English Supreme Court Brings an End to Dexia - Prato Swap Dispute

By Nikiforos Mathews and Raul Ricozzi

On January 18, the English Supreme Court refused to grant Comune di Prato, an Italian local authority with responsibility for the municipality of Prato in Tuscany, permission to appeal a 2017 decision of the Court of Appeals in favor of Dexia Creditop SpA, Prato's swap counterparty. This decision brings to an end a long-standing dispute that was one of many involving swaps entered into by Italian municipalities between 2001 and 2008, when the onset of the financial crisis triggered defaults and brought increased scrutiny to the derivatives market. Read more here.

Cause for Caution: Virtual Currency-Related Enforcement Actions

By Nikiforos Mathews and Jonas Robison

On January 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a joint statement warning about potential enforcement actions involving the offering of digital instruments. In conjunction with this warning, the CFTC brought a number of virtual currency enforcement actions in January, three of which are discussed here.