Clifford Chance has collaborated with the World Economic Forum on the publication, Delivering a Trade and Climate Agenda. The report finds that while businesses are actively pursuing emissions reductions, action on trade policy can help accelerate this shift. The report outlines eight ways in which trade policy can help businesses accelerate the transition to net-zero.

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The recently proposed EU regulation on artificial intelligence (AI Act) will impose new regulatory requirements on firms across the financial sector when they use, provide, import or distribute computer software for biometric identification, human capital management or credit assessment of individuals. It will also prohibit the deployment of software exploiting subliminal techniques or vulnerabilities due to age or disability and impose transparency obligations on providers and users of other software. Firms’ compliance with the new requirements will be challenging because of the difficulty of determining what software will be treated as an ‘artificial intelligence system’ subject to these requirements and which entities within a financial sector group will be subject to obligations under the AI Act, especially given its extraterritorial application.

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The horizon scanner identifies and summarises key EU legislative and non-legislative initiatives that are likely to impact firms providing financial services in the EU, grouped thematically. It also sets out projected timelines for the finalisation and implementation of relevant legislative initiatives, covering approximately the next 2 years.

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In this article, we explore the benefits and opportunities, as well as the legal, regulatory and practical challenges, of some of the potential technical solutions for the syndicated loan market under consideration.

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EU and UK margin rules for OTC derivatives will remain closely aligned after the end of the Brexit transition period – but some differences will remain.

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This Guide is an updated comparative overview of the key issues encountered in debt restructurings in European countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. The overview also considers some restructuring techniques available in other jurisdictions (such as the UK) and addresses the extent to which they could be applied in Europe.

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In this Conference Edition of the Global Investment Management Briefing you will find the key messages from Global Funds Week as well as more in-depth articles on some of the topics covered and links to our on-line resources.

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Navigating Foreign Investment Regimes can be critical for success on a transaction.

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Unilateral option clauses are a common feature in many transaction documents. A unilateral option clause grants one party the exclusive right to decide between arbitration or litigation to resolve a dispute. This means a party can choose the forum for their dispute at the time the dispute arises, rather than at the time of negotiating the agreement.

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This Guide provides an overview of the Competition Law regime in Hong Kong.

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Over the course of 2020, we were involved in a number of headline making transactions in the insurance sector that you may be interested in. While these matters encapsulate the changing nature of the insurance market they also point to themes which will continue to develop in 2021. We set out below the 5 big themes we expect to see in the insurance market in 2021 so you can consider how to position your business for what comes next. We would be happy to discuss any of the deals below.

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The Taxonomy Regulation sets out categories of economic activities that are considered environmentally sustainable and is a cornerstone of the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan. The overall aim is to channel private capital towards sustainable investments and in doing so support the objectives of the European Green Deal and further the transition to a climate-neutral, climate-resilient, resource-efficient economy, in line with political commitments under the Paris Agreement.

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As a result of COVID-19 and the subsequent market impact, scheduled exit windows for portfolio assets may no longer be viable. As was the case in 2011-13, post the GFC, continuation funds can be a useful tool for GPs looking to extend hold periods for assets, where they are unable to be realised at optimum value in the short term and have potential for future upside.

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Navigating Foreign Investment Regimes can be critical for success on a transaction.

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Many companies face challenges brought about by the sudden and wide-ranging economic impact of COVID-19. Governments around Europe are implementing measures to alleviate some of the financial consequences including the provision of emergency finance, government backed guarantees, and the deferment of tax. It is inevitable that many boards face unprecedented situations and challenges ahead.

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This briefing aims to provide some practical suggestions as to the ways in which Australian superannuation funds might realise divestment opportunities and/or secure alternative financing arrangements, to create liquidity or bridge funding issues.

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This briefing aims to provide some practical suggestions as to the ways in which limited partners might realise divestment opportunities and/or secure alternative financing arrangements, to create liquidity or bridge funding issues.

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This document captures key elements of the discussion on Doing Business in Africa held at the Waldorf Astoria in Dubai on November 26, 2019: financing projects, accessing liquidity and finding the right partner in a competitive market place.

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As well as a public health crisis, the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is having significant adverse consequences on many African economies.

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This guide provides a review of the main actions taken by governments and central banks in selected countries around the world to provide financial support to business in order to mitigate the economic impact of Coronavirus outbreak.

