As we kick off our second decade of updates on the state of play in international anti-corruption enforcement, the stakes for multinational companies have never been higher.
Client Alert | January 4, 2016
On November 24, 2015, the Government of India ("Government") effected several important amendments to India's consolidated foreign direct investment policy ("FDI Policy").
Client Alert | December 8, 2015
(Updated January 5, 2016)On December 1, 2015, New York Governor Andrew M.
Client Alert | December 7, 2015
UK SFO enters into its first DPA and unveils its first enforcement of the corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery In a judgment of November 30, 2015 in Serious Fraud Office v Standard Bank Plc: Deferred Prosecution Agreement (Case No: U20150854), the Crown Court has approved the United Kingdom's first deferred prosecution agreement (the "Standard Bank DPA") under the regime for DPAs brought into effect in the UK by section 45 and Schedule 17 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
Client Alert | December 3, 2015
At an October 30, 2015 open meeting, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) approved a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would impose Total Loss Absorbing Capacity (TLAC) and long-term debt (LTD) requirements for globally significant banks (G-SIBs). In so doing, it anticipated by ten days the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which finalized its template for TLAC on November 9. Although the Proposed Rule is consistent with important aspects of the FSB's TLAC requirements, its LTD requirement is more onerous. In addition, the Proposed Rule would impose new "clean holding company" requirements on institutions subject to the rule, which would limit those companies' business activities in a wholly new manner.From the Proposed Rule, tw
Client Alert | November 18, 2015
This webcast covers the basics of blockchain technology, including the evolution of its uses from digital currencies, such as bitcoin, to other areas.
Webcasts | November 17, 2015
Myanmar went to the polls on November 8, 2015 (the "2015 Elections") to elect members of the upper and lower houses of the national legislature and 14 state and regional legislatures. The 2015 Elections witnessed participation by the National League for Democracy (the "NLD") (headed by Aung San Suu Kyi), which had boycotted the 2010 general elections. Based on the preliminary results released through November 15, 2015, the NLD has secured an overwhelming majority of the seats of the national legislature (referred to as the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw). The members of the newly elected national legislature will elect the next President of Myanmar to lead the new Myanmar Government from April 1, 2016. Given the majority secured by the NLD, the next Pre
Client Alert | November 17, 2015
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the "Act"), which sweeps aside the rules that have governed the tax audits of partnerships since 1982. Although the new rules generally will not be effective until 2018, because the changes to partnership audits and attendant tax liability are so dramatic, and because partnerships generally may elect to apply the rules before 2018, it is important to ensure that both existing and future partnership agreements protect the interests of the partners and address the various alternatives available under the new rules. In addition, disclosure documents and regulatory filings (including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission) will need to be modified to reflect the new law. F
Client Alert | November 12, 2015
This client alert is supplemental to our client alert dated March 11, 2015. In the March alert, we had advised that the Indian government had increased the ceiling on foreign investment in an Indian insurance company to 49% of its total outstanding share capital.
Client Alert | October 22, 2015
On October 8, 2015, the presidential campaign for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the candidate's prescriptions for further regulation of the U.S.
Client Alert | October 22, 2015
The Indian MarketThe Indian economy has emerged as an attractive investment destination despite the recent economic upheavals in other emerging markets.
Client Alert | October 21, 2015
October 18, 2015 marked Adoption Day, the latest milestone in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") between the E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the Islamic Republic of Iran to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program.
Client Alert | October 19, 2015
On October 7, 2015, the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it is "launch[ing] a rulemaking process" that is intended to impede the use of "pre-dispute arbitration agreements for consumer financial products and services." The proposal currently under consideration by the Bureau would (1) "prohibit companies from blocking group lawsuits through the use of arbitration clauses in their contracts;" and (2) "require companies to send to the Bureau all filings made by or against them in consumer financial arbitration disputes" and any resulting decisions, "which might be made public."
Client Alert | October 13, 2015
The UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 ("the CRA") came into force on 1 October 2015, fundamentally transforming the cartel claims environment in the UK, and introducing class actions (as US litigators might understand the term) for the first time to English law.Schedule 8 of the CRA creates a new collective proceedings regime for damages claims before the Competition Appeals Tribunal ("the CAT").
Client Alert | October 2, 2015
On September 24, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had voted to propose amendments to rules governing its administrative proceedings.
Client Alert | September 28, 2015
Today, the agreement between the E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) with the Islamic Republic of Iran to ease sanctions on the country in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA"), took a major political step closer to being realized and implemented in the United States.
Client Alert | September 2, 2015
On September 1, 2015, the Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") published a long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("NPRM") with new rules that would require registered investment advisers to implement Anti-Money Laundering ("AML") programs and to file Suspicious Activity Reports ("SARs") under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA").
