Global Investment Law Watch – Page 15 – Exploring the legal and regulatory issues affecting the worldwide investment community.

Australia: Mandatory Climate Disclosure-October Update

Oct 11 2023

By: Jim Bulling and Ben Kneebush

As previously discussed in our post, the Australian Treasury has proposed to introduce mandatory climate-related financial disclosure standards in Australia. This will have a profound impact on the financial services industry, as financial services entities (including superannuation funds) will be captured by this disclosure framework. Under a phased implementation, reporting commences on 1 July 2024 for certain large entities.

Japan Will Create Special Business Zones for Asset Managers

Oct 04 2023

By: Yuki Sako

On 21 September 2023, the Prime Minister of Japan Kishida unveiled his new policy initiatives to support new entry of managers to Japan. In his speech at the Economic Club of New York, the Prime Minister announced his plan to (i) establish programs to support emerging managers, (ii) seek for legislative and regulatory changes necessary to allow outsourcing of back-office operations, and (iii) launch special business zones targeted for overseas asset managers in which all the regulatory processes are conducted in English and other business and living supports are provided.

Europe: UK’s FCA Challenges Firms to Improve Sanction Screening Processes

Sep 25 2023

By: Joseph Skilton, Michael Ruck, Rosie Naylor

The FCA has assessed and reported on the sanctions controls of over 90 financial service firms from a range of sectors including wealth management.

U.S. Congressional Hearing on Oversight of SEC’s Division of Investment Management

Sep 22 2023

By: Megan Clement

On 19 September, U.S. Congress’ Sub-Committee on Capital Markets held a hearing on oversight of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management during which Director William Birdthistle testified on various SEC proposed rules affecting investment funds and advisers.

Amendments to the Names Rule

Sep 21 2023

By: Abigail Hemnes, George Zornada, Franklin Na, Donela M. Qirjazi and Christine Mikhael

On 20 September 2023, the SEC adopted amendments to the Names Rule (35d-1) that will significantly expand the Names Rule’s applicability and will require all funds to consider whether changes are required to their names, 80% policies, disclosures, compliance tests, and reporting requirements.

Europe: Commission Launches SFDR Consultations

Sep 19 2023

By: Gayle Bowen and Áine Ní Riain

On 14 September, the European Commission launched both a public consultation and a targeted consultation on the implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

The Commission aims to understand how the SFDR has been implemented since its initial application in March 2021, as well as to gain an understanding of its potential deficiencies, and to explore potential improvements of the European framework for sustainable finance. These consultations form part of the Commission’s comprehensive assessment of the SFDR framework that was first announced by Commissioner Mairéad McGuinness in December 2022. While the public consultation is addressed to a wide range of individuals and organisations with a general knowledge of the SFDR, the targeted consultation is aimed at financial market participants (FMPs), investors, NGOs, public authorities, regulators, and others that are either subject to the provisions of the SFDR or otherwise have an in-depth knowledge or experience in the area of sustainable finance disclosures.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs – Coming to an Exchange Near You (Maybe)!

Aug 29 2023

By: Rich Kerr, Peter Shea, Andrew Hinkes, and Brian Doyle-Wenger

On 29 August 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Court) issued a decision siding with Grayscale Investments, LLC (Grayscale) and vacated the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rejection of the NYSE Arca’s (NYSE) request for approval of a listing rule that would permit it to list shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBT) for trading.

Brokers Beware – The Massachusetts Fiduciary Rule is Here to Stay

Aug 28 2023

On 25 August 2023, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed a Massachusetts Superior Court ruling and denied Robinhood Financial LLC’s attempt to block the implementation of Massachusetts’s unique fiduciary duty rule, adopted in February 2020 within weeks of the final adoption of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest, which imposes the duties of care and loyalty on broker-dealers (Fiduciary Rule). A summary of the Fiduciary Rule is available here. Robinhood’s action to overturn the Rule was brought after the Commonwealth of Massachusetts brought an administrative action accusing Robinhood of violating Fiduciary Rule with its video game-like design and marketing tactics.

People’s Republic of China: State Council Issued New Policy for Attracting Foreign Investment

Aug 28 2023

By: Chloe Duan and Grace Ye

On 13 August 2023, the central government of China issued Opinions of the State Council on Further Optimizing the Environment for Foreign Investment and Increasing Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment (New Policy). The New Policy covers broad range of aspects in relation to incentivizing foreign investors to make investments in China.

Australia: The Reserve Bank’s Central Bank Digital Currency Trial

Aug 28 2023

By Daniel Knight and Kithmin Ranamukhaarachchi

Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its report on the CBDC research project which it conducted with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (see here). The project entailed the trial of relevant use cases in a live transactional environment, making use of CBDC issued by the RBA that carries a real legal claim on the RBA. The trial, which took place between March and July this year, set out to understand the value of a CBDC to the Australia economy and payments systems.