JD Supra European Union › Latham & Watkins LLP

• JD Supra European Union

The amendments aim to increase transparency and efficiency in the arbitral proceedings. Key Points: ..To increase transparency, parties must disclose “the existence and identity” of third-party funders. ..To increase efficiency, arbitral tribunals may decide to conduct hearings remotely, irrespective of any objections from the parties. ..New...

• JD Supra European Union

Recent developments in the area of collective redress will redefine the litigation landscape in Germany and throughout Europe. Mass actions have been on the rise throughout Europe for some time. In 2020, the balance clearly tipped towards a more plaintiff-friendly environment.

• JD Supra European Union

The European Commission is seeking feedback on introducing regulations or guidance to ensure that EU competition law rules do not prevent self-employed workers from collectively bargaining. On 6 January 2020, the European Commission (EC) published an inception impact assessment that invites comments on the scope of application of EU competition law to collective bargaining agreements...

• JD Supra European Union

The French data protection authority’s decisions cite violations of the cookie rules under the ePrivacy Directive and provide important insights on explicit consent. Between December 2019 and May 2020, the French data protection authority (CNIL) conducted multiple online investigations by visiting google.fr and amazon.fr, before launching a full-scale investigation into Google LLC,...

• JD Supra European Union

As the Representative Action Directive enters into force, France will have to adopt a cross-border mechanism and expand the scope of entities qualified to bring consumer class actions. The European Parliament has endorsed a new directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers (the Representative Action Directive). The Representative Action

• JD Supra European Union

The European Commission has published draft updated standard contractual clauses in light of the Schrems II decision. On 12 November 2020, the European Commission (the Commission) published a draft implementing decision, annexing a draft set of updated standard contractual clauses (SCCs) for the transfer of personal data from the European Union to third countries (the New SCCs).

• JD Supra European Union

Ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period, on 31 December 2020, regulators in the UK and the EU have issued a number of updates: Share trading obligation - In relation to the potential conflict between the share trading obligation (STO) requirements that will exist under both UK and EU MiFIR once the transition period ends, both ESMA and the FCA have published...

• JD Supra European Union

Three delegated acts that supplement the EU Benchmarks Regulation will come into force on 23 December 2020. The long-awaited delegated acts (Delegated Acts) required by Regulation (EU) 2019/2089 (the Low Carbon Benchmarks Regulation), which amends the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR), have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).

• JD Supra European Union

On 12 November 2020, the European Commission (EC) launched consultations on its initial plans to revise its 2014 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy (EEAG) and the corresponding provisions of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The EC has published: - An Inception Impact Assessment outlining the EC’s initial ideas for revision - An...

• JD Supra European Union

The EDPB takes a strict approach in its recent guidance on international data transfers following Schrems II, posing a difficult challenge for businesses. On 10 November, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) released its much anticipated draft guidance on international personal data transfers (the Guidance) in the wake of the CJEU Schrems II decision.

• JD Supra European Union

As contactless transactions boom, EU regulators publish draft guidelines on the interplay between the GDPR and PSD2. Last year, more than half of all payments in the UK were made by card and contactless methods, while cash made up less than a quarter of all payments for the first time, according to the trade association UK Finance.

• JD Supra European Union

The Development - ..On 23 October 2020, the European Commission (EC) published its inception impact assessment of policy options for a potential revision of the EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and accompanying Vertical Guidelines for consultation. ..This inception impact assessment will be followed by a more detailed impact assessment that the EC will publish...

• JD Supra European Union

A new report explores the advantages, impacts, and approaches the Eurosystem is considering as it contemplates a digital currency. In October 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a Report on a Digital Euro (the Report). The Report sets out the main findings of a task force initiated in early 2020 to investigate the potential for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the euro area.

• JD Supra European Union

The fourth amendment extends and modifies the framework to support companies affected by COVID-19. On 13 October 2020, the European Commission (Commission) published a fourth amendment to the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak (Temporary Framework). The fourth amendment: ..Extends the availability of...

• JD Supra European Union

The EU has published a call for contributions to gather ideas and proposals on how EU competition rules (State aid, antitrust, and merger control) and sustainability policies can best work together. The aim is to gather the widest set of views possible to determine how the competition rules should be amended (if need be) to help facilitate the transition to a green economy. The...

