RopesTalk

Ropes & Gray’s new podcast series, Non-binding Guidance, highlights FDA regulatory developments and trends affecting the life sciences industry. In this inaugural episode, Ropes & Gray lawyers Al Cacozza, Sarah Blankstein and Joshua Oyster discuss how the FDA is currently regulating products containing cannabidiol, or CBD, and what to expect from FDA and Congress in the wake of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s surprise resignation this month. The 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law last December, legalized hemp and its non-psychoactive ingredient CBD and distinguished both from marijuana, which is still considered by the federal government to be an illegal narcotic. But the Farm Bill left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the emerging CBD industry because it expressly allowed FDA to continue unchanged its oversight and regulation of CBD products. Tune in to this lively discussion of the repercussions of the Farm Bill, how the FDA and state agencies are responding, and what investors and other stakeholders should know.

This Ropes & Gray podcast series highlights developments in Washington, D.C., affecting private funds and their legal, regulatory and compliance obligations. In this second installment, asset management partner Joel Wattenbarger and counsel David Tittsworth pick up on their conversation from January 2019, when the U.S. government was in partial shutdown, to discuss the aftermath of the shutdown and other legislative updates from Capitol Hill, as well as recent developments at the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Topics include Regulation Best Interest and related SEC initiatives; legislative updates related to capital formation, data collection and FinTech; recent developments related to the CFTC; and the FSOC’s proposed changes to how non-bank financial institutions are designated.

This new Ropes & Gray podcast series, Conductive Discussions, focuses on legal issues of interest to the semiconductor industry. In the first episode of the series, IP litigation partners Mark Rowland, Dave Chun and Matt Rizzolo, and IP transactions associate Georgina Suzuki, discuss recent FRAND developments that impact supply chain and global patent licensing practices and recent trends in civil and criminal trade secret enforcement. This podcast also includes SiliconSpeak, a report of recent legal news in the semiconductor industry.

This Ropes & Gray podcast series, which we expect to update periodically, will highlight developments in Washington, D.C. that affect private funds and their legal, regulatory and compliance obligations. In the first episode of the series, hedge fund partner Joel Wattenbarger is joined by investment management counsel David Tittsworth to discuss relevant SEC rulemakings, enforcement and inspection issues, as well as developments on Capitol Hill, including impacts of the partial government shutdown.

During this podcast, Michael Doherty and Jason Kolman discuss some considerations for newer credit fund managers, including common differences between the various types of credit funds, as well as between private equity and credit funds generally. Managers considering entering the credit fund market will gain a better understanding of common differences between credit and private equity funds in regard to topics such as return profiles, recycling provisions, carried interest, management fees, conflicts, tax and leverage.

In this podcast, Laurel FitzPatrick, Adam Greenwood and Jim Brown discuss the tax considerations applicable to non-US investors investing in funds that invest in credit and debt instruments. So-called 'treaty funds' offer one alternative to managing tax implications resulting from these investments, but their complexity requires an understanding of the various structures and mechanisms of these types of funds. In particular, the group discusses the types of treaty funds that are available, such as ‘bring your own treaty’ and Luxemburg and Irish company structures, as well as the differences in operating a treaty fund versus a traditional private equity fund.

In this podcast, Ropes & Gray litigation & enforcement partners Ryan Rohlfsen and Alex Rene are joined by Mike Munro, Director of Global Outreach and Board Advisor, and former Chief Compliance Officer, at Odebrecht Engineering & Construction headquartered in Brazil. They discuss key international risks facing companies in Latin America and strategies to mitigate them.

As global regulations proliferate and become more complex, so too do the challenges of maintaining a high-performing global ethics & compliance program. While no two days are alike for compliance officers, they do face some common risks and challenges. In this podcast, Ropes & Gray litigation & enforcement partner Ryan Rohlfsen is joined by Glenn Leon, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to discuss best practices for mitigating risks and meeting global expectations.

With the increase in the number of hedge fund and private equity managers starting or considering starting a credit fund, it is more important than ever to understand and address the challenges and risks as they relate to insider trading. Dan O’Connor and Matt McGinnis will discuss the state of play for insider trading law as applied to debt instruments and other assets often held by credit funds, including what to expect from the SEC in this space in the future. They will also discuss various tools and strategies managers can implement in order to mitigate the risks associated with trading in debt instruments, including developing bespoke and nimble policies and procedures, single-firm restricted lists, ethical walls, internal trainings and ongoing risk monitoring.

Although larger sponsors have been running PE funds simultaneously alongside credit funds for quite some time, over the last few years there has been a steady increase in the number of private equity firms expanding their product offering to include credit funds. A key consideration for a PE firm deciding to enter the credit space is how to address and minimize potential conflicts of interest that arise when one sponsor has funds investing in both equity and debt. In the fourth installment of our credit funds podcast series, our attorneys take up this topic in their discussion on how to implement walls, develop appropriate policies and procedures, and navigate disclosure in key conflict scenarios, such as handling material nonpublic information (MNPI), investing in different levels of a portfolio company’s capital structure and allocating investment opportunities.