Today, the Fed announced a new procedural requirement for banks seeking to engage in crypto activities. Going forward, a bank must provide formal notice to its lead supervisory contact at the Fed “prior to engaging in any crypto-asset-related activity.” This notice requirement applies to all bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and state-chartered member banks.

Partner Jonathan Swil (London-Litigation), counsel Mehran Massih (Munich-Environmental), counsel Edward Taylor (Hong Kong-International Arbitration) and senior associate James Matthews (London-Litigation) co-authored an article for Law360 titled “ESG Ruling Sends Out Warning to UK Parent Companies.”

The House U.S. Congress has passed, as of today, the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA” or the “Act”), which is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden very soon. The IRA is one of the biggest investments in clean energy in history and a major step towards reducing the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions.

Partner Emmanuel Jacomy (Singapore-International Arbitration) and Counsel Edward M. Taylor (Hong Kong-International Arbitration) co-authored an article for the July edition of Asian Dispute Review titled “Emergency Arbitration in Mainland China: A New Dawn?”.

Since late February 2022, the United States, the European Union and its member states, the United Kingdom, and many others—including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Canada—have imposed sweeping new sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

As discussed in our alert earlier this week, the recently announced proposed reconciliation package—the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376—would impose a new 15% minimum tax on the adjusted financial statement income of “applicable corporations” (the “Book Minimum Tax”). If enacted, the Book Minimum Tax would take effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022, and apply to corporations (other than S corporations, RICs and REITs) that report average book profits over $1 billion over a three year testing period, determined on a group-wide basis.

Das Bundesfinanzministerium hat am 29.07.2022 den Referentenentwurf eines Jahressteuergesetzes 2022 zur gesetzlichen Umsetzung bestimmter Maßnahmen betreffend die Besteuerung von Registerfällen, die Bedarfsbewertung für Zwecke der Erbschaft-/Schenkungsteuer und Grunderwerbsteuer, die Digitalisierung des Steuerverfahrens und die Vereinbarungen im Koalitionsvertrag veröffentlicht. Der Gesetzentwurf sieht u.a. Anpassungen im Bewertungs-, Einkommensteuer-, Umsatzsteuer-, Umwandlungssteuer-, Grunderwerbsteuer- sowie Steueroasenabwehrgesetz vor.

Will 2022 be seen as the year in which the gates finally opened for damages claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)? If so, some might say it has been some time in the making. The CAT originally was best known as the forum for appealing decisions of the U.K.’s primary competition authority (the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)). However, changes brought about by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) enabled the CAT to hear a wider range of private damages claims.

On July 27, 2022, Senators Manchin and Schumer announced that they agreed to a proposed reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376. If enacted, the Bill would finance climate programs, expand the Affordable Care Act through 2025, and allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. While the majority of the tax-related changes in the Build Back Better Act, H.R. 5376, are not included in the current draft of the Bill, the Bill would meaningfully change the current taxation of corporations and carried interests.

The recently published Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSM Bill) is intended to recast the U.K.’s regulatory architecture post-Brexit. It was introduced to Parliament on 20 July 2022. The Bill implements the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework Review, which assessed whether the U.K. financial services regulatory framework is fit for purpose and able to support future growth, particularly in light of challenges such as Brexit and climate change, as well as several other initiatives such as the Wholesale Markets Review and stablecoin regulation.