vLex European Union

The European Court of Justice's ruling in Paroxetine, handed down in record time just before Brexit, confirms the narrow interpretation of restrictions by object given in other recent cases. It also clarified certain issues relating to patent settlement agreements, whilst leaving a number of questions open to be decided in other cases. The Court of Justice's ruling confirms that the analysis of each patent settlement is highly fact-specific, depending notably on the individual context of the agreement. (See Article)

On January 28, 2020, the European Union (EU) published The NanoDefine Methods Manual, a collection of three Joint Research Center (JRC) reports developed within the NanoDefine project “Development of an integrated approach based on validated and standardized methods to support the implementation of the EC recommendation for a definition of nanomaterial.” (See Article)

The European Securities and Markets Authority has published a letter it addressed to the European Commission about the technical advice that the Commission requested from ESMA on the general equivalence criteria to guide future equivalence assessments for prospectuses prepared under the laws of third countries. The Prospectus Regulation allows national regulators of EU member states to approve a prospectus for an offer of securities to the EU public or for admission to trading on an EU exchange, prepared in accordance with the laws of a third country, provided the disclosure laws of the third country are equivalent to those of the Prospectus Regulation. The Commission is empowered to adopt legislation setting out general equivalence criteria and may also adopt a decision determining that the laws of a specific third country are equivalent. (See Article)

On February 15, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its ruling in the case of Aurelius Capital Master, Ltd. (“Aurelius”) against Windstream Services, LLC (“Windstream”). The origins of the case date back to April 2015, when one of Windstream’s affiliates spun off and, subsequently, leased back some of its real estate and other assets. Two years after that transaction, Aurelius, a fund that purchased a controlling position in Windstream’s 6.375% Senior Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”), challenged the transaction, alleging that the sale and leaseback was not permitted under the 2023 Notes indenture, and issued a notice of acceleration related to the 2023 (See Article)

The European Securities and Markets Authority has released a statement confirming that, during the Brexit implementation or transitional period, the reporting and notification requirements for U.K. firms under EU legislation, such as the Markets in Financial Instruments package and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, will continue to apply... (See Article)

PUBLICATIONS - APAC Financial Regulatory Focus: Expected Developments in the Year of the Rat - As we move into the year of the rat, our team across Asia Pacific consider some of the key areas of financial regulatory development that are expected this year in the region. This bulletin considers developments regarding (i) virtual banks, virtual assets and fintech; (ii) the asset management and funds industry; (iii) private banking; (iv) data/outsourcing/cloud storage; (v) corporate governance; and (vi) enforcement. (See Article)

The Council of the European Union has adopted a decision to conclude the EU-U.K. Withdrawal Agreement. The European Parliament consented to the Agreement on January 29, 2020. (See Article)

The European Commission is seeking feedback on a roadmap for its proposed changes to the Non-Financial Reporting Directive. The Directive specifies the non-financial information (e.g., regarding the environment, social issues and bribery and corruption) that large listed companies, banks and insurance companies must report on annually... (See Article)

Following the signature of the EU-U.K. Withdrawal Agreement on January 24, 2020, the European Central Bank has issued a statement expressing its regret that the U.K. is leaving the EU but stating its intention to ensure that Brexit causes the minimum disruption possible. In its statement, the ECB describes the preparations it has made for Brexit, which include... (See Article)

The European Commission (EC) will host a webinar on biobased products developed from fast pyrolysis oil, where four companies will present their work. A technology that can convert a wide range of biomass into clean and uniform bio-oil that is easy to transport and store, fast pyrolysis has mostly focused, thus far, on the use of pyrolysis oil for energy purposes. (See Article)

The Chair of the Markets Committee of the Bank for International Settlements has written to the Chair of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee providing a brief assessment of the effectiveness of the FX Global Code. The FX Global Code was first published by the GFXC in May 2017. It superseded and substantively updated existing guidance for participants in FX markets previously provided by the Non-Investment Products (NIPs) Code. The Code comprises a set of global principles of good practice for the FX market, covering a broad range of areas, including ethics, governance, execution, information-sharing, risk management, compliance, trade confirmation and settlement. The Global FX Committee committed to reviewing the code every three years. (See Article)

On February 10, 2020, the European Patent Office Opposition Division announced the results of an opposition filed against patent EP2800811, owned by the Regents of University of California, University of Vienna, and Emanuelle Charpentier (collectively, UC/UV/Charpentier), with claims directed to methods and compositions of Cas9 and a single-guide RNA. The decision, which comes after three days of oral proceedings on February 5-February 7, 2020, upheld the patentability of the claims, and required only minor amendments, and the cancellation of two dependent claims. While the European Patent Office (EPO) hasn't yet provided details of their decision, a non-binding opinion of the EP Opposition B (See Article)

