In the News

I hope you are all safe and well. If you have the time (alongside juggling home schooling, partaking in numerous zoom quizzes and alongside all that extra DIY you’re doing), why not take a read of some of our A&M commentary over the past month to ensure you're up to speed with all the news…

Word of warning.. There is a definite Covid-19 theme here, such is the news agenda right now.

Phil Beckett - COVID-19 Continues to Impact Civil Litigation and Discovery in a Variety of Ways.

An interesting article by Eddy Salcedo and Owen Wolfe from Seyfarth Shaw looking at some recent U.S. cases where #Covid19 has impacted civil litigation and discovery. I think the summary at the end is very sensible, that people need to be... Read more.

Peter Kwan - KYC Sight Unseen: Getting to Know Your Customer Through a Pandemic.

According to a J.D. Power survey of banking customers in the United States (published March 2020) - roughly 55 percent of new bank account openings still take place at a branch. If there is one thing that the coronavirus as taught the... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Adapting E-Discovery Workflows to a Remote Work Environment.

An interesting article looking at how e-Discovery workflows are having to adapt based on current working environments. The team at BakerHostetler looks at some of the key challenges such as litigation holds, custodial interviews, remote... Read more.

Rachel Crabtree - “Risk-Based”: the Approach Guiding Financial Services Through the Pandemic.

On 15 April 2020, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released several updates to the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) examination manual. This manual is used by regulators to evaluate an institution’s... Read more.

Phil Beckett - COVID and the Courts: Discovery in the Time of Coronavirus.

An interesting article by Mark Klapow, Amanda Shafer Berman, Andrew Holmer and Eli Berns-Zieve from Crowell & Moring looking at how the U.S. courts are managing discovery through the Covid-19 crisis. It is interesting to see that... Read more.

Phil Beckett - The Road Ahead For Data Analytics In International Arbitration.

An interesting article (available through Law360) by Charlie Morgan at Herbert Smith Freehills on how data analytics is being used in international #arbitration now and in the future. Data is key to international arbitration as it is for any... Read more.

Mark Howard - Technology & COVID-19: Starting To Deal With Balancing Privacy vs. Public Protection.

I've been writing this week on both the benefits of innovative tech in helping us manage and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the risks to personal privacy these applications pose. This balance is particularly tricky in the... Read more.

Rachel Crabtree - The Digitization of Business Limits the Scope of Supervision for Compliance Monitors.

On 14 April 2020, the Wall Street Journal revealed another challenge facing the compliance industry during this time of social distancing – suspension of onsite visits for corporate compliance monitors. Corporate monitors are independent... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Fraud in the Time of COVID-19.

Some worrying numbers portrayed in this article in respect of reported fraud in the current environment. Caroline Day and Gemma Tombs from Kingsley Napley look into some of the schemes that have already come to light as well as the actions... Read more.

Mark Howard - Blockchain & COVID-19: One Tool To Deal With Privacy Issues.

Several countries are managing and mitigating the COVID-19 #pandemic with techniques that appear to trade off a citizens' right to privacy. Honduras is using the digits of a citizen's unique ID to tell them when and where they can leave their... Read more.

Deepak Jain - Chinese Insurers Are Covering COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses.

This stands in contrast to a number of U.S. insurers that appear to be denying business interruption coverage. But there are some key differences between U.S. and Chinese insurers. Key takeaways: 1. 68 Chinese insurers are offering some sort of... Read more.

Rachel Crabtree - Furloughed or Fired, Quarantine Money Making Opportunities may be too good to be true.

On April 6, 2020, the FBI warned that #fraudsters were taking advantage of uncertainty and fear surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic to steal your money, access your personal and financial information, and use you as a money mule. Acting as a money... Read more

Deepak Jain - Insurers Are Facing Increased Scrutiny in D.C. for Rejecting COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims.

