Sky Blog
On December 8, 2023, after months of negotiations, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council reached political agreement on the terms of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (the “EU AI Act” or the “Act”). We previously …
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) is a new framework that requires companies to include a large body of sustainability information in their annual reporting, in accordance with the detailed European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”), combined with external “assurance” …
The European Union and U.K. are establishing comprehensive regimes for the regulation of cryptoassets. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 9, 2023, and will come into force on …
Recent innovations in financial technology, or “FinTech,” are enabling the fractionalization of shares of stock, bonds, and other investment securities into units (“fractionalized securities”) that are small enough for virtually any investor to afford. In a new article, we show …
Companies, banks, insurers and asset managers are increasingly working together within their industries on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives to achieve shared goals on climate change, labor rights and other social issues. In the eyes of many, collective action …
On September 28, 2022, the European Commission released a proposal to change the legal landscape for companies developing and implementing artificial intelligence in EU Member States. This AI Liability Directive would require Member States to implement rules that would significantly …
On October 7, 2022, U.S. President Biden signed Executive Order 14086 on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities (the “Order”). The administrative Order creates new protections applicable to cross-border data sharing through a phased implementation process and is …
European Union leaders have reached a provisional political agreement on a revised Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”) that would introduce more detailed sustainability reporting requirements for all “large” EU companies and companies with securities (including low denomination debt …
On February 23, 2022, the European Commission issued its long-awaited proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (the Proposed Directive). Under the Proposed Directive, large companies operating in the EU market must identify, prevent, and mitigate any actual …
In my recent article, A Social Enterprise Company in EU Organizational Law?, I discuss the present and future regulation of social enterprises in Europe. For the moment, social enterprises – like other “social economy” organizations – have been harnessed …
On October 23, 2019, the European Parliament and the European Council adopted the Whistleblower Protection Directive (Directive) to set a minimum standard for the protections EU member states must provide to whistleblowers.
For the first time, whistleblowers are protected under …
On June 4, 2021, the European Commission (“EC”) released a final working draft, along with its implementing decision, for a new set of Standard Contractual Clauses (“New SCCs”) for the transfer of personal data to countries …
On April 21, 2021, the European Commission published an ambitious new package of “sustainable finance” regulation proposals. By far the most awaited element of this release concerned the Commission’s proposal for the review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (“NFRD…
As we wrote toward the end of 2020, the risks associated with business and human rights, and ESG more generally, have led a growing number of companies to create human rights/ESG management systems or to integrate human rights/ESG into existing …
Over a year ago, on December 29, 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures for the financial services sector (the “Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation”, or “SFDR”) entered into force. Just a few months remain before key …
The European Commission retained Ernst & Young (“EY”) to undertake a detailed study of “short-termism” and, implicitly, to report whether it was a major roadblock to more sustainable corporate governance. Their study was then presented at a three day international …
The European Union has recently taken a significant step in regulating foreign direct investment (“FDI”). As of October 11, 2020 a new EU regulation related to inbound foreign investment (the “FDI Regulation[1]”) became binding on all 27 Member …
Bank bailouts during periodic financial crises aim to stop financial panic and restore the stability of the financial system. Even if they are undesirable, future bank bailouts are unavoidable due to political and political economy reasons, whether or not they …
In the last few months, the UK and EU have separately outlined major plans that will soon bring a renewed focus to their fight against money laundering. Businesses will need to prioritise ensuring that their anti-money laundering (“AML”) controls are …