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A focus on behaviour may boost liquidity by improving clients’ understanding of how markets work

Susanne Schreiber Cyrill Diefenbacher On February 12 2017, the corporate tax reform III draft (CTR III draft) was rejected in a national referendum. As a result of that rejection, a new bill will have to be elaborated and agreed on within a short time frame by the Federal Council and Parliament. It is still expected that a new bill will introduce certain accompanying fiscal measures aimed at maintaining the international competitiveness of Switzerland, but the bill also needs to be in a form that attracts majority support and counters reservations of expected losses in tax revenues.

Neerg Energy’s dual issuance overcame several regulatory and commercial obstacles

The government's Brexit white paper has hinted that the UK could adopt a form of third country status for financial services. But it falls short of providing any additional detail on what the UK's relationship with the EU would look like.

Will China’s appetite for e-money overcome regulatory restrictions? China is poised to join the ranks of countries with their own sovereign-backed digital currency platforms, with this new medium expected to be leveraged to combat money laundering and tax transparency issues. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) successfully completed a test application of a blockchain-supported digital currency developed on transactions and settlements of bank acceptance bills in December. The central bank has also announced plans to launch a digital currency research institute to develop big data systems, cryptography and blockchain technology.

In Australia, ASHURST in Melbourne recruited M&A partners John Brewster and Shane Kyriakou from Clayton Utz and Herbert Smith Freehills respectively. K&L GATES strengthened its corporate and transactional team with the hire of Matthew Cridland from DLA Piper as a partner in its Sydney office. JONES DAY hired Andrew Smith in Brisbane – he joined as a partner in the firm's energy practice from Clayton Utz.

The attention following President Trump's February 3 executive order on financial regulation focused squarely on the clear threats to Dodd-Frank. Understandably so: Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal it, and spent much of his pre-signing briefing bemoaning its (debatable) negative impact on US lending.

EU investors won a lengthy and hard-fought right in December when officials gave shareholders a greater say on director pay. This comes amid a rising tide of shareholders campaigning for more power over the workings of the companies they invest in, and it seems nowhere in the world is safe. Authorities also want to discourage short-term investments, a goal that's seen the introduction of additional voting rights for long-term shareholders in certain countries including France. They now want shareholders to take the reins on challenging companies from the regulators.

Foreign investors under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) programme are believed to be deserting their hard-earned quotas for China's second Stock Connect with Hong Kong. But a combination of stricter forex controls, currency risks and quota allocation standards have pushed foreign investors to tap the two Stock Connects in the former British colony.

Silvia Canales The regulatory dynamics affecting companies that run their businesses in sectors under the inspection and surveillance of a regulatory and supervisory authority, require an understanding of a multiplicity of rules of different levels and sources. Those rules, promoted by the different regulators, are aimed at ensuring that the businesses are developed with a high level of public interest in mind.