Global Financial Markets

The last few years have seen many changes and trends in the world of trade finance—not least because of well-publicized supply-chain disruptions around the globe. These and other factors have spurred changes in traditional products and pushed new structures to the fore. Please join Mayer Brown lawyers Evan DeCresce and Patrick Healy as they discuss some hot topics in trade finance.

Can online lead generation be done while remaining compliant under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA")? The answer is yes, but it is important to navigate the impermissible activities recently identified by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"). On February 7, 2023, the CFPB issued guidance in an advisory opinion addressing how it interprets RESPA and its implementing regulation, Regulation X, in the context of digital marketing and lead generation platforms for real estate settlement services. This guidance—the first issued by the CFPB on online lead generation—highlights several key compliance considerations for participants engaging in digital marketing of settlement services. Please join Mayer Brown lawyers Holly Bunting and Kerri Webb as they discuss the advisory opinion, how it impacts compliance under RESPA, and the questions raised by the CFPB's interpretations.

Many US businesses with significant non-US investors may be required to file a BE-12 with the Bureau of Economic Analysis ("BEA") this year as part of a survey that the BEA conducts every five years and most recently in 2018. The BE-12, also known as the Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, is a collection of financial and operating data that must be filed by certain US businesses—even if they have not been contacted by the BEA. Determining whether a US business must file a BE-12 and completing the form can be a significant burden, particularly if the business has limited compliance resources or is not subject to extensive regulation that requires similar data gathering. Please join US regulatory lawyers Matt Bisanz and Kerri Webb as they talk about what the BE-12 means for US businesses and their non-US investors.

Algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly being deployed in the financial services industry, with massive potential to automate and enhance processes, increase efficiency, improve customer service, and augment investment and lending analyses. However, with those potential benefits come challenges, such as the risk that AI applications may result in unintended bias or "unfair" discrimination against certain sub-groups. Please join Mayer Brown partners Niketa Patel, Tori Shinohara, and Jenn Rosa as they discuss potential risks and the current federal regulation landscape with respect to AI.

Litigation involving artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning presents special risks due to the inherent difficulties of explaining how these tools work. Please Join Mayer Brown lawyers Reg Goeke, Alex Lakatos, and Christopher Leach as they discuss the risks of using AI tools, solutions that can help mitigate those risks, and explainability challenges that arise when litigating cases involving AI tools.

The end of 2022 saw a few noteworthy proposals and other actions by the US banking regulators. Final rulemakings on some proposals may come in 2023 but likely not before we see additional proposals in the first half of the new year. Some are long-awaited, and others are newly inspired, actions of the moment. Please join Mayer Brown partners Jeffrey Taft and Matt Bisanz as they discuss what's happening and how it may impact the banking industry.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") recently introduced a host of initiatives related to statutory accounting, credit quality designation and related regulatory risk-based capital affecting CLOs and other types of structured finance in which US insurance companies invest. Mayer Brown partners Paul Forrester and Larry Hamilton will discuss how these initiatives are affecting insurer investments in ABS now and potentially in the future.