Asset Management

Expert Analysis

• Captive Insurance May Help In A Pandemic, But Caution Is Key

  

  Although captive insurance can help address some of the traditional coverage gaps exposed by the current COVID-19 crisis, three Tax Court cases from recent years illustrate the Internal Revenue Service's hostility toward the entities, says Patrick McCann at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

• SEC's Insider Info Case Shows Perils Of Portfolio Co. Trading

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently settled enforcement action against Ares Management demonstrates that private fund managers with potential insider info should systematically investigate trading approvals in situations that present a heightened risk of access to material nonpublic information, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• 'Settle And Sue' Malpractice Cases Have New Clarity In Calif.

  

  A California state appellate court's recent decision in Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen provides a road map for proving causation and damages in settle-and-sue legal malpractice cases — an important issue of long-standing confusion, says Steven Berenson at Klinedinst.

• SEC Staff Statement Clears Way For Closed-End Funds

  

  While not binding on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or any court, the SEC staff's recent reversal on control share statutes returns essential tools to closed-end fund boards in certain states and may be instrumental in revitalizing the closed-end fund industry for long-term investors and fund sponsors alike, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Time To Comply With SEC Regulation Best Interest, Form CRS

  

  The compliance date has arrived for two rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year — Regulation Best Interest and the Form CRS Relationship Summary — and there are many regulatory developments and legal questions that in-house counsel and compliance professionals should consider, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• Cert. Denial In Televisa May Embroil 3rd-Party Asset Managers

  

  A New York federal court's recent refusal to grant class certification to investors in Grupo Televisa in a FIFA scandal stock-drop case may lead to additional discovery burdens for asset managers performing third-party management services for pooled investment vehicles, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• A Legal Guide To What Happens Next In US Atty Berman Saga

  

  Although the next moves following the dramatic ouster of Geoffrey Berman as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the status of Audrey Strauss as acting U.S. attorney, are largely circumscribed by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, open questions remain, says Daniel Levy at McKool Smith.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• High Court's SEC Enforcement Ruling Has Tax Consequences

  

  In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, taxpayers whose pre-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act disgorgement deductions were rejected should consider contesting the Internal Revenue Service's determination, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.

• What Hong Kong Policy Shift Means For US Finance Cos.

  

  Now that the U.S. no longer considers Hong Kong autonomous from China, stateside financial services companies should monitor public company audit reporting, non-U.S. futures and swaps trading, and international capital reporting, say Matthew Kluchenek and Matthew Bisanz at Mayer Brown.

• Cybersecurity Steps For Law Firms Amid Heightened Risks

  

  With large swaths of the population indoors and primarily online, cybercriminals will be able to exploit law firms more easily now than ever before, but some basic precautions can help, says Joel Wallenstrom at Wickr.

• Madoff Recovery's Next Steps After Justices' Petition Pass

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review a Second Circuit decision allowing recovery of funds Bernie Madoff transferred outside the U.S. leaves open the question of whether the clawback initiative’s claims will survive given the strict pleading and proof standards that have evolved over the last 12 years of litigation, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.