Regulation

This edition of the Quarterly State Compliance Review looks at some legislation of interest to corporate lawyers that went into effect from Oct.1, 2017 to Jan. 1, 2018. It also looks at recent decisions of interest from Delaware.

In the First Enforcement Action Initiated By Its New “Cyber Unit,” the SEC Announced It Has Secured a Court Order to Freeze the Assets of Individuals Behind a “Scam” Initial Coin Offering

In the first enforcement action initiated by its new “Cyber Unit,” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced it has secured a court order to freeze the assets of individuals behind a “scam” initial coin offering, or ICO. 

Many corporations around the globe are preparing for May 2018, when Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcement kicks in. The regulation encompasses a wide range of nuanced privacy requirements that can be challenging to operationalize. In particular, requirements around the rights of European data subjects — which include the right to be forgotten and rights to access, rectification and objection to processing — will be some of the most difficult to address.

Many corporations around the globe are preparing for May 2018, when Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcement kicks in. The regulation encompasses a wide range of nuanced privacy requirements that can be challenging to operationalize. In particular, requirements around the rights of European data subjects — which include the right to be forgotten and rights to access, rectification and objection to processing — will be some of the most difficult to address.

Difficulty Making Headway on Thorny Issues

As the fourth round of the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico drew to a close on Oct.17, the parties opted to push back the starting date of the fifth round until mid-November to allow the negotiators more time to work on the most controversial issues that remain to be addressed. This article explains the issues.

Biopharma companies and their insiders often possess material, nonpublic information. And since company equity usually makes up a large part of insiders' compensation, legal issues arise when they have access to such information and want to trade their equity.

As the adoption of cryptocurrencies spreads throughout the business and financial sectors, so too do the concerns that lack of regulation render the new-age currency susceptible to fraud, manipulation, and to being used as a vehicle for money laundering. Nevertheless, recent efforts by U.S. enforcement agencies to apply and enforce financial regulations mean greater scrutiny than ever before.

With expectations for an always-on law firm, significant challenges within the legal industry to maintain competitiveness and perform due practice for cybersecurity and other disaster scenarios come from both clients and regulatory bodies. A comprehensive approach with an end-to-end availability strategy is imperative to mitigate the threats of downtime. And yet, this is easier said than done.