Insights
UK FinReg Focus Areas in 2026
Key Topics for the 2026 UK AGM Season
Healthcare & Life Sciences: Drug Pricing Digest — Number 63
Resource
The Latham FPI Guide
Updated guide includes the topics that are of most interest to foreign private issuers and their advisors when engaging in US capital markets transactions.
Latham in Focus Video Series
The Book of Jargon Series – Word of the Day®
The Book of Jargon® is a series of practice area and industry-specific glossaries published by Latham & Watkins.
Right to be Heard
the right to have a proper opportunity to present or defend against a case.
Good Faith
acting honestly and fairly towards one’s counterparties. Similar to acting reasonably. Good Faith is also a critical component of a Director’s Duty of Loyalty.
Synthetic Biology
building of Cells or organisms from the ground up to perform certain tasks. All of the building blocks are synthesized and assembled from scratch, as opposed to being engineered and Cloned from a parent. The first artificial Cell was made in 2016 by Craig Venter and his group from synthesizing a Genome with 473 Genes.
Encumbrance
in the oil and gas context, a right that attaches to a real property interest that affects, directly or indirectly, the owner’s title to the real property interest, including liens, Mortgages and other security interests, Royalties, options, and other contractual restrictions, such as an AMI.
Big Boy Letter
a letter sometimes entered into in connection with a secondary trade of Securities or a Private Placement where one party to the trade has more information about the Issuer than the other. A Big Boy Letter says something to the effect that one party may have more information than the other about the Issuer, but because they are both “big boys”, they are still knowingly and willingly entering into the transaction. Big Boy Letters raise a number of interesting legal issues, including whether the letter itself is actually enforceable and whether or not the letters actually work as a defence against insider trading liability. Thus far, there is more legal authority in the US than in Europe to help answer these tricky questions.
In each episode of Connected With Latham, we discuss ideas, developments, and trends shaping the global economy.
FCA Publishes Update to Cryptoasset Gateway
The update will create significant time pressure for firms seeking UK authorisation.
SEC Staff Issues No-Action Letter for DTC’s Tokenization Pilot
The no action relief opens the door to experimentation with blockchain-based market infrastructure while preserving traditional securities market safeguards.
HM Treasury Proposes to Significantly Reduce Scope of UK BMR
Under the proposals, only designated benchmarks or benchmark administrators would be regulated.
OCC Continues to Move Digital Assets Into the Banking System
The OCC affirmed that certain cryptoasset activities are part of, or incidental to, the business of banking and conditionally approved five national trust bank charters for digital asset entities.
Federal Agencies Move to Return the Endangered Species Act to 2019 Interpretation
Proposed rules would reverse Biden-era regulations under the ESA and return to the regulatory framework implemented during the first Trump administration.
OCC and FDIC Withdraw From Leveraged Lending Guidance
Banks subject to the Agencies’ jurisdiction will now be expected to manage leveraged lending using general risk management principles for safe and sound lending.
Privy Council Issues Pivotal Judgment on Misrepresentation
The Credit Suisse judgment has significant implications for claims in deceit.
SEC Staff Issues No-Action Letter for Fuse Crypto Token
The NAL provides incremental clarity for innovators in the digital asset space and reduces legal risk for similarly structured rewards tokens.