Member News

Steptoe | Revising the Horizontal and Vertical Merger Guidelines: A New Approach for Antitrust?

On January 18, 2022, Lina Khan, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Jonathan Kanter, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), held a joint press conference to announce that the agencies would be requesting comments on considerations for new horizontal and vertical merger guidelines. The comments will help inform the agencies in drafting new guidelines for vertical and horizontal mergers. Once the new guidelines are drafted, the...

Read more

Member News

Houthoff | Mitigating systemic cyber risk, the Dutch SPAC market and stress testing on climate risks

In this News Update, we discuss the ESRB's recommendation for establishing a pan-European systemic cyber incident coordination framework, the AFM's overview on the special purpose acquisition companies market in the Netherlands, including how it is supervised and the risks involved with investing in it and regulatory publications regarding stress testing on climate risks in the banking and insurance sector. We further highlight some other financial regulatory publications issued last month. ESRB | Recommendation for establishing a systemic cyber incident coordination...

Read more

Member News

GT Law | Fourth Update on Forced Labor for Imported Products

On Jan. 24, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a press release in conjunction with a Federal Register Notice regarding the public comment period for the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The UFLPA, signed into law Dec. 23, 2021, requires the federal Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to develop a strategy to prevent the importation of forced labor goods from China, and this comment period allows importers the opportunity to impact that strategy....

Read more

Member News

Stemming a Sovereign – Debt Crisis

Previously published in the Wall Street Journal | By William R. Rhodes and John Lipsky | Rising interest rates and slow economic growth will spur restructuring, but the procedures are inadequate for borrowers and lenders. Rising interest rates and slowing global economic growth likely will spur many low­ income countries to try to restructure their sovereign debt. This is troubling because recent restructuring cases have produced extended stalemates between borrowers and lenders rather than resolution. Existing international mechanisms for dealing with...

Read more

Member News

Vulcan Consulting | Macron calls for “Schengen Council”, mirroring Eurogroup

Speaking to EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers ahead of Wednesday’s informal Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) in the French city of Lille, President Macron called on Ministers to further develop the EU’s free movement Schengen area to ensure it remains fit for the challenges of today. A reform of the Schengen area has been the agenda of EU JHA Ministers for several years, with little to no progress achieved so far. Together with the EU’s Single Market and...

Read more

Member News

BBGFX | European Interest Rate and Oil Price Adjustment Continue Ahead of US/Canada Jobs Report

Highlights: The dollar is paring this week’s losses against most of the major currencies ahead of the US employment report, where all signs point to a weak report. The rate adjustment in Europe, which began before yesterday’s ECB meeting, was further encouraged by it.  The German two-year yield is rising for the ninth consecutive session, jumping more than 35 bp, and narrowing the fx-sensitive spread with the US. UK employees are seeing a large drop in real incomes due...

Read more

Chapter News

Countries in the IMF Financial Stability Spotlight in 2022

The Financial Sector Assessment Program is a key pillar of IMF surveillance. FSAPs can help make financial systems more resilient. In doing so, they consider country-specific features and tailor their analysis. The IMF assesses advanced economies itself and evaluates others jointly with the World Bank. Many countries entered the pandemic with strong bank capital and supervisory frameworks. Nonetheless, as economies recover from the pandemic, uncertainties remain regarding the underlying state of banks and other intermediaries. This year’s assessments address seven economies with...

Read more

Member News

Troutman Pepper | What We’re Seeing – 2022 Dealmaking Outlook

The Rearview Mirror Robust multiples and fear that the Biden administration might succeed in passing tax laws resulted in 2021 being one of the busiest years ever in the private equity space. Within the capital markets, while the year was strong, the speculative market cooled off tremendously in the 4th quarter, particularly in pharma and biotech. Headwinds appeared toward the end of the year as buyer-side representations and warranty insurance (RWI) coverage became tough to get, and very expensive when available,...

Read more

Member News

Wilson Sonsini | Privacy and Security Enforcement: State AGs Flex Their Muscles

Imagine you receive an inquiry from a state Attorney General (AG) about your privacy or security practices, and you aren't sure what to do next. Maybe it's because you have been concentrating on compliance efforts related to the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and other new state privacy laws coming into effect, and you haven't focused as extensively on the existing suite of state privacy or security laws, or on state AG enforcement of federal privacy laws, that may...

Read more

Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

OECD | Services trade liberalised in 2021, showing significant decrease in volume and effects of new measures

Global services trade regulations showed signs of liberalisation in 2021, slowing the steady build-up of trade barriers identified in previous years, according to a new OECD report. OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI): Policy trends up to 2022 shows that liberalisation outpaced new restrictions during the past year, as the erection of new barriers to services trade slowed across almost all major sectors covered. The average cumulative increase in barriers across sectors covered by the Index (STRI) was six times lower in 2021...

Read more