The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a cash shell listed on a public market with the sole purpose of merging with an operating company, thereby bringing that operating company on to the public market. The SPAC, therefore, represents an alternative public listing route to a traditional initial public offering (IPO). The market for SPACs… Read More »
Is the crypto token sold as a security, the security itself? This question has arisen in both Congress and court cases and is ripe for discussion. “Separation theory” refers to the notion that the crypto token itself is separate from the security and until recently, this theory had not been adopted by any judge in… Read More »
Companies cannot waive their right to file for bankruptcy or contractually limit their rights once in bankruptcy. Without a collective, compulsory system like bankruptcy, creditors would race each other to the courthouse to collect on the remaining assets of a dying company. This process would hasten the company’s demise, waste value, harm some creditors, and… Read More »
In many asset, financial, and service markets, trade information is generally not available to interested buyers. For example, a number of securities traded in over-the-counter (OTC) markets lack transparency regarding both the frequency and price of past trades. Dealers are under no obligation to disclose this information about their products to interested buyers. The same… Read More »
In today’s digital age, credit cards have become indispensable tools for consumers worldwide. With a simple swipe or tap, we can access a world of convenience and rewards. Banks meticulously craft credit card rewards, advertising them as unique selling propositions for their credit card products. Indeed, these reward programs are commonly seen as a prominent… Read More »
As the world adapted to life in the shadow of Covid-19, the medium through which human beings communicated underwent a drastic change. Due to the social distancing measures adopted by governments, activities which typically took place face-to-face swiftly transitioned into the virtual world, as expressed by the increasing popularity of video conferencing tools, such as… Read More »
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are an ideological project, an investment asset and – according to their supporters – the basis for a new economy. Yet after the collapse in crypto prices in 2022, the spectacular fraud at crypto exchange FTX and the criminal fines against Binance, the debate around crypto has changed. Critics say… Read More »
On April 19, 2024, Richard Ostrander, the general counsel and head of the Legal and Compliance Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“FRBNY”) expressed his personal views on how the legal function can (or should) be integrated into a banking organization’s risk management framework.[1] This is a notable development because his views… Read More »
The Markets in Crypto-Asset Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 – ‘MiCA’) aims at furthering one of the main applications of the distributed ledger technology (DLT, which is the crypto asset ecosystem. MiCA’s approach consists of ensuring an adequate degree of investor protection, financial stability, market fairness, and integrity, in the aftermath of the Crypto Winter, where… Read More »
The United States, the European Union (EU), and other jurisdictions have imposed restrictive measures (sanctions) against Russia, including asset freezes, in response to the war of aggression against Ukraine. The latest available data shows that frozen assets belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals and entities amount to 21.5 billion Euros. Furthermore, the frozen assets of the… Read More »
