On 26 June 2020, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular publishing in draft new versions of the financial return forms for SFC licensed corporations (LCs). The SFC is planning to revise the existing forms in order to collect additional data from LCs to “enable the SFC to identify risks in a timely manner, take prompt supervisory action and protect investors”. It is expected that the forms will be gazetted without significant amendment ...
On 29 June 2020, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) jointly published an announcement on the launch of the cross-boundary wealth management connect pilot scheme (Wealth Management Connect) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) (the announcement is available here in English and here in Chinese) ...
On July 20, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule which, if finalized as a rule, would establish a new standard for when a national bank or Federal savings association (“bank”) is the “true lender” in a lending arrangement with a third party. Under the proposed rule, the bank is the lender in a loan transaction if either (1) the bank is the named lender in the loan documents at origination, or (2) the bank funds the loan at origination ...
On July 7, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule, the 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Rule (Small Dollar Rule), which rescinded the ability to repay and underwriting provisions. The final rule does not, however, rescind or alter the payment provisions in the Small Dollar Rule, and the CFPB indicated that it would be moving forward with those provisions ...
On July 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve published a number of changes to the Main Street Lending Program’s frequently asked questions, which FAQs were amended to provide further guidance on a number of issues. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston MSLP web page has links to clean and redline versions of the new FAQs: https://www.bostonfed.org/supervision-and-regulation/supervision/special-facilities/main-street-lending-program/information-for-lenders/docs ...
After filing Form CRS ahead of the June 30 2020 deadline, many investment advisers breathed a sigh of relief. However, advisers must remain vigilant as the June 30 deadline was the beginning of a new set of compliance efforts which firms must meet on a going-forward basis. In an effort to keep firms on track, we have summarized these ongoing obligations. 1) Initial Delivery ...
On June 23, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a Risk Alert focused on assisting private fund advisers in reviewing and enhancing their compliance programs, as well as providing information to investors regarding potential private fund adviser deficiencies ...
On 23 June 2020, the Chinese government announced the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access (2020 Edition) (2020 National Negative List) and the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access in Pilot Free Trade Zones (2020 Edition) (2020 FTZ Negative List). The 2020 National Negative List and the 2020 FTZ Negative List (2020 Negative Lists) will come into force on 23 July 2020 ...
Quick Overview The ARRC released an updated version of its recommended LIBOR fallback language for USD LIBOR syndicated loans on June 30, 2020. Among other updates, the updated fallback language recommends a “Hardwired Approach” to effect LIBOR replacement and removes the previous alternative recommendation for an “Amendment Approach ...
The State of Michigan has allocated $100 million of CARES Act funding to implement the Michigan Small Business Restart Program to provide grants to Michigan businesses directly impacted by COVID-19. The grants, up to $20,000 each, will be administered by 15 Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) covering all 83 counties in the state. Participating EDOs are listed below ...
In the VC community, especially for early stage investments, the valuation of a startup is strongly influenced by subjective factors, mainly how the investors view the business, market and management team of the startup. While there are no objective benchmarks for valuing early startups, the valuations of these companies are especially vulnerable to an uncertain economy. Valuation is a very important issue for startups ...
During these unprecedented times, developers all over the world are actively looking for solutions to deal with underperforming real estate. For developers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), real estate investment funds (otherwise known as REITs) may offer a solution to the problem. A REIT is a public or private investment fund which is established to invest a certain percentage (as stipulated by law) of its assets in real estate ...
In December 2019, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) issued a discussion paper on “Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy”1. The discussion paper highlights the risks arising from climate change and environmental degradation to the economy. It outlines guidance for financial institutions in identifying these risks and classifying economic activities that contribute positively to climate change objectives. According to BNM, 10.3% of the total assets of banks and 24 ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
What lies in the new frontier of investment regulation? On May 26, the New York Times reported that the US Justice Department had dropped investigations into three US senators’ stock trades conducted shortly after they had been privately briefed on the novel coronavirus in January. The politicians had dumped millions of dollars of shares in Exxon Mobil, tech giants and real estate companies, some of which later lost value when markets plunged ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
The new prior authorization regime for economic concentrations in Uruguay passed by Congress in 2019 is in force since April 2020 and therefore premerger control is since mandatory for a large set of transactions involving Uruguay. The Uruguayan Antitrust Commission has recently published the form for market participants to request antitrust authorization ...
On June 30th, the following Resolutions issued by the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (“CORFO”, for its Spanish acronym), were published in the Official Gazette: Resolution Nº36. By means of this Resolution certain coverage programs were temporarily modified within the State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe due to public calamity ...
Business in Bulgaria is experiencing a challenging legal environment in the context of rapidly changing emergency measures dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have prepared a summary of the key legal measures affecting business in the BULGARIA COVID-19 TRACKER. It will be updated daily, as necessary. Please check regularly for updates. If you have questions, please contact a member of our C19 Task Force ...
How successfully a business emerges following this pandemic will depend to a great extent on how quickly it identifies and implements long term necessary changes. Nobody is yet clear what the post-Covid-19 world will look like. It is possible that things revert back to the way they were quicker than anyone imagines. That said, it is very difficult to imagine no lasting or consequential changes to the way we work or live ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for over four months, and there is no sign that the number of new cases will decrease soon, though many states, companies and service providers are proceeding with the re-opening of business. The unexpected downturn in the economy caused by the pandemic has adversely affected VC financing opportunities for startups ...
Confinement and strict measures of social distancing are now part of the reality of millions of people around the world. Given the uncertainty presented by the world panorama in the economic, political, social and cultural fields, the authorities must go one step further to try to mitigate the severe consequences that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused globally ...
The Commission for the Financial Market (“CMF”), issued the General Rule No. 443, dated June 15, 2020 (the “NCG 443”), in order to establish the requirements to temporarily exempt from the presentation of certain documentation in the applications for registration of public offers of securities, and to permanently amend the General Rule No ...
In a significant move for mortgage servicers and mortgage loan borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFPB issued an interim final rule this week that will, among other things, enable servicers to offer a payment deferral option ...