Politicians in Washington D.C. are starting to take notice of business owner frustrations with their insurance companies re: business interruption claims. Given the magnitude of losses, impacts to the economy, and property-casualty insurers'... Read more.

Michael Carter - FRAUD: Misunderstanding the People We "Know".

"In addition to misreading people by failing to spot their 'mismatched' behavior, another main source of misunderstanding, according to Gladwell, 'has to do with our inability to make sense of the stranger as an individual.'" From a financial... Read more.

Mark Howard - AI & COVID-19: How Countries Are Using It In A Variety Of Ways.

We are fortunate to have AI technology available to us during this global pandemic. As you can read in this brief article, public- and private-sector teams in numerous countries are using #AI in a variety of ways to help us reduce the impact, speed... Read more.

Michael Carter - UK Courts Deal a (Temporary) Blow to UWO and Transparency.

“This case has highlighted major weaknesses in the UK’s defences against dirty money that should be addressed urgently. Secretive corporate ownership continues to be a pervasive issue across the UK with tens of thousands of properties owned by... Read more.

Deepak Jain - Should Consumers Be Required to Pay for Sports Channels Without Live Sports?

TV revenues are vital to the economics of American sports. COVID-19 has virtually stopped all live sporting events. Without live sports, consumers may balk at paying for sports channels. The consumer pays fees for sports programming that trickle... Read more

Michael Carter - CFTC Provides Clarifying Guidance on Digital Assets.

Key points from the announcement: The interpretive guidance discusses two primary factors demonstrating “actual delivery” of retail commodity transactions in virtual currency: 1.) full delivery to and control of the asset by the customer;... Read more.

Deepak Jain - Why Do Financial Investigations Require Significant Time and Money? Here's an Example.

A high-growth coffee chain based in China announced yesterday that it "fabricated" $300 million in sales during 2019. This figure represented roughly half of the company's sales for a 9-month period. Interestingly, an anonymous report about the... Read more.

Phil Beckett - UK Search Orders.

An interesting article (available through Law360 subscription) by Mark Cooper and Richard Bacon at Eversheds Sutherland, specifically relating to the TBD (Owen Holland) Limited v Simons & Others [2020] EWHC 30 (Ch) case. This case... Read more.

Cole Corbin - Harnessing Process Automation Technology to Extract and Transfer Portfolio Data.

I am proud of my colleagues Tim Kent and Devin Rochford whose innovative approach helped extract data from 31 funds comprising over 700 investments and transfer it accurately and swiftly to a new portfolio management platform. Complex... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Five Tips to Protect Your Trade Secrets During the COVID-19 Emergency.

An interesting article by the Hogan Lovells team in Milan looking at some of the risks, and more importantly the things companies can do to mitigate those risks, with more people working remotely from home. Although these tips are focused on... Read more.

Deepak Jain - Will States Enact Legislation Forcing Insurers to Pay for COVID-19 Losses?

U.S. property and casualty insurers have a $800 billion surplus (meaning assets exceed liabilities by $800B). At least three states are pursuing #legislation to force insurers to use that surplus to cover COVID-19 losses, that may otherwise be... Read more

Mark Howard - AI, 3D Printing, Blockchain - Meeting Supply Chain Issues During COVID-19.

So, one of the most significant issues facing us right now in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is making enough medical supplies. But, as more people fall ill, we are also likely to see shortfalls in other items, like food. The... Read more.

Deepak Jain - Will Insurers Be Required to Provide Coverage for COVID-19 Losses?

In connection with COVID-19, New Jersey is currently considering a bill that would require insurers to cover business interruption claims for policies that contain a "virus" exclusion. Will other states follow New Jersey's lead? Stay tuned. Read more

Mark Howard - Coronavirus - AI Predicted It Earlier, Our P3 Models Didn't Work.

This is startling to me - nine days before the World Health Organization declared coronavirus as global pandemic, an AI startup in Toronto predicted it. They used analysis of social media and news reports to reach the conclusion the pandemic was... Read more.