Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls wants English law to be at the forefront of developments relating to cryptoassets and smart contracts. In his thought-provoking foreword to the government-backed UK Jurisdictional...more
As our other Top Ten posts have demonstrated, there is no shortage of risks for private fund sponsors to navigate in today’s economic and regulatory environment. Nevertheless, they need to prioritize the risk that hits...more
6/2/2022
/ Asset Management ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud ,
Fund Sponsors ,
Investment ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Private Equity
In the first two instalments of our series we examined the progress of English law to provide a secure and certain legal infrastructure for cryptoasset investment and management. In particular, we looked at how recent English...more
In the first part of this series of articles, we examined the progress of English law to shape and build an infrastructure to support the development of a secure and certain environment for investment in digital assets. We...more
5/11/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Instruments ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Jurisdiction
Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, wants English law to be at the forefront of developments relating to cryptoassets and smart contracts. In his thought-provoking foreword to the government-backed UK Jurisdictional...more
5/4/2022
/ Constructive Trusts ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Fraud ,
Personal Property ,
Popular ,
Property Ownership ,
Smart Contracts ,
UK ,
UKJT
The SEC last month proposed rules under the Advisers Act indicating a dramatic shift in how the SEC intends to reduce conflicts of interest involving private fund managers and their investors. As we previously noted in the...more
5/3/2022
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Clawbacks ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fund Managers ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Private Funds ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation
In the recent case of Kyla Shipping Co Ltd v Freight Trading Ltd [2022] EWHC 376 (Comm) the English Commercial Court rejected a claim to litigation privilege over preliminary investigations conducted by a party appointed...more
Last month, the SEC proposed new rules under the Advisers Act that, if implemented, would be the most significant enhancement of disclosure obligations for private fund managers since the Dodd-Frank Act.Citing investor...more
Over the past few years, the SEC has brought fewer insider trading and Material Non-Public Information (MNPI)-related cases compared to historical numbers. We expect to see a reversal of that trend in 2022.
The SEC has...more
2021 continued the trend of increased regulatory focus on privacy and cybersecurity for private investment funds in the U.S. and abroad. There are no signs of the trend leveling off any time soon. One of the topics that...more
Sanctions continue to be a dynamic area of regulation and enforcement. In its first year, the Biden Administration has already undertaken a number of different sanctions initiatives. The three examples below highlight the...more
3/9/2022
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Asset Management ,
Asset Seizure ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Global Magnitsky Act ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Ukraine ,
Virtual Currency
A threshold question in many cryptocurrency inquiries is whether the digital assets qualify as securities under the federal securities laws. If so, then they are subject to a full suite of federal securities regulations....more
3/1/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Unregistered Securities
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden announced sanctions against Russia. Following an executive order issued on February 21, 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
3/1/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
General Licenses ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
SWIFT ,
Ukraine ,
Vladimir Putin
If 2021 was the year in which regulators and investors enthusiastically embraced environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations, by creating new legal and regulatory frameworks, then 2022 will be the year for...more
2/25/2022
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment ,
Private Funds ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Sustainability
We reported last year that unprecedented SPAC deal volume signaled an increased risk for disputes given their unique structure, including risks associated with disclosure requirements, material non-public information,...more
The SEC’s push to regulate the next generation of blockchain-based applications will likely give rise to disputes and enforcement actions, particularly in the developing decentralized finance (DeFi) space....more
Last year, we wrote, “The regulatory and litigation risks for private funds are greater than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008.” That statement is even more true today....more
2/2/2022
/ Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Private Equity ,
Private Funds ,
Risk Management ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
The UK Supreme Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in the Lloyd v Google LLC [2021] UKSC 50 case on 10 November 2021 restricting claimants’ ability to bring data privacy class actions in the UK under the (now...more
In the recent and significant Warren v DSG Retail Ltd [2021] EWHC 2168 (QB) decision the High Court in England clarified the limited circumstances in which claims for breach of confidence, misuse of private information and...more