A&O Shearman Europe insights

Italy's financial regulatory framework is undergoing significant reform — and the proposed changes to the Italian Financial Act raise questions the funds industry has been grappling with for years. What do the new insolvency-related measures mean for Italian funds in practice? And do they finally resolve the long-running debate over the legal status of contractual AIFs? 

Alberto Claretta-Assandri, head of Italy Funds and Financial Regulatory at A&O Shearman, and Tommaso Paltrinieri, senior associate in the restructuring team, provide a clear overview of the proposed reform, its insolvency implications for Italian funds, and what it means for the question of their legal personality. 

Listeners with exposure to Italian fund structures will come away with a sharper understanding of how the proposed reforms could reshape insolvency risk and legal status for contractual AIFs. 

Please note: this episode is conducted in Italian. 

The relationship between European and U.S. asset managers is being reshaped by regulatory shifts, changing capital flows, and the growing appeal of new markets. For fund managers on both sides of the Atlantic, the opportunity to access unfamiliar markets has never been clearer, or more complicated to navigate. 

Recorded live at Luxembourg's Private Equity Association flagship conference, LPEA Insights, Laurent Goyer, counsel at A&O Shearman, is joined by Elaine Hughes, US Co-Head of Funds & Asset Management to explore the forces driving convergence and divergence between the European and U.S. asset management markets.  

The conversation covers:  

The episode provides a candid picture of how the transatlantic asset management landscape is shifting and where the most significant opportunities and friction points lie.

The UK's new failure to prevent fraud offence marks a step change in corporate criminal liability, and its implications for M&A are significant. Large companies can now be held to account for fraud committed by employees, agents, subsidiaries and other associated persons.  

How broad is the offence? What does it mean for deal structuring and due diligence? And what practical steps should businesses be taking now? 

Matt Townsend, co-head of A&O Shearman's Global International Trade group, is joined by counsel Tom d'Ardenne and associate Ming Zee Tee to unpack the new offence and trace its implications across the deal lifecycle.  

Drawing parallels with the transformational impact of the UK Bribery Act in 2011, they examine how governance, policies and procedures need to evolve, and what the new rules mean for how organisations should prepare for and conduct transactions, particularly around governance, policies, and procedures.  

Annual reporting season brings a fresh set of demands, and 2025–2026 is no exception. With the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 now in effect, changes to the directors' report and remuneration report to navigate, and sustainability reporting developments gathering pace, company secretaries and their teams have significant ground to cover.  

What does current market practice for AGMs look like? What are the practical implications of the new Code? And what is coming down the track that boards should be planning for now? 

This episode works through the essential considerations for company secretaries preparing for their next annual report and AGM, covering trends expected in 2026, the practical impact of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, and the pipeline of regulatory and market changes that will shape corporate reporting in the near future. 

Listeners will leave better equipped to plan, prepare and execute their reporting obligations with confidence, and with a clear view of what is coming next. 

Luxembourg's reverse hybrid mismatch rule under ATAD 2 has long been one of the jurisdiction's most complex tax puzzles, particularly when it comes to the collective investment vehicle carve-out.  

Has the uncertainty finally been resolved? And what do fund managers and tax advisers operating in Luxembourg need to understand now? 

Johanna Tschurtschenthaler, counsel in A&O Shearman's Tax practice, and Chiara Wolf, associate in Tax, return to this topic to bring clarity to the CIV carve-out, walking through the rule's mechanics, the issues that have made it so difficult to apply in practice, and what the current state of play means for structures in scope. 

The Court of Appeal's overturn of the Petrofac restructuring plan and the subsequent High Court rejection of the Waldorf plan have sent shockwaves through the restructuring market. Both cases raise hard questions about what constitutes a fair allocation of restructuring value, and what evidence companies need to justify it. For anyone considering the restructuring plan as a tool, these judgments demand close attention. 

London Restructuring partners Katrina Buckley, Karen McMaster and Tim Watson, together with Restructuring Senior Knowledge Lawyer Chris Poel, are joined by Lisa Rickelton, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, to unpack the commercial specifics of both cases, the Court of Appeal's reasoning in Petrofac, the knock-on impact on Waldorf, and the practical implications for future restructuring plan structures.  

