Capital Markets

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.

• 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.

• Opinion

  NY Credit Card Securitization Class Action Misuses Madden

  

  In Cohen v. Capital One Funding in New York federal court, the plaintiffs' argument — that special purpose trusts charged and collected interest rates in excess of New York's usury limits — relies on a flawed understanding of the Second Circuit's decision in Madden v. Midland Funding, which was itself erroneous and harmful to credit markets, says Walter Zalenski of Buckley.

• 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.

• What To Know About Pending Insider Trading Legislation

  

  Recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Insider Trading Prohibition Act will represent a potentially significant clarification of U.S. insider trading laws if it proceeds further. And it could be viewed as extending criminal liability to “reckless” conduct, say attorneys at Cleary.

• 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.

• Rethinking The Tech-First Approach To Law Firm Solutions

  

  When a lawyer complains about some workflow inefficiency they are having, the knee-jerk reaction of many firms is to look for a technology-based workaround. This overlooks the importance of human psychology and behavior, which may be the root of the problem, says Ryan Steadman of Zero.

• Whistleblowers Increasingly Shape SEC, CFTC Enforcement

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission each recently announced multimillion-dollar payouts to tipsters. The uptick in whistleblower tips and awards is affecting the agencies' enforcement priorities and penalties, and presenting new challenges for companies responding to investigations, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.