Co-Chairs' note - January 2021

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Dear IBA Securities Law Committee members,

We are delighted to publish this new e-bulletin, which contains a series of topical and relevant articles from our contributors around the world.

The contributions received cover a wide range of issues: from the uses and benefits of a variable capital company in Singapore, through to the regulation of proxy advisors in India, and from a new instrument for the protection and encouragement of investments in Russia, to the UK’s National Security and Investment Bill.

The e-Bulletin also contains two session reports from the IBA 2020 – Virtually Together Annual Conference.  The Virtually Together Conference, attended by over 13,000 delegates representing 160 countries, was a major success and we want to thank again all of our Committee officers and speakers for their great contributions in preparing and delivering the sessions.

All the sessions were recorded and are available on the IBA website.

The session on capital markets and Covid-19 presented a multi-jurisdictional survey compiled by the IBA Securities Law Committee on relief measures designed for public issuers following the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. Depending on each jurisdiction, these measures may have included relaxations on financial reporting, suspensions of proceedings, short-selling restrictions, postponements of shareholder meetings and the approval of annual accounts and virtual shareholder meetings.

The session on the success rate of the ‘nanny state’ approach in consumer protection and financial system stabilisation regulation discussed how regulators can cope with the dynamics of fast-moving technology changes, the current state of effectiveness of regulators regarding consumer protection in capital and financial markets, and financial literacy.

Last, but not least, the Securities Law Committee has undertaken a new survey on form requirements, which will be published on our website. We would like to thank Vivian Lam and Benjamin Leisinger for their work in putting it together.

We invite all our Committee members and friends to stay in touch. Please send us your suggestions and proposals, as it is very important to share experience and knowledge, especially in these challenging times!

We wish you every health and happiness for the new year. Stay safe.

Florian Khol
Co-Chair, IBA Securities Law Committee
khol@bindergroesswang.at

Claudia Bruscaglioni
Co-Chair, IBA Securities Law Committee
claudia.bruscaglioni@lmclex.it