Our contributors discuss the specific commercial matters at play in the Petrofac case and why the Court of Appeal came to its decision; the impact of Petrofac on the Waldorf case, what amounts to a “fair” allocation of the benefits generated by a restructuring; how companies can strengthen their evidence to justify such allocations; and the merits or otherwise of possible alternatives to a restructuring plan. 

For further details, we also recommend reading our previous article setting out a thorough consideration of the Petrofac Court of Appeal judgment and its implications. 

Episode 3: The ICO is being restructured, and its enforcement powers are being expanded. And PECR — the rules governing direct marketing, cookies and electronic communications — is being significantly updated. For organisations already navigating a complex data protection compliance landscape, the changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 have real operational implications.  

What has changed? What does it mean for how organisations handle cookies, direct marketing and data breaches? And what should compliance teams be prioritising now? 

Senior knowledge lawyer Emma Keeling and former ICO Deputy Commissioner Steve Wood close this three-part series by examining the DUAA's enforcement and e-privacy provisions, covering the ICO's restructured governance, its expanded enforcement powers, and the PECR updates that affect direct marketing and cookie compliance. The alignment between PECR and the broader data protection regime is a key focus. 

This podcast provides a practical understanding of the DUAA's enforcement architecture and what the changes to PECR mean for compliance programmes. 

DUAA Decoded examines the practical implications of the UK's Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Each episode unpacks what has changed and, crucially, what it means for organisations operating under the UK's data protection framework. These podcasts provide a clear, practical understanding of the DUAA's innovation-focused provisions, and what they mean for day-to-day data operations. 

Episode 2: One of the UK Government's central promises for the Data (Use and Access) Act was simpler compliance. But does the reality match the rhetoric?  

For legal, data protection and compliance teams navigating GDPR, the Data Protection Act and PECR, the question is a practical one: do these changes meaningfully reduce the day-to-day burden, or do they simply shift it? 

Senior knowledge lawyer Emma Keeling and former ICO Deputy Commissioner Steve Wood examine the DUAA's compliance-easing provisions in detail, looking at changes to lawful basis, data subject rights, the complaints process and international transfers. They assess where the Act genuinely delivers relief and where organisations still face complexity. 

DUAA Decoded examines the practical implications of the UK's Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Each episode unpacks what has changed and, crucially, what it means for organisations operating under the UK's data protection framework. These podcasts provide a clear, practical understanding of the DUAA's innovation-focused provisions, and what they mean for day-to-day data operations. 

Episode 1: The UK's Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 carries an ambitious promise: to unlock the secure and effective use of data, drive innovation, and reduce the compliance burden.  

But does it deliver? And what do the changes mean in practice for businesses and organisations subject to the UK's GDPR, Data Protection Act and PECR? 

Senior knowledge lawyer Emma Keeling and former ICO Deputy Commissioner Steve Wood open this three-part series by examining the DUAA through the lens of innovation, exploring what has changed for automated decision-making, the purpose limitation principle, and processing for research, archiving and statistical purposes. The question at the heart of this episode: do these changes genuinely open new doors, or do the details tell a more complicated story? 

DUAA Decoded examines the practical implications of the UK's Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Each episode unpacks what has changed and, crucially, what it means for organisations operating under the UK's data protection framework. These podcasts provide a clear, practical understanding of the DUAA's innovation-focused provisions, and what they mean for day-to-day data operations. 

Episode 2: Three sweeping legislative packages are set to redefine the legal and compliance landscape for Poland's financial sector. Understanding what they contain, how they interact, and what they mean for financial institutions is now a practical priority for compliance, legal and risk teams operating in the market. 

Hosts Paweł Mruk-Zawirski and Filip Główka dissect the three packages in detail, mapping the changes and their implications with the clarity that the complexity of the legislation demands, and signposting the steps financial institutions should be taking to prepare. 

Listeners will come away with a clear understanding of the three legislative packages, their combined effect on the compliance landscape, and the practical priorities for financial institutions in Poland. 

Warsaw Financial Regulatory delivers expert analysis of the legal and regulatory developments shaping Poland's financial sector. Each episode breaks down the legislation, policy shifts and compliance challenges that matter most to financial institutions operating in or entering the Polish market.