Cannabis Law Now Podcast: Cannabis Investing in the U.S. - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Business Better Podcast Episode: Investing in Consumer Brands – A Conversation with SBJ Capital
Podcast: ESMA Report: Undue Pressure on Companies
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 330 Robin Bew and Henry Stoever of the NACD
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 328, Chris McNett on State Street Global Advisors' ESG Institutional Investor Survey
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently published its Policy Statement on Payment Optionality for Investment Research (PS24/9), setting out its final rules on the new option to pay for investment research and...more
In a challenging fundraising environment, private wealth investors are filling the gap, aided by investment platforms, intermediaries, and evolving legal structures. In recent years, inflationary pressures, interest rate...more
The start of 2024 heralds the rollout of a new suite of rules for securitisation in the UK, which once adopted, will replace the existing on-shored UK Securitisation Regulation (the “UKSR”). Originally published in...more
Amendments to the UK real estate investment trust (REIT) rules were introduced in the new Finance Bill 2023-2024, which is expected to become law in the summer of 2024. Published on 29 November 2023, the amendments reaffirm a...more
Following a series of accounting and audit scandals in recent years and what has been described as a “crisis of trust”, the UK Government, regulatory bodies, and institutional investor groups have set out to reform the UK’s...more
Introduction - On July 24, 2023, the High Court dismissed ClientEarth's application for permission to bring a shareholder derivative claim against Shell's directors (the "Board") for breach of directors' duties under the...more
The Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) has published Consultation Paper 15/23 – Securitisation: General requirements (“CP 15/23”) setting out its proposed rules to replace retained EU law requirements on...more
The Government has announced a further series of proposed changes to the UK REIT rules as part of the wider review of the UK funds regime and published draft legislation. This third set of changes are earmarked for...more
On 11 July 2023, HM Treasury published an updated, near-final draft of the regulations (the Securitisation Regulations) that will, when adopted, replace the retained EU Securitisation Regulation that has been in force in the...more
ESG or Environmental, Social, and Governance aspects of the workplace have become an increasingly hot topic over the last few years in many UK workplaces. Driven by a combination of a tight labour market, heightened...more
Two recent speeches delivered by the UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), shed light on how the FCA wants to be perceived when it comes to the regulation of fintech and digital assets...more
2022 saw the return of physical meetings for a significant majority of AGMs, with companies viewing hybrid meetings as more complex and costly. Institutional investors continue to support well organised hybrid meetings, but...more
In the inaugural edition of Debt Download, we covered recent trends in the U.S. debt finance markets. This month, we take a look at what’s happening in the U.K. and Europe....more
HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are consulting on proposed changes to the U.K.’s existing approach to sovereign immunity from U.K. direct taxation. The proposed changes would be a major step change in the...more
Ruling Follows Similar Decision on Underrepresented Minority Directors in April 2022 - A California court has held that California Senate Bill 826, which required that “publicly held” corporations that listed a California...more
The fund and asset management industry has been more focused on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues in the last two years than it has been in, perhaps, the last decade....more
Takeaways - The FCA is poised to adopt rules requiring companies with equity shares listed on the premium and standard segments of the U.K. main market to report annually on their achievement of gender and ethnic diversity...more
The regulator is inviting views on potential criteria for classifying and labelling investment products, and on further entity- and product-level sustainability-related disclosures. On 3 November 2021, the FCA published...more
As part of an initiative to promote UK funds the government is proposing a beneficial new tax regime for asset holding companies (AHC) in investment fund structures. This is intended to make the UK a more competitive location...more
As part of an initiative to promote UK funds the government is consulting on changes to the UK REIT regime. These changes are intended to make the UK REIT regime more attractive and simpler....more
Many commentators predicted a boom in M&A and initial public offerings (IPOs) in the U.K. in 2020, a year that proved making predictions is a risky business. As we enter 2021, however, there are good reasons to believe that...more
The list of events for which 2020 will be remembered continues to grow and we are only two thirds of the way through the year. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have come into focus in the financial community,...more
Interest in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies of companies and their impact on the wider community has continued to increase amongst institutional investors, retail shareholders and the media during the...more
The UK offers a range of markets that companies based in the People's Republic of China (PRC) might consider as venues for a primary or secondary listing of their equity securities. This alert provides an overview of the...more
In this episode recorded in late February, Akin Gump financial regulatory partners Helen Marshall and Ezra Zahabi, using Akin Gump’s recently published In Principle annual report as a springboard, discuss what U.K. authorized...more