ESMA’s consultation papers on MiFID non-equities SI and equities transparency regimes propose important changes. Key Points: ..ESMA’s recent consultation papers on the MiFID transparency regime raise queries and make observations in respect of a number of issues that firms grappled with in the run up to implementation. ..The proposals would simplify the regimes with the consequence of - primarily for equities - increasing the levels of pre-trade transparency provided by firms and trading venues across instrument classes. Please see full Alert below for more information. (See Article)

As we flagged up in our post in December, there was a general expectation that the ?amended EU Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be ?passed by the UK Parliament without amendment. While several amendments were ?attempted, none of them succeeded given the size of Johnson’s majority in the UK ?Parliament. (See Article)

The European Patent Office has denied two patent applications on the grounds that an AI system cannot be listed as the inventor. For the first time, the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a ruling on its approach to patent applications that designate artificial intelligence (AI) systems as inventors. (See Article)

The European Securities and Markets Authority has announced an EU-wide common supervisory action on liquidity risk management by managers of Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities will be undertaken in 2020... (See Article)

The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published its annual work program, setting out its priorities for 2020. IOSCO will continue to focus on the five areas identified by its Board in 2019 as well as one new issue. The areas of focus are... (See Article)

In November 2007, the European Investment Bank set the blueprint for sustainable investment with the issuance of the world’s first green bond. Since then, interest in green finance, and in particular, green bonds, has surpassed analyst projections. (See Article)

The European Commission has published its 2020 Work Programme, setting out the EU’s strategic priorities for the next 12 months. Key areas of focus include... (See Article)

International sport arbitration has special characteristics that make it similar to, yet also unlike, most commercial arbitration, and good advocacy must begin by taking this into account. The kills and techniques described in other chapters of this book are applicable in sport arbitration but the context typically is significantly different and requires additional knowledge. Often the arbitration involves a dispute between an international sports federation and an individual athlete. At the dawn of the modern sports law era, a scholar practitioner described such a case thus: Typically the exclusive jurisdiction of sporting authorities is set down in the by laws of federations which gra (See Article)

The last year of the 2010s has been prolific in terms of important new pieces of legislation and case law within the European Union, and in France and Germany in particular. Indeed, the European Parliament and the EU Council adopted in April 17, 2019, a controversial directive (Directive 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market) imposing on online content-sharing service providers—such as YouTube—a new liability system, based on popularity, time and turnover criteria... (See Article)

A Commission Implementing Regulation amending existing Implementing Technical Standards under the Capital Requirements Regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union... (See Article)

The European Data Protection Board has published draft guidelines for public comment on the data protection aspects of connected vehicles. Key takeaways: The Relevant Players- Non exhaustive list of stakeholders: vehicle manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and automotive suppliers, car repairers, automobile dealerships, vehicle service providers, rental and car sharing companies, fleet managers, motor insurance companies, entertainment providers, telecommunication operators, road infrastructure managers and public authorities as well as drivers, owners, renters and passengers. (See Article)

Nearly four years after the narrowly won referendum to leave the European Union, so-called “Brexit” was delivered on 31 January when the United Kingdom withdrew from EU membership. The two big questions are whether the two sides will be able to conclude even a bare bone free trade agreement within the allotted time to avoid imposition of tariffs and customs formalities, and how much the UK regulatory environment will change. (See Article)

In a letter to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on 20 January 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed the possibility that LIBOR may continue to be published for a short period after regulators have announced that it is no longer representative of an underlying market (a non-representative LIBOR). (See Article)

From 31 January 2020, the UK is no longer an EU Member State. This article outlines the main impacts of Brexit on intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, designs and models, copyrights, and sui generis database rights. It also identifies some uncertainties that will need to be cautiously monitored. (See Article)

Global organizations need a clear, legal means to share data across borders, whether to conduct day-to-day business, comply with government regulations, perform under a contract, respond to lawsuits, or simply communicate and share information with colleagues. (See Article)

Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the “Directive”) is intended to establish common minimum standards among European Union countries to protect whistleblowers. Please see full Publication below for more information. (See Article)

In November 2019, Euronext announced the launch of its Euronext Green Bonds Offering across its six regulated markets in Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo and Paris. The Green Bonds Offering was the first product launch under Euronext’s three-year strategic plan “Let’s Grow Together 2022”, which targets the building of leading pan-European market infrastructure, connecting local economies to global capital markets, with a focus on innovation and sustainability. (See Article)

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has for the first time ruled on the issue of settlement agreements involving a value transfer (monetary or otherwise) between the holder of a pharmaceutical patent and generic drug manufacturers (so-called ‘pay-for-delay’ agreements). (See Article)