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This survey provides information about initial public offerings (IPOs) of equity securities by companies in the health care sector in 2019.

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This publication provides information on the EU legislative process and how to track the progress of EU legislation.

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This guide analyses the changes in the Taxonomy Regulation, sets out the impacts for different entities, and in an Annex, provides an overview of the Taxonomy.

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This review considers some of the emerging global themes and highlights recent international developments. We also explore what 2020 is likely to mean for the global regulatory outlook and the steps businesses should be taking now to minimise the risks arising from their use of AI.

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This paper identifies specific private international law issues with respect to contract law that may arise when trading derivatives in a DLT environment and proposes recommendations on how these issues might be clarified or resolved.

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This fully revised, updated and expanded edition of the industry standard text takes the reader through the complete life cycle of a syndicated loan. Beginning with the opening phase of mandating a lead bank, Syndicated Lending delves through negotiation, documentation, syndication and closing transactions to conclude with the secondary market.

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The governments and agencies within the greater China region have continued at their respective pace with the advancement of China’s green financing. Over the course of the past five years, regulators in the greater China region, including those of Mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, have announced and implemented a number of policies and guidelines in support of the overall policy direction on green financing.

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The focus of financial markets regulators and central banks is increasingly falling on climate change and the green economy, and in particular the resilience of the financial system to climate-related risks.

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The European Commission launched its Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth (the Action Plan) in March 2018. This plan is comprehensive and ambitious, with three broad aims: (1) to reorient capital flows towards a more sustainable economy: (2) to maintain sustainability in risk management and (3) to foster transparency and long-termism.

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This briefing outlines the four priority areas the FCA has identified and notes some of the issues that may arise.

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This Guide provides an overview of financial regulations applicable at the end of 2019 in the twenty largest African jurisdictions by GDP and brings together the collective knowledge and experience of Clifford Chance and its local relationships across the African continent.

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The severe warnings on climate change demonstrate the urgent need to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

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This Guide is designed to provide you with an overview of the relevant law in the diverse legal systems that operate across Europe. It provides you with a resource to assist in ensuring that transactions (whether being originated or restructured or enforced) are structured in a way that maximises returns whilst minimising risks and exposures

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In this year’s publication we try to distill the lessons learned to date about the Securitisation Regulation regime. We identify areas of remaining uncertainty, some key issues market participants should be thinking about when developing their own approaches, and some solutions that are already beginning to emerge.

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This guide contains discussion and analyses of major actions, cases and trends that have taken place over the past year. This edition also incorporates observations regarding trends in CFTC and DOJ enforcement priorities and tactics.

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This publication takes stock of the progress made under the Commission's Sustainable Action Plan .

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The purpose of this guide is to provide an up-to-date overview of the anti-corruption regimes in Asia Pacific. Each section features a summary of the key pieces of local legislation and provides guidance on how businesses operating in each of the featured countries should best deal with anti-corruption compliance.

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A look at what has been happening in the last year in the UK and the current issues in the UK market

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This Clifford Chance Guide to anti-corruption legislation, by focusing on ten key questions, aims to elucidate both the differences and the similarities in anti-corruption laws around the world.

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This guide (available in English and in Chinese) describes the main techniques which issuers in Asia Pacific, who are considering liability management either in the context of an active debt capital restructuring or financial distress situation, might employ. It also highlights some of the legal issues that they and their financial advisors will need to take into account.

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The primary intention of this guide is to provide a valuable point of reference for the directors, executives and shareholders of a company seeking admission of its shares to the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market. The guide identifies legal and practical issues that commonly arise on IPOs, including where, as part of the offer, it is intended to access the US capital markets.

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The trading of loans can raise complex legal issues, particularly in relation to guarantees and security, withholding tax, confidentiality and regulation. On cross border transactions, the local laws of each relevant jurisdiction also need to be considered. In response to rising volumes of loan trading activity in the US and European secondary loan markets, Clifford Chance has prepared a guide which provides an overview of the principal local law issues to consider when trading loans in the secondary loan markets across 18 key jurisdictions.

