Sky Blog
For much of the past century, consumers and commercial end users could access the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet directly in only one way—by holding physical currency or coin issued or distributed by a Federal Reserve Bank. A major drawback, however, …
In the last week of December, the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court dismissed two shareholder derivative actions brought against directors and officers of large European companies in decisions with critical implications for non-U.S. companies’ exposure to fiduciary …
On January 4, the UK’s new National Security and Investment filing regime became fully operational. A wide range of deals will be scrutinized for national security concerns requiring further investigation. The UK government expects to review up to 1,800 cases …
Last year was the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) The UNGPs are a leading framework for understanding the duties of states to protect those within their jurisdiction from …
Antitrust regulators around the world, including in the UK, have recently proposed changes to merger review policies and enforcement strategies that have implications for how acquisitions of start-ups are investigated and evaluated. These changes will likely lead to heightened scrutiny—and …
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued the Memorandum on Establishing the Fight Against Corruption as a Core United States National Security Interest (the Anti-Corruption Memo). The Anti-Corruption Memo directed senior figures from the administration’s national security team to oversee …
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as “COP26”, was held in Glasgow, Scotland last month. Among other agreements coming out of COP26, government ministers representing nearly 200 countries reached a consensus regarding rules implementing Article 6 …
According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), there is a consensus among major economies, such as the G20, to enhance cross-border payments.[1] Providing faster, cheaper, and more transparent and inclusive cross-border payment services would be beneficial for citizens, businesses, …
The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, is a company with no commercial or operating history that has listed on a stock exchange with the sole objective of raising financing to identify and acquire another company. SPACs developed after the …
Taxation of multinational companies (MNCs) has received increasing attention from politicians, the media, regulators, and academics. While the popular press provides considerable anecdotal evidence that large MNCs pay lower taxes than their domestic counterparts, academic research provides mixed evidence on …
On November 30, 2021, the UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), found that the completed acquisition by Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms, Inc.) of GIPHY, Inc. resulted in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC…
Although the United States inherited its common law legal system from the United Kingdom, the U.S. securities class actions jurisprudence is well advanced of the development of this area of law in the United Kingdom. With the first major collective …
The Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou delivered a groundbreaking victory to investors in China’s first-ever shareholder class action.
The China Securities Investor Service Centre (CSISC), a government-affiliated body, represented investors as it brought the action against Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co. (In
When should directors be held liable for their company’s distressed financial condition? In a recent article, we show that the answer varies widely across legal regimes. We focus on the zone of insolvency, a phase in the company’s life …
Good morning, everyone and thank you for inviting me to deliver the Scott Friestad Memorial Keynote address. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Scott, but in my few months as Director, I’ve frequently heard his name, and I’ve noticed
The core concepts of securities regulation tend to be similar across jurisdictions. However, there are differences that may seem small and insignificant at first glance but in fact generate the potential for arbitrage by the kind of sophisticated actors that …
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the inter-governmental body that recommends international standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), released an updated version of its guidance on the application of FATF’s recommendations to virtual assets …
The PRC appears to be further tightening controls on cryptocurrency activities. On September 24, 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), China’s central bank, issued the Notice Regarding Further Prevention and Management of Risks Associated with Cryptocurrency Trading Hype (…
In the wake of the landmark judgment in Schrems II in July 2020 (which invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield with immediate effect) (as reported by us here), the European Commission has recently adopted a number of hotly anticipated (at …