Financial Services Providers

Short Reads - Non-Fungible Tokens, widely known as NFTs, have recently gained much attention due to their role in the transfer of digital artworks. The market for NFTs grew from USD 13.5m in the first six months of 2020 to USD 2.5bn in the first half of 2021 and is still growing at an expansive rate. Notwithstanding their increasing popularity in the world of art, NFTs have many potential applications. In this blog Maciek Bednarski, Annemijn Witkam and Roderik Vrolijk explain what NFTs are and describe some of the legal challenges they will bring about.

Articles - The book, entitled 'Sustainable Finance in Europe', brings together the views of expert academics and practitioners on the latest regulatory developments in sustainable finance in Europe. It includes cutting-edge issues which relate to three main themes: 1. corporate governance, 2. financial stability and 3. financial markets.

Articles - On 6 July 2021 the European Commission adopted the much-awaited decision C(2021) 4858 final (the “Decision”) which provides, in its annex, very useful answers to the questions raised by the European Supervisory Authorities (i.e. the EBA, ESMA and EIOPA) in their letter dated 7 January 2021 on priority issues relating to the application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR” or “Level 1 requirements”).

Short Reads - The draft temporary bill on Expedited Liquidation Transparency presented by the Dutch Minister of Justice on 28 June 2021 aims to increase transparency, improve protection of creditors and reduce the risk of abuse. We expect that this bill could be in effect indefinitely, as the issues it addresses were pressing long before COVID-19.

Short Reads - Turbobeleggers nemen veel risico’s en verliezen gemiddeld veel geld. De AFM vindt dat particuliere beleggers onvoldoende beschermd worden tegen de risico’s van turbo’s. De verkoop van turbo’s aan deze beleggers wordt daarom aan banden gelegd. Met ingang van 1 oktober geldt een hefboombeperking, een verplichte risicowaarschuwing en een verbod op handelsbonussen. Daarmee wil de Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) particuliere beleggers beter beschermen tegen de risico’s van turbo’s.

Articles - Recent efforts by the Dutch government to amend the tax treatment of stock option plans are examined by Charlotte Tolman and Michael Molenaars in this article in Tax Notes International. The proposed changes are welcome, but might not solve all liquidity concerns.

Articles - This article, published in Tax Notes International, examines two recent Dutch proposals, which could have an immediate impact on Dutch and non-Dutch corporate taxpayers and existing national or international structures.

Seminar - The Sustainable Finance Week - organised by Stibbe, KPMG and NVB - will take place across 4 afternoons, starting on Monday 31 May 2021. Through an online conference platform, we will present a variety of live information sessions on the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan, and provide virtual access to knowledge and networking.