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Executive Summary/Highlights: On 15 July 2020 the Austrian Parliament adopted a new Investment Control Act (Investitionskontrollgesetz, “ICA”). The new Act transposes the requirements under the EU FDI Screening Regulation and replaces the existing liberal regime under the Austrian Foreign Trade Act. Investment transactions lacking the required ICA approval will inter alia be null and void. Under the … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A activity in Q2 2020 dropped to its lowest quarterly levels in more than a decade, as corporate dealmakers paused to weigh the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the responses of governments, businesses and consumers across the world, and many companies devoted all available resources to existence-preserving activities and not growth … Continued

On May 21, 2020, the United States Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “Bill”) with unanimous consent. If it becomes law, the Bill would apply to Chinese companies, among others, listed on U.S. securities exchanges and require them to comply with U.S. regulatory and audit standards and information sharing, notwithstanding that to … Continued

On May 11th, 2020 the Peruvian Government has modified certain provisions contained in the Peruvian Merger Control Legislation (“MCL”), originally approved by Urgency Decree N° 013-2019. Vacatio legis. The Peruvian Government deferred the application of the MCL (originally on August 20, 2020) until March 1, 2021. Concentrations occurring prior to said date will not be … Continued

Nasdaq has introduced a “Nordic Main Market Rulebook for Issuers of Shares” (the “Rulebook”), comprising Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Iceland and Nasdaq Stockholm (the “Exchanges”). The Rulebook entered into force on 1 May 2020 and is comprised of two parts. The first part is a harmonized set of rules applicable to issuers of shares … Continued

The financial fraud committed by Nasdaq-listed Luckin Coffee Inc. (“Luckin Incident”) has sparked a heated discussion in the media and within relevant industries about whether the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) will exercise long-arm jurisdiction pursuant to Paragraph 4 of Article 2[1] of the new Securities Law, implemented on March 1 of this year (“Securities Law”).  … Continued

We are delighted to inform you of the publication of Ecosystem Edge: Sustaining Competitiveness in the Face of Disruption, a fascinating new book authored by Professor Peter Williamson of Cambridge Judge Business School, who is an XBMA Founding Director, and Professor Arnoud De Meyer of Singapore Management University, who co-hosted the recent XBMA Singapore symposium.  An introduction to some … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A volume was just US$730 billion in Q1 2020, a decrease of approximately 30% from Q4 2019 (US$1 trillion), approximately 25% from Q1 2019 (US$982 billion) and the lowest first-quarter global M&A volume since 2014 (US$657 billion). The decline in M&A volume relative to prior quarters was particularly pronounced in the United … Continued

This is a revised summary version of our initial client memos regarding the crisis. In his speech on March 16, President Macron stated, “we are at war,” six times.  Since then, businesses continue to assimilate and react to the radical changes that have occurred over the last weeks.  The government and various regulators, including the … Continued

CONTRACTS / FORCE MAJEURE Is the COVID-19 pandemic (“Pandemic”) a force majeure event? A party may be excused for non-performance under a contract if the non-performance is a direct and immediate result of an event which constitutes an act of God or force majeure.  Decrees by the Moscow mayor and regulations issued by heads of … Continued