Legal briefings from the world's leading law firms

This in-depth article describes the key aspects of the Act, the scope of the offences, the ambit of the Act's extra-territorial reach, recent related case law and penalties, current enforcement trends (including plea-bargaining), and how to devise and implement an effective compliance programme.

In January 2012, the FSA issued a discussion paper on the implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. This briefing from Bingham McCutchen sets out a summary of the principal issues affecting third country fund managers seeking to market funds within the European Union.

Bingham and Macquarie Group commissioned Debtwire to interview 100 distressed debt investors, including hedge fund managers, sell-side trading desks and other asset managers on their expectations for the North American distressed debt market in 2012.

Bingham's Global Infrastructure studies a diverse range of issues and trends in infrastructure investment and development around the world. This edition contains articles discussing infrastructure development in the US, the road forward for India and Nigeria and Islamic development culture.

On 4th January 2012, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a National Examination Risk Alert concerning investment advisers' use of social media. In this alert, Bingham McCutchen provide an overview of the new guidance.

China has launched a pilot program which allows Chinese yuan raised by Hong Kong subsidiaries of Chinese domestic fund management companies to be invested in China's domestic securities markets. Bingham McCutchen outline the program's expected effect and RQFII qualification requirements.

On 21 November 2011, the Obama administration announced that it would impose new sanctions against Iran, directed at its financial, petroleum and petrochemical sectors. In this briefing, Bingham McCutchen outline the sanctions' background and how they will affect each of the sectors in detail.

2011 ushered in a number of significant changes regarding how managers of hedge funds and other private funds are regulated. This briefing summarises the those key rules, exemptions, filings and requirements and outlines the best practices which should be considered in preparing for 2012.

The path to a new FINRA rule governing communications with the public moved closer to completion on 31 Oct 2011, when FINRA filed with the SEC a response to public comments. This briefing outline FINRA's revisions to the proposed rule and the next steps the fledging law needs to take.

The Volcker Rule has far-reaching implications for the US financial system. It prohibits any banking entity from proprietary trading or having certain relationships with hedge funds and other private funds. This guide explains in detail how the proposals impact upon financial institutions.