After the financial crisis hit the markets in 2008, small and medium sized enterprises ("SME") have found themselves at the sharp end of diminished access to credit. In their search for credit, they have turned to alternative forms of financing, such as crowdfunding. Last year around €300 million was raised through different types of crowdfunding. This amount is expected to increase significantly in 2013 ...
As an eventful 2018 comes to a close, we look ahead to 2019 and our “Top 10 List” of key issues U.S. financial institutions, non-banks providing financial services, and financial technology (fintech) entities should plan for and watch throughout the upcoming year. The first five items on the list are discussed below, and the remainder of our list will follow shortly in another post ...
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that the marketing of an NFT of a Johan Cruyff goal was misleading. The one-of-a-kind non-fungible token (NFT), entitled “In a Way, Immortal”, depicts Cruyff’s flying kick for Barcelona against rivals Atlético Madrid which was dubbed “The Phantom Goal” and earned Cruyff the nickname the "flying Dutchman". The NFT was auctioned and eventually sold for a reported €550.000 at Sotheby's ...
On March 11, 2021, Christie’s auction house made a landmark sale by auctioning off an entirely digital artwork by the artist Beeple, a $69 million transaction in Ether, a cryptocurrency.1 In doing so, the famous auction house put non-fungible tokens (“NFT”), the product of a decentralized blockchain, in the spotlight ...
Crypto assets are a rapidly evolving and highly innovative sector of the financial industry, offering new opportunities and challenges for businesses, consumers and regulators. Crypto assets are digital representations of value or contractual rights that use cryptography and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries ...
This article first provides an overview of the current state of the crypto disputes landscape, which arises at a novel intersection of crypto, arbitration and insolvency. It then looks at the type of legal and practical factors that may be relevant to a creditor in deciding on a dispute strategy when faced with a financially distressed crypto company, including in the context of arbitration and liquidation proceedings ...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a letter to Cryptoasset firms on the 4 July confirming that qualifying cryptoassets will now fall within the scope of the financial promotions regime. From the 8 October 2023, all firms marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers, including firms based overseas, must comply with the financial promotions regime. What is a Financial Promotion? A financial promotion is a broadly defined term, with no technological boundaries ...
As cryptocurrency and digital assets enter mainstream markets, the business world will have to come to grips with the nature of this new asset class. Silk Road was an Internet black market (known as the Dark Web) notorious for trading contraband, including illicit drugs. These transactions are anonymous, being settled in Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that bypasses traditional payment modes that allow authorities to identify parties ...
France has taken steps to set up a dedicated frame for cryptocurrency transactions aiming at conciliating legal certainty, market integrity and innovation. Capitalizing on best market practices, a recent bill defines an optional visa regime for ICOs, while a report commissioned by the French government sets forth principles of minimum regulations. Taxwise, the French Administrative Supreme Court has just ruled in favour of investors in Bitcoins ...
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 ...
Two months ago, in mid-April, the European Parliament approved the first legislation in the European Union on tracking payments in cryptocurrencies, supervision in this area and combating money laundering. The MEPs also adopted common rules for the supervision and protection of consumer rights (MiCA, or Markets in Crypto assets) with safeguards against market manipulation and financial crimes ...
Initially published by Thomson Reuters [23 November 2022], Shoosmiths partner Sam Tyfield comments on the implications of the recent call for regulation by cryptocurrency firms. Cryptocurrency firms and lobbyists have reacted to the collapse and bankruptcy of FTX by calling for regulation. When unpacked, however, their pleas to be regulated reveal an industry wanting regulation on its own terms while unwilling to face home truths about its faults and efficacy ...
In light of the rapidly evolving developments relating to COVID-19, and recognizing that issuers have an urgent need to focus on critical business decisions, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA”) have announced that they will grant temporary, blanket relief from the filing of certain documents required to be filed on or before June 1, 2020 ...
Mutual fund managers have long been important institutional investors in the capital markets. At present, there remain issues to be improved in the mutual fund industry, such as insufficient suitable professional capabilities, culture development weaknesses, and structural imbalances. In light of this, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has put forward the following guiding opinions to promote the developments of the mutual fund industry ...
Cuba’s stated goal of attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment combined with the United States’ effort to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba have sparked intensified interest amongst potential investors seeking to enter the Cuban market.As with any emerging market, potential investors must balance the potential risks faced in doing business with the potential return on their investment ...
Long before the creation of limited liability companies, the best practice for companies or individuals that operated multiple distinct businesses or held multiple significant assets, such as real estate, was to segregate each distinct business or asset into a separate entity so that the liabilities of one of the businesses or assets would not affect the other businesses or assets ...
Shoosmiths’ London office hosted its first hybrid seminar on 23 November, With Alastair Peet, Steve Barnett and Lisa Faragher from our VC team teaming up with Pietro Strada and Paddy MccGwire from technology focused corporate finance house Silverpeak to discuss current trends in tech market exits and financings. The seminar also included a panel discussion with David Cocks, co-founder of CloudTrade and Simon King, Partner at Octopus Ventures ...
What we know about the cybersecurity risks arising from the Ukraine, steps UK organisations should consider taking now, the insurance position and novel issues that might arise from Ukraine-linked cyber attacks. What has been happening? A few weeks into the war in Ukraine the cybersecurity implications for companies in the UK remain unclear, but some trends are emerging: Initial state sponsored activity seems purely to be targeted by Russian groups at Ukraine and vice versa ...
The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, advised the Senate Intelligence Committee this week that cyber attacks are the number one threat to national security. “Increasingly, state and non-state actors are gaining and using cyber expertise,” Clapper stated in his remarks to the Committee. “These capabilities put all sectors of our country at risk, from government and private networks to critical infrastructure ...
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up? I grew up in a small town of about 3,500 in rural North Carolina, nestled in the middle of the Uwharrie National Forest. Like many small towns, it fostered a close-knit community of people who supported and encouraged me to dream big ...
In a recent article published in écho, WSG Member Astrid Wagner, Partner, IP Communication & Technology at Arendt & Medernach, provides insight on the growing risk of damage to information systems in cyber attacks and what cyber protection measures should be taken ...
"The Package” The day begins like any other. Your client opens for business at 9:00 a.m. All employees are at their desks as customers begin calling, emailing, and walking in with various questions and needs. Except this time, when the employees attempt to access customer records from your client’s computer network, they immediately notice something is wrong. None of the customer files will open. The data is a garbled mess ...
When you hear the word cyberattack you think of attacks on banks, large box stores, or medical facilities. You should add the construction industry to that list because it is the third most common target for cyberattacks. These types of attacks are only increasing because bad actors have created processes that have streamlined how they attack businesses. They like to attack the construction industry because large sums of money are being transferred in and out of bank accounts via wire transfers ...
