Category Archives: Uncategorized

What Can We Learn from the UK and Dutch Experiences of SPACs?

By | December 5, 2024

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 »

Up in Smoke: Bankruptcy by Contract in the Legal Cannabis Industry

By | November 21, 2024

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 »

Mandatory Vs. Voluntary Disclosure in the Dynamic Market For Lemons

By | October 29, 2024

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 »

Navigating the Labyrinth of Credit Card Rewards: Unveiling the Hidden Costs of Complementarity Ignorance

By | October 3, 2024

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 »

 Zooming in on Virtual Legal Encounters

By | September 25, 2024

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 »

Is Crypto Really the Wild West? Yes – and in more ways than the obvious

By | September 3, 2024

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 »

New York Federal Reserve Officer Expresses His Views on Legal Risk Management

By | May 3, 2024

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 »

Crypto Custody

By | April 23, 2024

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 »

Unravelling the Frozen Assets Conundrum: Strategic Approaches to the Confiscation of Russian Assets in the EU

By | April 22, 2024

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 »