Sky Blog
On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” (the “Order”), rescinding affirmative action under Executive Order 11246 and other anti-discrimination policies applying to federal contractors. We provided an …
In this article, we reflect on key trends in ESG over the second half of 2024 and look ahead at trends that may emerge in 2025.
We …
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have swiftly emerged as an alternative vehicle for global corporations that seek a public listing. As their name suggests, SPACs gather funds from investors through an initial public offering (IPO), with the intention of acquiring …
On 30 September, the UK Digital Securities Sandbox was officially declared open. The announcement was made by the Bank of England (BoE) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), following the consultation earlier this year on …
On August 7, 2024, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published an update regarding its ongoing assessment of crypto firms’ adherence to the cryptoasset financial promotions rules introduced in October 2023. See our October 23, 2023 client alert “UK …
2023 was another record year for False Claims Act enforcement. On February 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the federal government and whistleblowers were party to a record number of FCA settlements and judgments in Fiscal …
On December 20, 2023, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a detailed consultation paper proposing major reforms to the UK listing regime with particularly significant implications for listings of equity shares in commercial companies. The reforms are broadly consistent …
On December 8, 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a joint consultation paper titled ”CP26/23 – Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector.” The consultation includes draft PRA and Bank of …
On September 13, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with branches in Texas and Oklahoma, for processing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of an ineligible borrower.…
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 …
On July 27, 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a policy statement that includes final rules amending the UK Listing Rules, and new associated guidance, applicable to special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”).[1] The new …
On March 5, 2021, LIBOR’s administrator, ICE Benchmarks Administration (the “IBA”), and LIBOR’s regulator, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), announced that LIBOR will no longer be provided (i) for all sterling, euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen settings, …
On July 27, 2021 the FCA published a policy statement setting out its planned amendments to the Listing Rules to remove the presumption of suspension that applies to special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) when a potential acquisition target is identified …
The Financial Conduct Authority recently announced a proposal for a climate-related financial disclosure regime for UK asset managers, as well as life insurers and FCA-regulated pension providers. This is an important step in the United Kingdom’s implementation of a regime …
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 …
Notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and market participants, from the perspective of regulators, working groups and industry leaders, the anticipated cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) remains the end of calendar year 2021.[1]…
Amid the ongoing push for standardized, comparable and decision-useful ESG disclosures, regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union have proposed additional disclosures and benchmarks to promote sustainable economic activity. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published …
Notwithstanding numerous COVID-19-related challenges faced by market participants, UK regulators have affirmed that—at least for now—the anticipated cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) at the end of calendar year 2021 remains unchanged. Complying with regulators’ and working groups’ …
A key policy of UK financial regulation since the financial crisis has been the ring-fencing of retail banks into separate and independently operated entities, so-called “ring-fenced bodies” (RFBs), distinct from entities that carry on other, and especially investment, banking activities …