Client Alert | September 1, 2015
On August 6, 2015, the European Commission issued a Delegated Regulation (the "Delegated Regulation") that requires all financial counterparties ("FCs") and non-financial counterparties ("NFCs") that exceed specified thresholds to clear certain interest rate swaps denominated in euro ("EUR"), pounds sterling ("GBP"), Japanese yen ("JPY") or US dollars ("USD") through central clearing counterparties ("CCPs"). Further, the Delegated Regulation addresses the so-called "frontloading" requirement that would require over-the-counter ("OTC") derivatives contracts subject to the mandatory clearing obligation and executed between the first authorization of a CCP under European rules (whic
Client Alert | August 19, 2015
On July 22, 2015, the United States Treasury Department (the "Treasury Department") and the United States Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") released proposed regulations under Section 707(a)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), regarding the treatment of certain issuances of partnership interests in exchange for services rendered. The IRS also announced changes to prior Revenue Procedures effective upon finalization of the proposed regulations, as well as its view of the current non-applicability of such Revenue Procedures to certain fee waiver arrangements.
Article | July 28, 2015
Midway through the 2015 calendar year, the SEC Enforcement program has often been finding itself garnering more public attention for the manner in which it sources, litigates, and resolves cases than for the cases themselves.
Client Alert | July 13, 2015
Washington, D.C. partner F. Joseph Warin and associates Oleh Vretsona and Lora MacDonald are the authors of "A Practical Guide to the Use of the Commissioned Public Report as an Effective Crisis-Management Tool" [PDF] published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, Volume 29, Issue 1.
Article | June 12, 2015
Munich partner Hans Martin Schmid and associate Eike Grunert are authors of "The OECD common reporting standard (CRS): FATCA is going global" [PDF] published in the Business Law Magazine.
Article | June 11, 2015
Gibson Dunn partners Judith Alison Lee, Arthur Long, and Alexander Southwell, of counsel Jeffrey Steiner, and associates Stephenie Gosnell Handler and Zachary Wood are authors of the attached article recently published by Law360. They discuss the hurdles and rigorous requirements created by the New York Department of Financial Services' recently released "BitLicense" regulation, the final version of its framework for regulating digital currency firms. BitLicense Regulations Create Groundbreaking Hurdles (click on link)Judith A.
Article | June 4, 2015
On May 20, 2015, the SEC proposed a set of new rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Advisers Act"), that will modify and, in most cases, increase an investment adviser's reporting obligations under Form ADV. The SEC has also proposed several modifications to an investment adviser's record-keeping obligations relating to performance advertising under Rule 204-2. A short summary of proposed rule changes follows. 1. Proposed Amendments to Form ADV.The SEC is proposing to modify Form ADV in three significant ways. First, the proposed rules would codify and formally incorporate into Form ADV the no-action relief pr
Client Alert | May 27, 2015
The last several months have demonstrated the continued growth, volatility and regulation of the virtual currency industry. A number of Wall Street institutions and established technology companies have made sizeable investments in virtual currencies and the underlying blockchain technology, and investors aren't the only ones who continue to be interested in the development of virtual currencies.
Client Alert | May 27, 2015
The Government of India ("Government") has published the updated foreign direct investment policy ("FDI Policy") for the year 2015.
Client Alert | May 15, 2015
On March 25, 2015, in a unanimous vote, the U.S.
Client Alert | April 22, 2015
Since January 2012, the U.S.
Client Alert | April 22, 2015
One of the lesser noticed changes in the new Basel III capital regime for U.S. banks is the super-capital charge for so-called "High Volatility Commercial Real Estate" (HVCRE) loans. Effective January 1, 2015, HVCRE loans carry a capital charge that is 50 percent higher than the capital charge for other commercial real estate loans. Because the final Basel III capital rule and accompanying preamble did not contain much gloss on how to apply the HVCRE test to particular transaction structures, the U.S.
Client Alert | April 17, 2015
Implementation of the derivatives market reforms contained in Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) may fairly be characterized as a herculean effort. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has finalized dozens of new rules to implement Title VII's provisions governing "swaps." Although Title VII requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) to implement similar provisions for "security-based swaps" (SBSs), the SEC's rulemaking process has lagged the CFTC's.Earlier this year, the SEC finalized two of its required rules: one (Final Regulation SBSR) governs the reporting of SBS information to registered security-based swap data repositories (SDRs) and r
Client Alert | April 8, 2015
The new UAE Commercial Companies Law ("New CCL") will come into effect in the next 3 months. Here is a list of 10 things you need to know about the New CCL.
Client Alert | April 7, 2015
Washington, D.C. partner Judith Lee, New York partner Arthur S. Long, Washington D.C. counsel Jeffrey L. Steiner, associate Stephenie Gosnell Handler and Palo Alto associate Zachary Wood are the authors of "Blockchain Technology and Legal Implications of ‘Crypto 2.0’" [PDF] published in the March 31, 2015 issue of BNA’s Banking Report.