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This Guide provides an overview of taking security in Vietnam, outlining the key issues in taking security, the enforcement process, issues relating to specific assets and financing structures and issues for international lenders and foreign entities

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Historically, commercial bank lending has been the major source of debt for real estate developers and investors in the Middle East as there has been an absence of alternative sources of debt. The growth of this alternative sector, private lending (defined as non-bank debt), forms the focus of this paper which aims to provide a better understanding of the private real estate debt market in the UAE and KSA by addressing the current condition of the market and giving insights on its potential growth and the opportunities it will present to both lenders and borrowers.

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There have, over the last year, been clear signs of a sustainable revival in the securitisation markets. Even though the Securitisation Regulation does not apply until next year, there has already been a notable increase in the use of securitisation techniques, both for more traditional public securitisations and for financing portfolio acquisitions and private transactions generally. This is partly to do with the improved political environment for securitisation, but also helped along by macroeconomic factors, such as improvements in global economic growth, rate rises in the United States and expected rate rises in Europe.

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This survey provides information about initial public offerings (IPOs) of equity securities in the United States which were registered during 2017 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by companies in the health care sector and listed on a US exchange (such as Nasdaq).

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This Guide provides an overview of takeovers of public companies in Germany, including the acquisition of a stake in a German public company and launching (or defending) a formal takeover offer.

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The securitisation markets are operating in a very different geopolitical and macroeconomic environment to the one that prevailed this time last year. Events have pushed markets in some unexpected – and not always welcome – directions. In this year's edition of our annual securitisation publication, we attempt to survey the scene, covering the major changes in regulation, while maintaining a definite market focus.

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There has been a swathe of regulation targeting financial crime in recent years, in developed and developing markets across the globe, and as gatekeepers to the global financial system, banks are very much on the regulatory front-line. At the same time, civil and criminal enforcement action by regulators has become increasingly aggressive.

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This publication provides an overview of the reserved alternative investment fund, a new type of Luxembourg investment vehicle. Among other issues it considers investment policy and restrictions, structural features and legal aspects, the setting up procedure, transparency requirements, marketing and taxation.

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If we are to reach our goal of vibrant, well-functioning securitisation markets around the world we’ve little choice but to continue travelling through the tangled forest of regulation. Unfortunately the path is not clear and is often difficult to follow. We hope the reflections in this volume help provide you with a few signposts to guide you and show, at least, the direction of travel.

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Bank Resolution and Crisis Management, Law and Practice by Simon Gleeson and Randall Guynn

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This jargon buster is designed to provide an overview of key legal terms used when doing business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in its various free zones. It has been limited to general definitions that are of most interest.

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This guide is designed to provide an overview of key considerations for doing business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) outside of the various free zones. It has been limited to a general description of areas that are of most interest.

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This document seeks to examine some of the regulatory considerations arising from the Rupee Bond Guidelines that need to be taken into account in the structuring of a Masala bond offering, as well as certain issues that may arise in bringing a Masala bond to the international debt capital markets successfully.

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Export Credit Agency ("ECA") supported financing has enabled shipbuilders in developed countries to offer more competitive terms and an alternative source of finance to purchasers for many years by helping them to access attractive financing terms that would otherwise be unavailable to them

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A year ago, things were looking very uncertain and concerning for securitisation and structured debt. In both America and the EU, new regulations were being introduced that threatened to make securitisation a less attractive product for originators and investors.

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This article, written by members of our Trusts team, focuses on some of the prominent changes in approach and consequent effect for trustees in agreeing to amendments, waivers and consents and the changing landscape in which trustees operate in the capital markets.

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This Guide has been produced and coordinated by Clifford Chance LLP. It is designed to provide an overview of key considerations for leveraged finance transactions in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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The period since the financial crisis has seen a torrent of new regulation and legislation cascading through the financial markets. No corner of the industry remains entirely untouched and securitisation and structured debt is no exception – indeed it is among the most affected.

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This guide is designed to provide an overview of key considerations for doing business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia). It has been limited to a general description of areas that are of most interest.

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This publication in our series exploring the re-emerging securitisation market considers new regulations in Europe and the US that impact securitisation and issues that have emerged in the implementation of that regulation.

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This publication is part of our series exploring the re-emerging securitisation market.

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This publication in our series exploring the re-emerging securitisation market contains our collected views on how aspects of the post-credit crisis structured debt market should be reflected in legal documentation and market practice going forward.

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