Institutional Investors – Page 3 – Global Investment Law Watch

Hong Kong Backs Industry-led Voluntary Code for ESG Ratings and Data Products Providers

Nov 02 2023

The Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong (SFC) has announced its support for the development of a voluntary code of conduct (VCoC) for ESG ratings and data products providers. The proposed VCoC, which will be open for ESG ratings and data products providers to sign up voluntarily, and will align with international best practices as recommended by the International Organization of Securities Commissions.

Australia: Mandatory Climate Reporting – The Draft Australian Standards are Here!

Oct 30 2023

By: Jim Bulling, Lisa Lautier and Ben Kneebush

On 23 October 2023, the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) released the long-awaited Exposure Draft outlining the Australian climate-related reporting standards.

Hong Kong Proposes Guidelines for Market Soundings

Oct 30 2023

By: Carolyn Sng and Tan Choo Lye

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong is consulting on new guidelines to regulate market soundings in advance of transactions such as private placements and block trades. Market soundings are the communication of non-public information (whether price-sensitive or not) with potential investors prior to the announcement of the transaction to gauge investor interest or assist in determining the specifications of the potential transaction. It can be an integral part of price discovery, but the process may be open to abuse if parties trade on the back of non-public information obtained.

Australia: ASIC Extends Transitional Relief For Foreign Financial Service Providers

Oct 19 2023

By: Rebecca Mangos and Lisa Lautier

The Australian Investments and Securities Commission (ASIC) announced that it has further extended relief for foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) when providing financial services to Australian wholesale clients.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs – Coming to an Exchange Near You (Maybe)!

Aug 29 2023

By: Rich Kerr, Peter Shea, Andrew Hinkes, and Brian Doyle-Wenger

On 29 August 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Court) issued a decision siding with Grayscale Investments, LLC (Grayscale) and vacated the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rejection of the NYSE Arca’s (NYSE) request for approval of a listing rule that would permit it to list shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBT) for trading.

Australia: The Reserve Bank’s Central Bank Digital Currency Trial

Aug 28 2023

By Daniel Knight and Kithmin Ranamukhaarachchi

Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its report on the CBDC research project which it conducted with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (see here). The project entailed the trial of relevant use cases in a live transactional environment, making use of CBDC issued by the RBA that carries a real legal claim on the RBA. The trial, which took place between March and July this year, set out to understand the value of a CBDC to the Australia economy and payments systems.

The SEC’s New Rules for Private Fund Advisers: A Dose of Transparency for the Private Markets

Aug 24 2023

By: Ken Holston, TJ Bright, Pablo Man, Matthew Mangan, Chris Phillips-Hart, Annabelle North

On August 23, 2023, the SEC adopted sweeping new rules that will impose substantial regulation on the management and operation of private funds by investment advisers. The rules appear to be somewhat less burdensome than the rules originally proposed in February 2022.

ICYMI: Integrity Council Launches Global Benchmark and Core Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Markets

Aug 18 2023

By: Cheryl Isaac and Christine Mikhael

In case you missed it: late last month, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (“ICVCM”) launched its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and Program-level Assessment Framework (Framework). With the publication of these new standards (developed with the input of hundreds of stakeholders in the voluntary carbon markets), we now have a set of fundamental principles for high-quality credits that create a verifiable climate impact, and a framework for determining whether carbon credit programs are eligible to label themselves as being in compliance with the CCPs.

EUROPE: ELTIFs to become standalone product in Ireland

Aug 17 2023

By Shane Geraghty and Gayle Bowen

On the 16 August 2023, following positive engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (the “CBI”), Irish Funds (the Irish funds industry representative body) announced that the CBI had indicated that it intends to develop a standalone European Long Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) chapter to be included in the CBI’s Alternative Investment Fund (‘AIF’) Rulebook. This will result in ELTIFs becoming a standalone regulated product in Ireland and facilitate the authorisation by the CBI of ELTIFs under Regulation (EU) 2015/760 and its upcoming amending regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/606 (the ‘ELTIF Regulations’).

Australia: Consultation Opens for Proposed Review of Managed Investment Schemes

Aug 14 2023

By Kane Barnett and Bernard Sia

The Australian Government has released the long awaited consultation paper on the review of the regulatory framework for managed investment schemes. The consultation paper comes on the back of the Government’s announcement of the review earlier in March this year (see our previous update). The current regulatory regime for managed investment schemes commenced in 1998.

Catagory:Institutional Investors