Article | March 31, 2015
New York partners Arthur S. Long, Lori Zyskowski and former partner Mark Shelton are authors of "New Corporate Governance Rules for Foreign Banks" from the 2015 e-book Risk, Governance & Compliance for Financial Institutions published in 2015 by Financier Worldwide.
Article | March 30, 2015
The following Gibson Dunn alert, which originally was distributed on March 9, has been updated to reflect recent developments announced by the Indian Government.The Government of India had recently promulgated the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, dated December 26, 2014 ("Ordinance"), which substantially amended the existing Insurance Act, 1938, including in relation to foreign investment in Indian insurance companies.
Client Alert | March 11, 2015
The following Gibson Dunn alert, which originally was distributed on March 9, has been updated to reflect recent developments announced by the Indian Government.The Government of India had recently promulgated the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, dated December 26, 2014 ("Ordinance"), which substantially amended the existing Insurance Act, 1938, including in relation to foreign investment in Indian insurance companies.
Client Alert | March 11, 2015
Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin have experienced rapid evolution in recent months. Notwithstanding considerable challenges such as price volatility and association with illicit activities, interest in virtual currencies and their underlying technology has been steadily increasing.
Webcasts | March 10, 2015
Munich partner Martin Schmid and associate Eike Grunert are authors of “Challenges and Compliance Risks of the new OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for Financial Institutions” [PDF] published in the April 2015 issue of the German publication Compliance Berater.
Client Alert | March 3, 2015
Earlier this month, Venezuela announced a new free-floating exchange rate mechanism, which had the effect of massively devaluing Venezuela's bolivar currency.
Client Alert | February 25, 2015
As previously reported in our January 20, 2015 Client Alert, "U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Commerce Issue Rules Implementing Changes in U.S.
Client Alert | February 25, 2015
Gibson Dunn partner Jose W. Fernandez and associate Eric B.
Client Alert | February 19, 2015
Concerns about cybersecurity and data privacy have exploded into the public consciousness in recent years, accompanied by a host of new and rapidly developing legal issues.
Client Alert | February 17, 2015
On February 4, 2015, the New York Department of Financial Services released revisions to its groundbreaking virtual currency regulatory framework commonly referred to as the "BitLicense."
Client Alert | February 11, 2015
Washington, D.C. partner Judith Lee, New York partner Arthur S. Long, Los Angeles partner Marcellus McRae, Washington D.C. counsel Jeffrey L. Steiner and associate Stephenie Gosnell Handler are the authors of "Bitcoin Basics: a Primer on Virtual Currencies" [PDF] published in the January issue of the Business Law International.
Article | January 30, 2015
In light of the increased interest that Myanmar is currently generating among international investors, we have prepared this brief overview of applicable international sanctions measures, with a focus on the United States. As further discussed below, the U.S.
Client Alert | January 26, 2015
On January 19, 2015, the PRC Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") published the draft Foreign Investment Law (the "Draft Law") for public comments, which is intended to replace the existing foreign investment related laws and regulations (the "Existing Laws") and introduce a more market-based regulatory regime for foreign investments into China.Current RegimeChina currently has three major pieces of legislation governing foreign investments: the Sino-Foreign Joint Venture Law passed in 1979 (the "Equity JV Law"), the Foreign Enterprise Law passed in 1986 (the "WFOE Law") and the Sino-Foreign Co-operative Joint Venture Law passed in 1988 (the "Co-operative JV Law"). A particular form of entity is allowed to be set up in Chin
Client Alert | January 23, 2015
On January 15, 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the United States Department of Commerce (Commerce Department) released regulatory amendments implementing historic changes to the Cuba sanctions regime announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014. The amendments incorporate the diplomatic and economic changes to U.S.
Client Alert | January 20, 2015
2014 was marked by numerous noteworthy developments. The crisis in Ukraine and the international community's efforts to respond have figured prominently in, if not dominated, sanctions discourse.
Client Alert | January 15, 2015
The close of 2014 saw the SEC's Division of Enforcement take a victory lap. Following the release of the statistics for the fiscal year ended September 30, Division Director Andrew Ceresney touted a few records -- the largest number of enforcement actions brought in a single year (755); the largest total value of monetary sanctions awarded to the agency (over $4 billion); the largest number of cases taken to trial in recent history (30).
Client Alert | January 12, 2015
The pace of regulation and enforcement actions relating to virtual currencies has continued to pick up during the fall of 2014.
Client Alert | January 5, 2015
On December 18, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 ("Ukraine Freedom Support Act"), which provides him with the authority to impose additional economic sanctions on foreign persons conducting particular transactions in certain Russian economic sectors, notably the energy and defense sectors. The law, which originated as S.2828 in the United States Senate and H.R. 5859 in the House of Representatives and passed both with unanimous consent, further increases the economic pressure on Russia followings its annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its continued support of separatist activities in eastern Ukraine. The law provides the President with new powers, though generally does not require that he impose new sanctions.
Client Alert | December 22, 2014