• JD Supra European Union

The judgment provides useful jurisdictional clarifications for deals involving joint ventures (JVs) acting as an acquirer. The General Court (GC) confirms that when the true players behind the transaction are the parent companies, rather than the JV - because they did the deal valuation, negotiated the transaction structure, and determined the purchase price - the parent companies are the...

• JD Supra European Union

The Development - ..On 5 October 2020, the General Court of the European Union (GC) partially annulled decisions of the European Commission (EC) to order on-the-spot inspections (dawn raids) of a number of French retailers. ..The GC held that the EC did not have sufficiently strong evidence to launch dawn raids in respect of some of the suspected behaviour, namely in...

• JD Supra European Union

The proposed regulation will provide greater consumer and investor protection and lessen the risks of participating in digital finance. The EU Commission has published a proposal for a wide-ranging EU regulation covering cryptoassets and e-money tokens, both of which are currently largely unaddressed in EU financial services legislation.

• JD Supra European Union

EU/EFTA/ECN – On 23 March 2020, the competition authorities in the European Competition Network (the European Commission, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and the national competition authorities of the EU/EEA) issued a Joint Statement on the application of competition law during the COVID-19 crisis. The Joint Statement notes that the ECN “understands that this extraordinary situation may trigger

• JD Supra European Union

On 22 September 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a judgment confirming the prior ruling by the General Court that validated the European Commission’s (EC’s) decision that the UK government could lawfully grant State aid to support the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, England. This is the first time that the European Courts have...

• JD Supra European Union

ESMA advises the European Commission to consider some, but not all, of ESMA’s original proposals — and gives guidance on pre-hedging and market soundings along the way. Key Points: ..Pre-hedging / front running: ESMA proposes developing detailed guidance on acceptable practice, but identifies a number of factors such as trade by trade transparency that may be disruptive to...

• JD Supra European Union

In a July 2020 speech on climate action in the financial industry, Sarah Breeden, executive director for UK Deposit Takers Supervision, said the industry is “at the start of a critical decade for climate action where the decisions we take today will shape the future of our planet for decades to come”. Accordingly, UK regulators now expect the industry to take action. This briefing...

• JD Supra European Union

Despite practical challenges, earnouts are a tool that PE buyers should increasingly consider to reconcile differences and get deals done. The use of earnouts, though historically disliked by PE buyers, is increasing across Europe. Earnouts can provide a way to bridge valuation gaps, a common need given frothy valuations pre-COVID-19, and a more frequently encountered issue during H1 20

• JD Supra European Union

The bank-funding instrument is designed to unlock liquidity for SME loans. Key Points - ..The impact of COVID-19 on European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is expected to be severe1 — further underscoring the business case for a diversity of instruments designed to stimulate access to financing for SMEs. ..European Secured Notes (ESNs) are a bank-funding...

• JD Supra European Union

European PIPEs — which have experienced an uptick due to COVID-19-related market volatility — present unique structural, informational, and governance considerations for private equity investors. European private investments in public equity (PIPEs) have historically been rare, particularly compared with the US. However, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have sought...

• JD Supra European Union

The European Commission (EC) has announced that - from mid-2021 - it will start accepting referrals of transactions from EU national competition authorities (NCAs) that fall below the national merger control thresholds. To be referred to the EC, transactions must threaten to significantly affect competition within the territory of the Member State or States making the request. Please...

• JD Supra European Union

The Development - ..The European Commission (EC) has published a 232-page Staff Working Document that summarises the findings of its evaluation of the EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and accompanying Vertical Guidelines to confirm whether they are still fit for purpose. ..This Staff Working Document is an important milestone in the EC’s current review, closing

• JD Supra European Union

ESG and the reasonable investor test under MAR. Background - Historically, “profit maximisation” has been regarded as the sole (or predominant) objective for investors. Today, however, an ever-increasing proportion of investors have additional/alternative - sustainability (or ESG)-related - objectives

• JD Supra European Union

The proposal is part of an effort to aid economic recovery and enhance the capacity of banks to lend to corporates and SMEs. The European Commission’s proposal to amend the Securitisation Regulation1 and the Capital Requirements Regulation (the CRR)2 comprise part of its Capital Markets Recovery Package to help mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Although the EU...

• JD Supra European Union

Latham develops new resource to identify considerations for assessing SCC and BCR data transfers in Europe. Following the Schrems II decision in July 2020, organisations relying on the standard contractual clauses (SCCs) or Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) to transfer personal data outside of the European Economic Area are required to assess whether the law of the destination country ensures...