and Nippon Life Insurance were reported to be in talks to create a new private credit fund of at least 500 billion yen to finance leveraged buyouts, real estate and mezzanine transactions.
“The market is only emerging,” said Yuuichiro Nakajima, managing director at Tokyo-based M&A advisory firm Crimson Phoenix. “It is certainly not replacing bank finance in any meaningful way.”
Nakajima pointed out that Japan may well have less need for private credit than the U.S. or Europe because its banks remain deeply embedded in corporate finance and continue to provide relatively inexpensive funding.
Furthermore, Nakajima expects private credit to complement rather than displace traditional lenders, particularly as mergers & acquisitions in Japan become more complex and larger: Japanese M&A involving domestic companies reached a record 53 trillion yen in 2025, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.
Indeed, take-privates, succession deals, overseas acquisitions and infrastructure investment are generating financing requirements that can stretch conventional bank structures.
In such an environment, private credit can fill gaps in leveraged buyouts, mezzanine finance and other transactions where flexibility, speed or longer maturities matter.
“As the variety of M&A transactions becomes broader and more complex,” Nakajima said, “it wouldn’t be hard to imagine banks finding it difficult to keep up with the pace of financing needs.”
Global managers are betting on precisely that opportunity. According to reports, Apollo Global Management Inc., Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. are building private-credit capabilities in Tokyo, although industry executives expect adoption to take years rather than months.
But the domestic opportunity should not obscure the systemic risk concern: private credit globally has grown rapidly while remaining relatively opaque and illiquid.
John Amari is a contributing writer based in Japan.
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Blackstone’s (BX) global head of private equity since 2012 and one of the company’s most senior executives, Joseph Baratta, is set to step down, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
Baratta’s exit is the latest in
HAVEN has just bought its 40th holiday park – and it’s already one of the most popular in the country.
The park found in West Sussex has 2,500 pitches, is right next to its own private beach and you can book a stay from less than £10per night.
The holiday park in question is Seal Bay in West Sussex – it’s award-winning and was recently crowned UK’s most popular £9.50 holiday park.
It has thousands of pitches, there’s plenty of entertainment for the whole family and it’s minutes away from the beach, what’s not to love?
Seal Bay sits on the coast in Selsey and when it comes to picking a place to stay, visitors can choose from seaside caravans to beachfront pods or glamping options.
All stays come with kitted-out kitchens, bed linen, as well as access to the swimming pools and entertainment.
The simplest option is camping, with a choice of grass, electric or serviced pitches – each has a parking space and access to hot shower facilities.
Caravans range from comfy Bronze bases which sleeps up to eight guests, all the way to Platinum caravans that feel more like a homely cottage.
Lodges are larger with their own decks – and some luxury ones even come with a private hot tub.
Beachfront pods are a great choice for those wanting a cosy hideaway facing the sea – they have mezzanines and fold-out double beds, as well as private decking to enjoy that sea breeze.
For those visiting as a large group, you can even book an entire self-catering house.
As for entertainment and play there’s plenty for all ages – some of the highlights are its arcades, bowling, and soft play zones.
There’s also a swimming pool with a splash zone for toddlers, wave simulator, inflatable obstacle course, lazy river and waterslides.
Families with young children can get crafting at the create-your-own teddy bear factory, sand art sessions and try out mini archery which is for those between two and five-years-old.
Older kids should head to the Dockyard which has a large climbing wall and adventure golf.
There’s plenty for adults and couples too, like live music, comedy nights, and Big Red Button Bingo.
When it comes to eating, there’s the Above the Bay Bar & Kitchen which opened earlier this year, along with Smokey’s BBQ Kitchen and the Cafe Lido.
From the park, holidaymakers have direct access down to Seal Bay Beach – and almost one mile of it is reserved for guests only.
Mid-week breaks can be booked for under £250.
A family of up to six can book a four-night stay in May 2027 from £244 in a Classic 2 Bed Holiday Caravan – or £10.16pppn.
If you fancy a break in the next few weeks, a four-night stay in a Classic Caravan from 12-16 October can be booked out from £196 – or £8.16pppn.
Seal Bay will continue to trade under its current name for the remainder of 2026, before changings its name to the Haven brand for 2027.
It’s not the first holiday park that has been taken on by Haven in the last few years – it previously acquired the Richmond Holiday Centre which has now been named Haven Skegness Holiday Park.
Simon Palethorpe, CEO, Haven said: “I’m delighted that we are welcoming Seal Bay to the Haven family. It’s a fantastic park in the most stunning location and will sit brilliantly alongside our 39 other parks.
“Haven’s mission is all about making memories that last a lifetime and we can’t wait to start working with the Seal Bay team to deliver this for thousands of holiday makers and owners in the years to come.”
Holidaymakers can still book holidays on the current Seal Bay resort website – including for breaks in 2027.
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Private Credit By the Numbers: Key Trends Driving Private Lending, Finance Talent, and Global Shipping
Key data points tracking shifts in private credit, finance talent, and global shipping costs.
This article appears in the September 2026 issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Each month, Global Finance readers can look forward to our “By the Numbers” feature: A spotlight with key industry metrics that highlight a market in transition. This edition brings you three charts: a break down the numbers driving strategic moves across private lending, corporate talent, and global trade.
Despite a significant drop in deal volume from the previous quarter, driven by higher financing costs, interest-rate uncertainty, and a possible AI-driven market correction, direct lenders are still finding opportunities.
Audax led the field by a wide margin, closing 62 deals in the second quarter — 16 more than second-place TPG Twin Brook (46) and 19 ahead of MidCap Financial (43), according to 9fin data. That gap at the top suggests deal flow is concentrating among a handful of active lenders even as overall volume contracts.
Apollo (37), Churchill (36) and Barings (34) formed a tightly bunched second tier, each within three deals of the next. Apogem (32), Blackstone (30), Monroe (27) and Jefferies Credit Partners (25) rounded out the top 10.
Smaller, middle-market-focused shops like Audax and Twin Brook outpaced Blackstone this quarter despite its scale, making the firm’s eighth-place finish notable. Lenders with flexible mandates—rather than the biggest balance sheets—will likely keep writing checks amid higher financing costs and rate uncertainty.
Gartner reports that traditional talent still overwhelmingly staff today’s finance function, with 85% holding conventional backgrounds and just 15% dedicated to digital skills. That balance will flip within four years.
Gartner projects traditional finance talent will shrink to 20% of the workforce. Dedicated digital finance talent will likely grow to another 20% — and 60% of the workforce will be made up of “nondedicated” digital finance talent, employees who blend finance expertise with data, automation and technology skills rather than fitting neatly into either camp.
The shift means the finance department of 2030 will look less like a roomful of accountants and more like a hybrid team built around technology fluency, with only one in five employees carrying a purely traditional finance profile.
Increased geopolitical risk, fuel costs, insurance premiums, and operating expenses are fueling a steady growth in shipping costs for the foreseeable future.
