Expert Analysis

• What NY Banks Should Know About Virtual Custody Updates

  

  Although recent guidance from New York financial regulators provides clarity to supervised banks seeking to engage in crypto-asset activities, financial institutions should still consider the many crypto-related risks, particularly for federally regulated entities, say David Portilla and Will Giles at Cravath.

• Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier

  

  For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.

• Parsing The New Enforcement Moment At SIFMA Conference

  

  The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's annual compliance and legal seminar highlighted the important progress that government agencies have made toward shifting the landscape of corporate cooperation, but it also underscored key challenges to harnessing industry professionals as partners in the enforcement process, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• Next Steps For Counsel Under Latest DOJ Disclosure Policy

  

  Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently announced policy incentivizing companies to voluntarily self-disclose misconduct to authorities, corporate and outside counsel will need to take proactive action while being careful to avoid overreporting, say Jeffrey Bornstein and Roxanne Vorkoeper at Boersch & Illovsky.

• Banks And Beneficial Ownership: Striking The Right Balance

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's plans for a beneficial ownership information database provide important insight into how the bureau intends to maintain the utility of the data it collects for financial institutions while considering the sensitive and confidential nature of that information, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• CFPB And FTC Take Their Place As Powerful Crypto Cops

  

  While they're not the primary federal regulators of digital asset activity, the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have begun expanding oversight in the area, so organizations should anticipate increased scrutiny from the pair over certain aspects of the crypto marketplace, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

• After SVB Collapse, A Lesson In Patents As Debt Collateral

  

  The cautionary tale of Silicon Valley Bank's recent failure highlights the importance of the proper securitization of intellectual property pledged as collateral, with five critical steps for perfecting security interests and protecting lenders' and creditors' rights, says Gregory Campanella at Ocean Tomo.

• Utilizing Advance Notice Bylaws In Activist Investor Defense

  

  As activist investor campaigns to elect directors at annual stockholder meetings have recently been increasing, advance notice bylaws have become an important tool that boards of directors can use to regulate stockholder nominations, say Michael Dell and Daniel Ketani at Kramer Levin.

• Issuer Risks To Address In Private Securities Transactions

  

  The recent down-cycle in tech valuations could lead to an uptick in state court private securities litigation, and even in states that enforce nonreliance agreements, parties that choose to trade without disclosing material information face real risks, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.

• SEC's Proposed Custody Rule Changes And What They Mean

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal to reclassify the Custody Rule as the Safeguarding Rule represents a potentially fundamental shift in how investment advisers select and transact in certain types of client assets, and there are key practical issues advisers and other market participants can consider ahead of its adoption, say attorneys at Katten.

• ABA Opinion Should Help Clarify Which Ethics Rules Apply

  

  A recent American Bar Association opinion provides key guidance on interpreting ABA Model Rule 8.5's notoriously complex choice-of-law analysis — and should help lawyers authorized to practice in multiple jurisdictions determine which jurisdiction's ethics rules govern their conduct, say attorneys at HWG.

• Dangers Of Privilege Waivers From External Auditor Requests

  

  Companies should be mindful during internal accounting investigations to ensure they are maximizing protection over their materials when working with external auditors, understanding that a waiver during the early stages may also affect the company's privilege protections in later criminal and civil litigations, say Gejaa Gobena and Derrick Petit at Hogan Lovells.

• SEC Mormon Church Action Is Form 13F Reporting Reminder

  

  In its first public enforcement action for a violation of Rule 13f-1 in nearly 15 years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's settlement with the Mormon Church demonstrates the agency's intent to penalize firms — and potentially individuals — that fail to comply with its public market disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• How Crypto-Friendly Bank Failures Will Change Tech Industry

  

  The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital are likely to result in significant shifts in how the global tech industry and its financial partners address legal, compliance, regulatory and business risks, says Erin Bryan at Dorsey & Whitney.

• Opinion

  Agencies Shouldn't Overstep Role In Climate Change Fight

  

  The fight against climate change is critical, but federal regulators that have overstepped the authority Congress gave them by proposing aggressive rules should instead exercise restraint and avoid so-called mission creep, says Albert Wynn at Greenberg Traurig.