How to Move from Local to Global Regulation of Crypto-Assets

By Roee Sarel, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky and Israel Klein August 5, 2022 by renholding

On July 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Treasury (USDT) published a fact-sheet on the regulation of digital assets(a.k.a. crypto-assets) in which it emphasized the need for global cooperation. However, this fact-sheet is only a drop in an ocean …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses Digital Asset Amendments to the UCC

By Sandra M. Rocks, Penelope L. Christophorou, Brandon Hammer, Kathryn Witchger and Alec Mitchell July 25, 2022 by renholding

This month, the sponsors of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) approved wide-ranging amendments to the UCC (the “2022 UCC Amendments”)[1] to provide workable rules for emerging technologies, such as distributed ledger technology and virtual currency. If adopted by individual …

Skadden Discusses Senate Bill to Create Regulatory Structure for Crypto and Other Digital Assets

By Alexander C. Drylewski, Nathan W. Giesselman, Stuart D. Levi, Daniel Michael, Bao Nguyen and Andrew R. Beatty June 23, 2022 by renholding

In recent years, innovation in the blockchain or “Web3” space has been impacted by uncertainty on the regulatory front. Undoubtedly, the greatest area of uncertainty has involved the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and its application of the so-called Howey test …

The Unsung Upside of Share Repurchases

By Richard A. Booth June 15, 2022 by renholding

Stock repurchases by issuing corporations have always been controversial. But they have become even more so recently because of the perception that the excess funds used to finance buybacks have come from tax cuts and other sources (such as government …

Investor Information Gathering and the Resolution of Uncertainty

By Jed Neilson June 9, 2022 by renholding

Gathering additional information is an instinctive response to uncertainty. This behavior is found in many settings, perhaps most pervasively in capital markets. For example, if investors observe an earnings number that differs from what they expected, they might seek to …

Skadden Discusses the Growing Complexity of Commercial Rights Issues In NFTs

By Stuart Levi, Mana Ghaemmaghami and Gabriel Mohr June 1, 2022 by renholding

Although it has only been a little over a year since nonfungible tokens came into the mainstream, the industry has taken a number of twists and turns, not the least of which is the granting of certain commercial exploitation rights …

Decentralized Finance, Crypto Funds, and Value Creation in Tokenized Firms

By Paul P. Momtaz, Niclas Dombrowski, Wolfgang Drobetz and Douglas J. Cumming May 31, 2022 by renholding

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) employs blockchain technology and smart contracts with the goal of enabling perfectly disintermediated financial markets. Despite the far-reaching ambition, DeFi markets are experiencing increasing intermediation recently, as a new type of intermediary, so-called Crypto Funds (henceforth, CFs), …

Meme Investors and Retail Risk

By Sue S. Guan May 26, 2022 by renholding

Dramatic trading in GameStop, AMC, and other “meme stocks” has reignited debates about the efficiency of the stock market, its purposes, and whose interests it should serve. The changing role of retail investors and meme investors, a subset of retail …

Machine Learning and the Future of Tax Valuation

By Jay A. Soled and Kathleen DeLaney Thomas May 20, 2022 by renholding

The tax law handles many computational issues with extraordinary efficiency. Need to compute employment taxes? The Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) lays out the rate for doing so. Need to ascertain the dollar amount deductible for business mileage expenses? Treasury regulations …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses California Governor’s Executive Order on Blockchain

By Aaron Levine, Michelle Thiry, Rebecca Simmons and Sarah Payne May 11, 2022 by renholding

On May 4, California Governor Gavin Newson signed an executive order that is intended “to foster responsible innovation, bolster California’s innovation economy, and protect consumers” and “create a transparent regulatory and business environment for web3 companies which harmonizes federal and …

Do Venture Capital Funds Overstate Their Performance? The Effects of FOIA

By Erin E. Smith May 9, 2022 by renholding

Venture capital (VC) has become an increasingly important asset class for institutional investors such as endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as for wealthy individuals. A large amount of money is involved: U.S. VC-backed companies …

Too Much Information? Increasing Firms’ Information Advantages in the IPO Process

By Michele Dathan and Yan Xiong May 3, 2022 by renholding

Traditionally, high-growth private firms in the United States have used the public equity markets as their primary source of external financing to fund innovation and expansion. For this reason, well-functioning capital markets have been instrumental to the U.S. economy, supporting …

Deep Learning Mutual-Fund Risk Assessment and Performance

By Sean Cao, Baozhong Yang and Alan L. Zhang April 29, 2022 by renholding

The ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased market volatility and even caused markets to close in some countries. These fluctuations substantially affected mutual funds, leading to fire sales of their assets and SEC scrutiny of their risk management. …

How Disclosure and Information Intermediaries Strengthen the Credibility of Initial Coin Offerings

By Thomas Bourveau, Atif Ellahie, Emmanuel T. De George and Daniele Macciocchi April 27, 2022 by renholding

The crypto-tokens market has recently emerged as an alternative source of financing for entrepreneurial ventures, with approximately $27 billion raised globally through March 2022.[1] These ventures issue blockchain-based digital “crypto-tokens” to raise external capital through an initial coin offering …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses the LIBOR Act, State Law, and Litigation Risks

By Rishi Zutshi, Jeffrey Karpf, Duane McLaughlin and Elizabeth Chang April 18, 2022 by renholding

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (the “LIBOR Law”).[1] The objectives of the legislation are to facilitate the transition of legacy LIBOR contracts that either (a) lack LIBOR …

When Biden Met Crypto: Thoughts on the President’s Executive Order

By Hadar Y. Jabotinsky and Roee Sarel April 1, 2022 by renholding

On March 9, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order (“the Order”) requiring federal agencies to submit reports on how cryptocurrencies relate to various issues, including money laundering, investor protection, international cooperation, central bank digital currencies (“CBDC”), and systemic risk. …

ISS on Addressing the Looming Water Crisis in Investment Portfolios

By Cosima Reiff, Erina Molina and Erin Wood April 1, 2022 by renholding

Water means life. More than half of our bodies consist of water, and it is an indispensable resource for production of food and other goods. It is fundamental for societies and ecosystems alike. While water covers approximately 70 percent of

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New Department of Labor Investment Rules Could Be Big Win for Everyone but Labor

By David H. Webber March 28, 2022 by renholding

Few constituencies benefited more from the election of Joe Biden than the socially-responsible investor community, which saw the most-hostile presidential administration replaced by the most supportive.[1] The point is best illustrated by the departure of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, …

Sullivan & Cromwell Discusses Federal LIBOR Transition Legislation

By Jordan Wish, Rodge Cohen and Ben Weiner March 21, 2022 by renholding

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022,” which enjoyed significant bipartisan support and contains, as Division U, the “Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act” (the “LIBOR Act”).[1] The LIBOR Act provides a uniform …

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