Since President Joe Biden’s July 9, 2021, executive order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” there has been a renewed focus and speculation surrounding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) forthcoming rulemaking under Dodd-Frank Act, Section 1033. Many industry leaders are optimistic President Biden’s order and the CFPB’s previous request for comments are a sign the U.S. is moving closer to open banking ...
On July 21, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (the Division) issued a Risk Alert detailing examinations of investment advisers participating in wrap fee programs. The Division conducted over 100 examinations of advisers associated with wrap fee programs generally from two perspectives: (i) advisers serving as portfolio managers in, or sponsors of, wrap fee programs; and (ii) advising client accounts through unaffiliated/third-party wrap fee programs ...
On July 21, 2021, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (the Division) issued a Risk Alert detailing more than 20 examinations of investment advisers who engaged in cross trades, principal trades, or both, involving fixed-income securities as part of the Division’s FIX Initiative. The July 21, 2021, Risk Alert is a follow-up to the Sept ...
Despite the cannabis industry’s explosive growth, many financial institutions have been hesitant to transact with cannabis-related businesses given the ambiguity created by divergent state and federal cannabis laws. The SAFE Banking Act seeks to remove these ambiguities at the federal level and pave the way for more financial institutions to serve the cannabis industry ...
Key Points Ninth Circuit reaffirms the “significant nexus” test for determining whether filling certain wetlands in 2007 violates the Clean Water Act The narrower test for determining the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction under the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule did not apply since it postdated the 2007 filling of the wetlands ...
‘Navigating the Fintech Revolution in Thailand’ is the indispensable must-read guide for fintech experts who want to stay up-to-date on all current and future fintech developments and successfully navigate the sector’s many challenges and pitfalls! In this edition, DFDL reports on the current state of fintech in Thailand from a legislative and policy perspective with an overview of the current and future fintech landscape ...
The freeze partnership is an often overlooked estate tax planning tool. Unlike more common estate tax planning vehicles, the freeze partnership is not a trust and, as the name implies, is a closely-held partnership, limited partnership or LLC (in this article, the term partnership will be used to refer to partnerships, limited partnerships and LLCs) ...
Water Law On August 20, 2021, the Deputy Director of the Division of Water Rights (Deputy Director) of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) issued water curtailment orders for the remainder of August and for all of September to approximately 4,500 water right holders in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed (Delta Watershed). These curtailment orders affect post-1914, pre-1914, and riparian rights, though in different ways, as described further below ...
The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group co-chaired by the HKMA and the SFC (Steering Group) announced on 15 July 2021 the next steps to advance its strategy to bolster Hong Kong’s position as a leader in green and sustainable finance and help transition the financial ecosystem towards carbon neutrality ...
On 20 July 2021, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a draft guideline on climate risk management for consultation with the banking industry with comments due by 20 August 2021. The guideline includes expectations on governance, strategy, risk management and disclosure ...
In the recent US case of In Re Citibank August 11, 2020 Wire Transfers (Revlon), the New York federal court held that lenders in a syndicated loan were not obliged to return an erroneous payment made by the syndicated facility agent due to the ‘discharge for value’ principle, which operated as a successful defence to unjust enrichment (click here for the full decision) ...
In an article published earlier this year, we discussed how the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, L.188(I)/2007 (the “AML Law”) was amended in order to harmonise domestic legislation with the 4th and 5th AML Directives (Directives (EU) 2015/849 and 2018/843 and how it introduced, for the first time, provision for the registration of Crypto-Asset Service Providers (“CASPS”) ...
As we approach COP26 in Glasgow in November, a vast amount of policy development is underway to help develop the strategies we need to address the global climate crisis. A central challenge is changing consumer behaviour, which is a complex and multi-faceted issue. It raises questions around affordability, such as changing heating systems, purchasing zero emissions vehicles and better insulating our homes ...
“We have to hurry, we have to get faster in the fight against climate change.” Those were the words of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, after surveying the devastation caused by record floods in western Germany in early July. Private transport is one of the world’s biggest sources of greenhouse gases, with emissions rising every year, and the transition to electric vehicles is fundamental in the fight against climate change ...
Private equity investors in nursing homes should brace and prepare for an active near-term enforcement environment. Congressional skepticism of private equity involvement in healthcare, developments in False Claims Act cases and Department of Justice priorities all point towards increasing scrutiny of private equity investment in skilled nursing facilities ...
On 10 August 2021, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published consultation conclusions on its proposals to (1) implement an investor identification regime at the trading level for the securities market in Hong Kong and (2) introduce an over-the-counter securities transactions reporting regime for shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (Conclusions). The original consultation paper is available here and the Conclusions are available here ...
In our previous article (Cryptocurrency – The Future of Money), we provided an overview of the key ideas behind cryptocurrency. In this article, we look at how cryptocurrency and digital currency might impact the corporate banking and finance market ...
Banking & Finance The Central Bank of Malta Issues Directive 19 on the Use of Cheques and Bank Drafts Directive No 19 ‘on the Use of Cheques and Bank Drafts’ was issued by the Central Bank of Malta on 7th July 2021 with the aim of promoting safe and effective use of cheques and bank drafts drawn on Maltese banks and financial institutions ...
The cornerstone of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is access to information. CEQA generally requires local and state government agencies ("lead agencies") overseeing proposed projects to prepare project-related documents assessing potential environmental impacts. These documents inform decision-makers and the public of the project's potential environmental impacts ...
Financial ServicesBank Negara Malaysia issues Policy Document on Reference Rate FrameworkThe policy document on Reference Rate Framework (“RRF PD”) was issued by Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) on 11 August 2021 and will come into effect on 1 August 2022 ...
Cryptocurrency, for most of us at least, has been hidden behind a veil of incomprehensible idiom for most of its lifespan. However, it has the potential to revolutionise the way we pay, borrow and lend, maybe sooner rather than later. Like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we are told they’re set to change the world but few of us understand how that might actually work or what their impact might be ...
The Thai government has made significant changes to interest and default interest rates to modernize Thai law and also reflect the country’s current economic situation. Due to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many debtors are struggling to meet the timelines for their loan payment obligations. The Emergency Decree amending the Civil and Commercial Code B.E ...
Last year, we reported on the important decision of the Royal Court of Jersey in April 2020 in Re Grundy [2020] JRC 071, which case our firm presented to the Royal Court and which demonstrated the flexibility of the remedies available under Jersey law where a successful application to set aside the exercise of a fiduciary power on grounds of mistake and/or inadequate deliberation is made (No re-writing history: the flexibility of Jersey’s remedies for mistake and inadequate deliber
BACKGROUND Complexities arise when arranging financings to co-investment structures, especially if the credit support includes security over shares granted by some (but not all) of the shareholders ...
