Insights

The proliferation of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency has seemed like the emergence of a new Wild West – but has the sheriff finally ridden into town? Kobre & Kim’s Andrew Stafford KC, Calvin Koo and Timothy de Swardt look at how the United Kingdom, the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong and the U.S. – all sophisticated and important global financial centers with mature and highly competitive legal markets – have responded to the disruptive effects of blockchain and cryptocurrency in a chapter of Commercial Dispute Resolution’s “Fraud, Asset Tracing & Recovery 2023.”

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The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new pilot program incentivizing companies under investigation to claw back compensation from culpable employees and supervisors attempts to shift the burden of corporate wrongdoing from shareholders to those directly responsible. However, as Kobre & Kim’s Evelyn Sheehan – who focuses on asset forfeiture and other government enforcement actions – told Anti-Corruption Report, the program offloads the government’s burden onto companies and adds to the challenges they face.

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Cryptocurrency scams are on the rise. As more victims are losing money, they are finding that – even though transactions are preserved on a public ledger – the cross-border nature of the asset and the underdeveloped global regulatory landscape make recovery often very difficult, and scammers will continue to take advantage. Kobre & Kim’s Calvin Koo, who focuses on global tracing and recovery of digital assets, spoke to DL News about these trends.

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The Cayman Islands is a key offshore jurisdiction for judgment creditors in cross-border enforcement campaigns. Kobre & Kim’s Cayman-based Jalil Asif KC, Peter Tyers-Smith and Ilona Groark detailed the main insights in the jurisdiction for creditors in a chapter of International Comparative Legal Guide’s “Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2023.”

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Coming amid uncertainty for renewable investors and a global legal debate in the wake of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Achmea and Komstroy decisions, the UK High Court rejected the European Commission’s attempt to intervene in two renewable energy investors’ US $101 million arbitral award enforcement case against Spain in a win for the investors. The Financial Times and Law360 quoted Kobre & Kim’s Nick Cherryman, who represents the lead award in this dispute, on the development.

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The trend away from billable hours as the way law firms charge clients may be accelerating. Kobre & Kim’s Managing Director of Underwriting and Value Optimization Alan Guy, who underwrites, negotiates and manages litigation finance and alternative fee arrangements, sat down with LexisNexis to explore the changes.

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For general counsels (GCs) in many organizations, a slowing economy in 2023 is putting pressure on them to spend less, particularly on their highest cost: outside counsel spending. Kobre & Kim’s Alan Guy, the Managing Director of Underwriting and Value Optimization, sat down with Legal Dive to emphasize how professionalizing fee discussions can allow clients and counsel to find win-win deals that align pricing and value.

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) attempt to block Microsoft’s acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard is, to some, a surprising and aggressive move with long odds. Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sirota, who focuses on contentious high-stakes antitrust disputes, analyzed the case when he sat down with Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal and MLex Market Insights.

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Hong Kong is a global financial center with a common law legal system, useful judicial tools for asset tracing and recovery, as well as sophisticated law enforcement, making it a key jurisdiction for those recovering their digital assets from fraud or other property disputes. Kobre & Kim’s Hong Kong-based Calvin Koo, who focuses on tracing and recovering digital assets, laid out a roadmap for recovery in an article for the Hong Kong Lawyer.

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Kobre & Kim’s Amanda Tuminelli, who defends institutional clients in the cryptocurrency industry against government investigations and enforcement actions, spoke with Law360 on the recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) victory over blockchain publisher LBRY in a New Hampshire federal court and what it could mean for the future of cryptocurrency regulation and enforcement, both in the U.S. and beyond.

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A U.S. federal judge has blocked the proposed merger between publishers Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster in “fairly striking” rulings, Kobre & Kim’s Benjamin Sirota – a former U.S. federal antitrust prosecutor – told Global Competition Review in his analysis of the case.

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Kobre & Kim’s launch and expansion of its São Paulo office during the height of the pandemic in 2020 has paid dividends, according to Kobre & Kim’s Gabriela Ruiz and Leonardo Palhares when they sat down with Law.com International, highlighting the firm’s thriving regional business, ability to represent large Brazilian companies and individuals globally when litigation arises and on-the-ground Lusophone team.

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As conduits of the flow of global capital, financial centers such as Hong Kong see their share of illicit funds flow through their shores. This includes cryptocurrency, which bad actors increasingly turn to in their fraudulent schemes. Kobre & Kim’s Calvin Koo, who focuses on tracing and recovering digital currencies for corporate and individual victims of fraud, sat down with DigFin to examine the changing landscape and discuss how a new association of crypto lawyers he co-founded in Hong Kong can help the industry adapt.

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No international legal regime protecting trade secrets exists, but non-U.S. companies may be surprised to learn that U.S. courts and agencies have filled this void, applying U.S. law to cross-border disputes. This trend could devastate overseas companies that are unprepared to have their practices scrutinized under US rules. For would-be trade secret plaintiffs, the trend creates a major opportunity. Kobre & Kim’s Daniel Zaheer and Julian Pymento, who both focus on high-stakes cross-border intellectual property litigation, explain in an article for The Daily Journal.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) to restructure their finances and relocate investments out of Latin American countries. Citywealth interviewed Latin America experts to understand the reasons behind this movement.

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