Global Investment Law Watch – Page 21 – Exploring the legal and regulatory issues affecting the worldwide investment community.

People’s Republic of China: First QDLP Managed by WFOE PFM Launched in Shanghai

Mar 27 2023

In 2016, the China Securities Regulatory Commission launched the wholly foreign-owned enterprise private fund manager (WFOE PFM) program to encourage foreign fund managers to make investments in China with money raised in China. With the launching of the first Qualified Domestic Limited Partner (QDLP) fund managed by a WFOE PFM in March 2023, foreign fund managers now have the choice to decide where to invest globally with the funds raised in China.

People’s Republic of China: CSRC Expanding Registration Based IPO Regime

Mar 27 2023

By Chloe Duan and Grace Ye

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released a series of rules on reform of the regulatory regime for initial public offering (IPO) on Chinese stock exchanges (Reform). The Reform essentially expands the registration-based IPO regime (Registration Regime) to the main boards at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Europe: ELTIF 2.0 Has Been Published

Mar 21 2023

By Philipp Riedl

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.

United States: SEC Proposes Amendments to Broaden the Scope of Regulation S-P in Response to Digital Communications and Risks to Customer Personal Information

Mar 17 2023

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.

Singapore: Financial Institution Guidance to Enhance Vigilance Over Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing

Mar 16 2023

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.

People’s Republic of China: CSRC Released New Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Rules for Securities and Futures Institutions

Mar 13 2023

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.

Australia: Further Details of Proposed Review of Managed Investment Schemes Announced

Mar 10 2023

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.

Australia: Greenwashing Crackdown – ASIC Sues Superannuation Giant in Landmark Case

Mar 08 2023

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.

People’s Republic of China: Standard Contractual Clauses for Export of Personal Information Were Officially Released

Mar 07 2023

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.

APAC: Managed Accounts and Conflicts – An Overview

Mar 07 2023

By Scott Peterman

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.