Several legal barriers have prevented institutional investors (including the employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA” and “ERISA Plans”)) from creating an impact on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters. Nonetheless, Biden’s administration seems eager to remove many of such barriers and boost ESG’s role. Thus, in January 2021 President Biden issued an Executive Order instructing government agencies to revise

INTRODUCTION The Supreme Court of the United States recently granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision Cassirer v. Thyssen- Bornemisza Collection Foundation, 862 F.3d 951, 961 (9th Cir. 2017). The argument is scheduled for Tuesday, January 18, 2022. The issue on appeal is whether a federal court hearing a state law claim under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) should apply the state’s conflict

It’s no surprise that the Financial Technology (FinTech) sector has been booming over the last few years. Driven by deep pockets in venture capital and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have been demanding and have seen FinTech infiltrate almost every aspect of their daily financial transactions – from browsing homes online to trading cryptocurrency from one’s sofa. The slogan, “there’s an app for that” has never been truer. While FinTech has been growing at bre

Technological advancements have revolutionized the payment system infrastructure. The introduction of bitcoin paved the way for the development of alternative currencies and has altered the preferred means of payment—use of cash has declined and cryptocurrencies are now recognized as a medium of exchange. The supposed trend towards a “cashless society” prompted central banks to consider issuing currency in digital form—otherwise known as “sovereign digital currencies” or “cen

At a recent informal meeting of the heads of delegations of the World Trade Organization (WTO), India raised concerns regarding the new and emerging trade barriers such as Covid passports and vaccine differentiation. It called upon the WTO to respond to these new barriers and also address the existing trade barriers like export restrictions. India argued that the Covid passports, imposed by some developed nations, and the existing vaccine discrimination (i.e., due to supply s