Asset Management

Expert Analysis

• Digital Asset Securities Statement May Be Missed Opportunity

  

  The long-anticipated joint statement issued earlier this month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reminds entities effecting transactions in digital asset securities of broker-dealer compliance requirements with regard to custody, but falls short of providing actionable guidance, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• The Potential Effects Of Calif. Contractor Reclassification Bill

  

  If enacted, California’s Assembly Bill 5 would codify the so-called ABC test for independent contractors established in the California Supreme Court's Dynamex decision. Notably, the bill goes beyond the scope of Dynamex and could have an extraordinary impact on the state's economy, say attorneys at Littler.

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• A Look At SEC's New Auditor Independence Rule

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent amendments to the rules governing auditor independence standards will narrow substantially the entities that an auditor and funds must evaluate for purposes of assessing the auditor's independence, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• How The SEC Could Expand Access To Private Offerings

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public comment on whether the definition of an "accredited investor" should be expanded to increase access to private securities placements. The move may be a response to growing complaints that small investors are being shut out of these higher-return offerings, says David Stockton of Kilpatrick Townsend.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Patchwork Of Broker Conduct Regs Complicates Compliance

  

  Until challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's newly adopted Regulation Best Interest play out in court, broker-dealers can reconcile conflicting state and federal standards of conduct by complying with the most restrictive applicable regulatory requirements, say Ghillaine Reid and Kurt Wolfe of Troutman Sanders.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• How Proposed Law Could Affect SEC Disqualification Waivers

  

  Legislation introduced in Congress this month would reshape the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s process for granting waivers to companies disqualified from certain financial activities by government enforcement actions, potentially injecting politics into the waiver process, and hamstringing authorities' ability to settle rather than litigate cases, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• When FCPA Violations Turn Into Private Securities Cases

  

  In recent cases like Doshi v. General Cable Corp., plaintiffs attorneys have tried to use company disclosures of government investigations or settlement agreements with regulators to craft private claims for corporate bribery. There are a few things companies might consider to limit their exposure to such claims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• Getting AI Tools Litigation-Ready Is Crucial For Finance Cos.

  

  Because artificial intelligence tools are becoming ubiquitous in the financial services ecosystem, financial companies will need to be ready for the unique discovery challenges that AI-related litigation will bring, and for plaintiffs attorneys' attempts to exploit such challenges for strategic advantages, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Preventing Exploitation Of Investors With Diminished Capacity

  

  Financial exploitation of senior citizens with mental or physical impairments is a growing problem. Finance professionals can ask a few simple questions to help determine whether an investor is able to protect his or her own interests, and to protect the firm from liability in case harm is alleged later, says Coren Stern of León Cosgrove.