CLE

Financial services firms’ most valuable asset - its data - is under constant assault. Threats like malware, breaches, phishing, ransomware, and even disgruntled employees, need to be not only considered, but be top of mind.

The emergence of new technologies continues to restructure the current product manufacturing and design practices, bringing unique developments in the product liability litigation landscape.

While the essence of insurance is to hedge against financial losses caused by unexpected damages, there are instances when an insurance company fails to fulfill its obligations and duty of good faith. This instance, more commonly known as insurance bad faith, can happen in several ways, including an insurer’s misrepresentation of the contract or its failure to disclose specific policy scopes.

Patent portfolio Managers are increasingly being asked to be business partners – they no longer solely responsible for proper protection for revenue streams and the ability to protect company for litigation to retaliate, they are being asked to  advise the business units on the innovation landscape, which companies are research what tech, what countries are strongest in different domains. For this reason, more than ever integrated Patent portfolio management, and Collaboration between IP & R&D teams is more important than ever, with Patent portfolio managers leader the charger as strategic business partners and advisors.

The increasing use of biometrics across industries has provided security improvements and better access control in the way companies do their businesses today. With its various advantages, the market for biometric technologies has also grown rapidly, redefining the norm of human authentication and identification.

As part of its mandate to ensure that investors and regulators have the information they need regarding broker-dealer operations, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) continues to initiate significant efforts in improving the expungement framework. One of the top priorities in its anticipated regulatory notice is to revisit the proposed policy changes for the expungement processes, particularly concerning the rules for specialized arbitration panels. It underscores the need for arbitrators to look closely at any FINRA developments to develop an effective litigation strategy.

The first criminal indictment for no-poach agreements targeting Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA) LLC and SCAI Holdings, LLC along with several succeeding indictments have spiked attention and focus in antitrust law. The intensified enforcement actions, which are likely to continue, have put managers on guard. Because antitrust enforcement is a clear priority under the Biden administration, companies are advised to stay in the loop and focus their compliance efforts on educating employees as well as on the recent developments in this area of law to avoid potential risks.

The pandemic-related lockdowns have posed great difficulties and challenges to businesses across industries and have incited a significant drop in demand for products and services. While some were able to cope with the situation through government assistance programs, others have sought bankruptcy protection to save their assets or restructure their balance sheets.

The current financial legislation developments along with the evolving regulatory landscape have forced financial institutions to be one step ahead of the unique challenges that have emerged. Moreover, significant disruptions in the financial system stemming from the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2020 have led to stricter enforcements and other important reforms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed an amendment on the recordkeeping requirements for broker-dealers. The new rule asks for the retainment of electronic records in an exclusively non-rewritable and non-erasable format which is also known as write once, read many (WORM). However, the proposal would only apply prospectively, creating burdens for financial organizations in keeping WORM records that have been in existence at the time of the rule adoption.

Opportunities for financiers and consumers continue to flourish as litigation finance becomes more and more mainstream. However, despite the benefits that abound, challenges and drawbacks still emerge, including the conflicts of interest between clients and financiers, particularly in executing financing agreements. Thus, law firms and all businesses concerned are called to intensify their relationship with financiers and rethink ways to budget and monetize claims.

The evolving business environment and the economic fluctuations prompted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to affect the implementation and design of executive compensation. In its recent move to tighten regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 120 which underscores a new and more aggressive focus on executive compensation issues.

The rising technological advancements has led President Biden’s administration to continuously rethink and reshape its patent-related efforts. Among its initiatives is the review and revamp of the standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing regulation – a step that would amend the 2019 guidance, particularly on concerns related to the issuance of injunctive relief in SEP cases and the proposed recommendations for alleged misconduct.

Class actions remain at the forefront of in-house counsel’s concerns and top legal spend.