Securities

Expert Analysis

• Arizona May Have Nudged US Law Firms Toward Future IPOs

  

  No U.S. law firm has its shares listed on a public stock exchange unlike some lucrative overseas counterparts, but by allowing nonattorneys to become stakeholders in law firms, Arizona may have paved the way for this to change should other U.S. states — particularly New York — follow suit, says Marc Lieberman at Kutak Rock.

• How SEC Can Address 'Inherent Dilemma' Of Its Mandate

  

  Tom Selman at Scopus Financial suggests three ways the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might reconcile the rights of market participants with the regulator's responsibility to protect investors, on the heels of Commissioner Hester Peirce's recent remarks calling out this "inherent conflict."

• FTC Authority To Obtain Monetary Relief May Be Under Threat

  

  Although justices asked difficult questions of both sides at the recent U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in AMG v. Federal Trade Commission, they expressed significant skepticism of the FTC's implicit authority to seek restitution and disgorgement of the proceeds of fraud and other misconduct, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

• How Fund Managers Can Avoid Political Contribution Missteps

  

  In this brief video, Peter Chan and Karl Egbert at Baker McKenzie, and Suzan Rose at the Alternative Investment Management Association discuss fund manager compliance and monitoring issues related to state and federal rules on campaign contributions, particularly in light of the recent election cycle.

• Opinion

  6 Ways Financial Regulators Should Prioritize Climate Risk

  

  As the Biden administration prepares to take office, financial regulators must resolve to collaborate with each other and industries to manage the financial risks from climate change after years of obstruction by the Trump administration, says New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell.

• 4 Legal Industry Trends Litigation Financiers Are Watching

  

  Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.

• Tips For Forming A Real Estate Fund

  

  Multi-asset real estate funds may provide investors with opportunities to deploy capital during the pandemic-induced market downturn, but several structural questions should be considered before raising a fund, say Matt Ertman and Max Brunner at Allen Matkins.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Setting Well-Being Goals In 2021

  

  In the face of rising client demands due to the pandemic and the changing regulatory environment, and with remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, lawyers should invest in their well-being by establishing inspiring yet realistic goals for 2021 — one month at a time, says Krista Larson at Morgan Lewis.

• Lessons From 2020 Life Sciences Securities Class Actions

  

  Life sciences companies can draw important insights from the many dismissal opinions that federal courts issued during 2020 in securities actions arising from adverse U.S. Food and Drug Administration actions and clinical development setbacks, say Yvonne Puig and Peter Stokes at Norton Rose.

• Opinion

  Congress Must Fix The AML Whistleblower Law

  

  Fundamental differences between whistleblower provisions in the recently passed Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Dodd-Frank Act will render the new law ineffective until Congress amends it to fully conform to Dodd-Frank's highly successful reward provisions, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

• Keyword Searches To Improve Your Privilege Doc Review

  

  "Confidential" and other search terms commonly used to locate privileged documents during e-discovery are pretty ineffective, so practitioners should consider including specific types of keywords that are demonstrably better at targeting privilege, say Robert Keeling at Sidley and Rishi Chhatwal at AT&T.

• Cybersecurity Event-Driven Securities Litigation Has Arrived

  

  A recent shareholder lawsuit against First American Title Insurance Co. highlights that securities litigation prompted by regulatory actions may become increasingly prevalent in the cybersecurity context, say attorneys at Pasich.

• State AGs' 2020 Actions Offer Hints At 2021 Priorities

  

  A review of state attorney general actions in 2020 addressing consumer concerns including data privacy, product safety and marketplace competition can help companies prepare for the expected regulatory enforcement wave in 2021, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• ABA Approves Remote Practice, But Questions Remain

  

  Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

• How Biden Administration Can Crack Down On Ransomware

  

  By using the novel prosecutorial tactic known as access theory, President-elect Joe Biden can initiate a 2021 offensive to stop ransomware, says John Stark at John Reed Stark Consulting.