EU

Davis Polk Discusses Strengthening UK Merger Control

By Nicholas Spearing, Leonore De Mullewie, Matthew Yeowart, Arthur J. Burke and Ronan P. Hart December 3, 2019 by renholding

The UK operates a voluntary merger control regime[1].  In addition, the European Commission (EC) operates a ‘one-stop shop’ jurisdiction to review the largest and most complex cases on behalf of all EU Member States, including the …

“Centros” and Defensive Regulatory Competition in the European Union

By Martin Gelter November 7, 2019 by renholding

Centros, a landmark 1999 decision by the European Court of Justice (now Court of Justice of the European Union or CJEU), has profoundly transformed European company law. Previously, many EU member states used the “real seat theory” to …

Welcome to Vilnius: Regulatory Competition in the EU Market for E-Money

By Luca Enriques November 4, 2019 by renholding

If you google “Lithuania e-money,” the auto-fill function will suggest that you search for ”Lithuania e-money license.” If you accept the tip, the first result will be Ecovis, which describes itself as “the most experienced finance institution and FinTech licensing …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses EU’s New Whistleblower Protections

By J.F. Daniel Weyde, Richard Kreindler, Rüdiger Harms, Patrick Gerardy and Johannes Natus October 24, 2019 by renholding

A lively debate has been sparked both among the public and scholars about the protection of informants, promp­ted in part by the whistleblowers who uncovered the scandals that recently attracted so much interest in the media, including Cambridge Analytica, …

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses the UK Competition Law Implications of a No-Deal Brexit

By Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert and Alexandra Hackney October 8, 2019 by hdh2120

A no-deal Brexit would have significant and immediate effects on UK competition law enforcement:

• Parallel investigation of mergers, cartels, and dominance cases by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) and European Commission (“EC”);
• Possible delay to transactions notified to

…

Cleary Gottlieb Discusses U.S. CLOUD Act’s Possible Impact on EU Data Protection

By Natascha Gerlach and Elisabeth Macher September 16, 2019 by Avesh Krishna

Responding to a request by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the EU’s data protection supervisory bodies released an initial joint opinion on the impact of the U.S. Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data …

Does Reporting Frequency Affect the Allocation of Investor Attention Among Peer Firms? 

By Emmanuel T. De George, Minh Phan and Robert C. Stoumbos September 12, 2019 by renholding

The frequency at which public companies must report financial information to investors has been the subject of intense debate in the European Union, Asia, and more recently the United States. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is examining …

SEC Chairman Clayton Speaks to Investor Advisory Committee

By Jay Clayton July 29, 2019 by renholding

Thank you, Anne [Sheehan].  Good morning everyone, and I want to extend a special welcome to our new commissioner, Allison Lee.

I am interested in today’s discussion.  I understand the Committee first will be talking about the SEC approach to

…

Gibson Dunn Discusses New EU Sanctions Framework Aimed at Cyber-Attack Threats

By Judith Alison Lee, Adam M. Smith and Richard W. Roeder June 25, 2019 by renholding

In a previous client alert, we highlighted a recent U.S. sanctions regime aimed at deterring threats of election interference[1], which further expanded the U.S. menu of cyber-related sanctions.[2]  Across the Atlantic, as a step forward that demonstrates …

“Centros,” California’s ‘Women on Boards’ Statute, and the Scope of Regulatory Competition

By Jill E. Fisch and Steven Davidoff Solomon May 30, 2019 by renholding

It has been 20 years since the European Court of Justice issued its decision in Centros Ltd. v. Erhvervs – og Selskabsstyrelsen (Centros).  Since that time, Centros has been widely understood as shifting the European Union (EU) from …

Debevoise Discusses When to Disclose a European Deal

By James C. Scoville, Pierre Clermontel, Vera Losonci and Philippe Tengelmann May 20, 2019 by renholding

In Europe, when negotiating a transaction which may affect the market price of listed instruments of the parties, a key question arises: when to disclose it to the market? The short answer is as soon as possible unless you have …

Protecting Against Protectionism in EU M&A

By Marco Claudio Corradi and Julian Nowag April 18, 2019 by renholding

In a recent paper, we explore EU law covering EU cross-border mergers. These are typically more difficult and costlier than purely national mergers. Additionally, political hurdles can exist. In a time of global political and institutional transformations away from …

The Future of Data Driven Finance: Financial Regulation, Data Regulation, and RegTech

By Dirk A. Zetzsche, Douglas W. Arner, Ross P. Buckley and Rolf H. Weber April 15, 2019 by renholding

Fifty years ago, banking was a relationship business. Bank managers collected information about depositors and borrowers from all sorts of sources, formal and informal. In recent decades, credit decisions have become far more data-driven, with companies like Amazon and the …

Brexit Fools’ Day

By Amy Hutchings April 1, 2019 by renholding

March 29 was meant to be Brexit Day, marking the UK’s departure from the EU. Instead, it was yet another day of Brexit high drama as Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down for a third time, leaving …

The Brexit Twilight Zone

By Amy Hutchings March 18, 2019 by renholding

More Brexit chaos unfolded last week as the UK Parliament voted (1) for a second time to reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal, (2) to reject a no-deal Brexit and (3) in favor of Brexit delay. Yet these actions seem to …

March Madness – Brexit Edition

By Amy Hutchings March 1, 2019 by renholding

The countdown to Brexit on March 29 brings new twists and turns every day. On Wednesday, the UK’s House of Commons voted on amendments to the Brexit process, establishing a March timetable for decisions on whether to seek a deal, …

Debevoise Discusses Possible EU Approach to ICOs and Crypto-Assets

By Klaudius Heda, Clarisse Hannotin, Dr. Oliver Krauß and Dr. Friedrich Popp January 30, 2019 by abirvarma

In the first week of 2019, both the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) and the European Banking Authority (“EBA”) issued reports advising EU legislators on the regulation of “crypto-assets” and initial coin offerings (“ICOs”). The European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”), …

When Good Incentives Are Not Enough: The Quest for Financial Data Standardization

By Richard Berner and Kathryn Judge January 29, 2019 by renholding

Data standardization – the process of developing and implementing rules for how data are described and recorded – offers significant benefits for financial firms and regulators.  Nonetheless, the topic has received only scant attention from academics, and regulatory efforts to …

The Identity Challenge in Finance

By Douglas W. Arner, Dirk A. Zetzsche, Ross P. Buckley and Janos N. Barberis November 12, 2018 by renholding

Identity is fundamental in finance. At a time when huge TechFins like Amazon are making inroads into the financial services industry, major questions are arising as to the most effective methods of customer identification and meeting Know Your Customer obligations …

The Transatlantic Debate over Shareholder Rights

By Maria Lucia Passador November 9, 2018 by renholding

Effective and sustainable shareholder engagement is a cornerstone of the corporate governance model of listed companies, which is based on a system of checks and balances among boards, management, and stakeholders. Enhancing the involvement of shareholders in corporate governance is …