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Latham & Watkins lawyers take a deep dive into US trends to unpick the patchwork efforts to regulate tokens, blockchains and cryptocurrencies and the businesses that deal in them

Like most financial engineering techniques, securitisation is not without risk. The complexity inherent in securitisation can impair investors' ability to monitor risk, and competitive securitisation markets are prone to sharp declines in underwriting standards. Furthermore, off-balance sheet accounting treatment for securitisations coupled with guarantees from the issuer can make it challenging to assess exposures, encouraging issuers to take on excessive credit risk. Even the most ardent advocates of securitisation would accept that securitisation played an important role in the US subprime mortgage crisis that led to the global financial crisis of 2008.

A draft law amending some articles of the Law on Investment 2014 and the Law on Enterprises 2014 (the Business Laws) has been in the making since mid-2018. The draft law is scheduled to be presented to the National Assembly in its eighth meeting session for review and feedback. Following that, it will be further updated for promulgation in the National Assembly's ninth meeting session which will be held in mid-2020.

The special act requiring entities that do business with the government to register in a special register of public sector partners (the register) – and to disclose their beneficial owners – has been in force in Slovakia for almost two and a half years. It is known informally as the anti-shell company act. This act was so innovative that it was only a matter of time before the sponsor of the act – the government of the Slovak Republic – would prepare a substantial amendment. Such an amendment was passed on June 27 2019.

Ever since the Republic of Nicaragua became a member of the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT), Nicaragua has experienced a gradual, yet impactful, overhaul in its provisions regarding prevention, detection and criminalisation of activities involving money laundering and financing of terrorism.

At a time when Macau is continuously striving to develop economic diversification and strengthen its role as a world leisure and tourism centre, the new draft Hotel Business Law, which is still under discussion in the Macau Legislative Council, is designated to liberalise and diversify the hospitality industry in various ways.

On June 27 2019, the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) issued the third version of the private equity principles (principles). The principles continue to reiterate that the essence of an effective private equity partnership is built on the alignment of interests, governance and transparency; however, this third version also addresses new issues.

On November 30 2018, the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds was amended in order to introduce new methods of verifying the identity of customers. The Act aims to prevent services provided by specified business operators under the Act, such as financial institutions, from being used for money laundering by criminal organisations.

Since Panama is a country with a territorial tax regime, it makes sense to have specific criteria to determine, on a case-by-case basis, if a person can be considered a Panamanian tax resident. A territorial tax regime implies that a taxpayer is only subject to the payment of taxes in Panama if its net monetary income has been obtained from commercial activity carried out within the Panamanian territory. Financial, legal and logistics services are among Panama's most robust economic drivers and these are attractive industries for foreign investment. This incoming foreign capital brings with it foreign individuals and corporate entities, which in turn leads to discussion on whether such foreign individuals and corporate entities should be considered Panamanian tax residents.