Europe: ELTIF 2.0 Has Been Published
On 15 March 2023, amendments to the EU Regulation on the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. They will apply from 10 January 2024.
Read MoreUnited States: SEC Proposes Amendments to Broaden the Scope of Regulation S-P in Response to Digital Communications and Risks to Customer Personal Information
By: Trayne S. Wheeler, Brian Doyle-Wenger, and Gustavo De La Cruz Reynozo,
On March 15, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed amendments to Regulation S-P. The proposed amendments would require covered institutions to enhance protections of consumer information by requiring the adoption of written policies and procedures for an incident response program. The amendments would expand the scope of Regulation S-P by requiring covered institutions to provide timely notifications to individuals affected by data breaches and by extending the definition of the information covered by the regulation.
Read MoreSingapore: Financial Institution Guidance to Enhance Vigilance Over Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing
By Edward Bennett and Jordan Seah
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulatory authority, is, amongst many other things, responsible for the development of Singapore as an international financial hub.
As part of its constant drive to uphold and improve the integrity of the nation’s financial ecosystem, the MAS issued a circular in early March 2023 to remind financial institutions (FIs) on the importance of staying vigilant to money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk, including steps FIs may take to navigate ML/TF risk inherent in the wealth management sector, including private fund management.
Read MorePeople’s Republic of China: CSRC Released New Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Rules for Securities and Futures Institutions
By Chloe Duan and Grace Ye
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released the Administrative Measures for Network and Information Security in Securities and Futures Sectors (Measures) on 27 February 2023, which will become effective on 1 May 2023.
Read MoreAustralia: Further Details of Proposed Review of Managed Investment Schemes Announced
By Kane Barnett and Bernard Sia
The Australian Government has provided further details of the previously announced review of the managed investment schemes (MIS) regulatory framework (Review). The Review was announced in the 2022-23 Federal budget, and with $2.7 million committed, is intended to test the effectiveness of the current framework.
Read MoreAustralia: Greenwashing Crackdown – ASIC Sues Superannuation Giant in Landmark Case
By Matthew Watts, Rebecca Mangos and Bernard Sia
For the first time, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched court action against a major superannuation trustee for allegedly making misleading statements about the sustainable nature and characteristics of some of its investment products (known as “greenwashing”). ASIC claims the corporate pension fund misled consumers by investing in companies involved with the alcohol, gambling and fossil fuel sectors, contrary to the fund’s marketed sustainable and ethical credentials.
Read MorePeople’s Republic of China: Standard Contractual Clauses for Export of Personal Information Were Officially Released
By Grace Ye and Chloe Duan
China has promulgated a series of laws and regulations governing data protection, in particular data export in past years.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) law currently provides three routes for data export, i.e., (1) Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) assessment, (2) certification (by professional institutions), and (3) standard contractual clauses (SCC). Depending on the nature and volume of data to be exported and the identity of the exporter, the exporter must pick at least one route in order to export data.
Read MoreAPAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts – An Overview
Over the last 20 years, managed accounts have become increasingly popular. A managed account is a portfolio of securities managed by a single manager on behalf of a single investor. These special arrangements are especially popular among institutional investor seeking:
- More control over investment decisions (positive or negative control; veto rights);
- Access to institutional quality investment managers;
- Direct ownership of underlying assets;
- Better fee terms;
- Longer investment horizons; and
- Other considerations, such as Sharia compliance, special portfolio “tilts” such as ESG.
Europe: Gains From Crypto Trading Are Taxable, German Court Decides
In a recent decision of 14 February 2023, the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH), the highest German tax court, has ruled that privately held cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Monero (XMR) are – notwithstanding the fact that there are no physical goods in which a traditional form of legal ownership can be established – taxable assets for German income tax purposes. As a consequence, any gains from their acquisition (against fiat currency or otherwise) and sale (or exchange) within a one-year period will be taxable (at the owner’s personal tax rate); if, however, the relevant cryptocurrency has been held for more than one year, any gains will be tax exempt. For these purposes, the holder of the “private key” will be considered as legal owner of the cryptocurrency. The tax treatment of a realization of an increase in value of cryptocurrencies is therefore, in Germany, substantially the same as for fiat currency.
Europe: Is ELTIF 2.0 a More Viable Structure for Long-Term Investment in the EU?
Version 1 of the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) has not been a huge success story with only a few relatively small funds launched to date. However the development of a well-supported fund structure for retail investors to invest in illiquid long-term assets remains a key priority for EU legislators.
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