President Biden recently appointed Gary Gensler as Chair  of  the  SEC,  and  we  expect  that  the  newly  Democratic-controlled Senate will confirm his appointment. 

We previously issued a Client Memorandum concerning the impact of certain U.S. Government actions that will affect the markets for securities of certain Chinese issuers.   In this Update, we focus on recent developments concerning Executive Order 13959 addressing transactions in the securities of companies designated as Communist Chinese military companies.

Derivatives and Futures Law Committee Virtual Winter Meeting 2021

Concern and frustration with Chinese companies that do not comply with United States ("U.S.") regulatory standards has resulted in a variety of measures that will have material consequences for the U.S. trading markets for the securities of those issuers.  Among others, U.S. broker-dealers, Alternative Trading Systems ("ATS"), and securities exchanges will need to incorporate trading restrictions into their policies and procedures.

The most-read securities articles written by Law360 guest experts in 2020 centered around market volatility triggered by COVID-19; remote testimony considerations as courtroom proceedings moved online; and risk and compliance issues related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

On December 17, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a Digital Assets Primer to provide updated information to the public about emerging concepts in digital assets.