Over the last year, the existential risk posed by cyberattacks and data security vulnerabilities has become one of the top concerns for boards of directors, management, government agencies, and the public. 2017 was punctuated by a series of headline-grabbing breaches affecting scores of companies and hundreds of millions of individuals. At the same time, there were fast-moving changes in the regulatory landscape as regulators across the globe tried to respond to the systemic threats and protect their constituents, while not imposing crippling costs on businesses.

The European Union’s interest in substantive insolvency led to the adoption of the 2014 Recommendation on preventive proceedings, alleviation of consumer debt and the fresh start through early discharge. This work is the report of the Leeds Law School study, funded by DG Justice, studying key topics in 30 jurisdictions (all Member States, Norway and the US) within the insolvency process (esp. directors’ duties, priorities, avoidance actions, SME-focused procedures and the status of insolvency office-holders).

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Cleary FinTech Update, our new blog that provides updates and insights on the fast-moving world of FinTech legal, policy and business developments. The pace of innovation is sometimes breathtaking, and our multidisciplinary team spans the legal expertise essential to allow you to stay on top of the fascinating interaction of FinTech innovation and legal thinking.

Christopher Mallon, Shai y. Waisman and ray C. Schrock (editors) (2nd edition) (2017, oUP, oxford), 503pp, £195, ISBN 978-0-19-875539-5. This text takes as its essential foundation the need to bring together issues affecting restructuring practice in the two jurisdictions where most cross-border businesses of a certain magnitude will have acquired debt, more often than not in both jurisdictions at the same time.

US banking regulators have introduced rules imposing new requirements on the terms of certain swaps, repos and other qualified financial contracts (QFCs) of global systemically important banking organizations (GSIBs). In an effort to support the ability of failing GSIBs to be recapitalized on a going-concern basis or otherwise resolved, these rules require contractual provisions limiting the ability of counterparties to exercise default rights arising in the context of a GSIB resolution and ensure that actions taken under US resolution regimes are enforceable on a cross-border basis.

On November 29, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the “Department”) announced a new FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (the “Enforcement Policy”)1 applicable to investigations of companies under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The Enforcement Policy builds on the FCPA Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program”)2 that has been in effect since April 2016, and provides additional transparency regarding the credit the Department will provide to companies that selfreport FCPA violations and then cooperate with the resulting investigation.

A growing number of healthcare companies are facing financial challenges, leading them to contemplate seeking chapter 11 relief. Healthcare proceedings, however, are different from the typical restructuring. Click here for more.

United States Bankruptcy Courts, particularly in New York and Delaware, are some of the most preferred courts for multinational corporate bankruptcy filings. This trend has been on display throughout the most recent credit cycle, as companies with global operations and assets (think shipping) have frequently selected the U.S. as their destination of choice for reorganisations and recapitalisations. There are a number of advantages foreign companies enjoy when choosing the U.S.

Now in its 13th year, our survey reflects the views of more than 300 senior corporate counsel—primarily general counsel—on the changing face of litigation. This report examines current corporate trends and this year’s survey highlights an ever-increasing threat to cyber security and data protection The majority of the respondents are based in the US or work for US companies. We also revisit our litigation minimization framework and benchmarking tools to assist you in litigation management.

Cleary Gottlieb partner James Bromley and associate Matthew Karlan authored an article with firm alumna Esther Lifshitz, “The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Valuation Regulation in Bankruptcy: Entitled to Chevron Deference or Arbitrary and Capricious?” It will appear in the March 2018 edition of The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law. The article explores the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) longtime use of a regulation to calculate the amount of the agency’s unfunded benefit liability claims in bankruptcies involving terminated pension plan disputes, disc