Annette L. Nazareth

Ms. Nazareth is head of Davis Polk's Washington DC office and leads the trading and markets practice within the firm’s Financial Institutions Group. [Full Bio]

Firm/Organization: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Blogs: Briefing: Governance, FinReg

Latest Articles

FinReg

Giancarlo Races to the Cross Border Line

By Jai R. Massari, Annette L. Nazareth & Gabriel D. Rosenberg on June 11, 2019

In his final speech to the FIA, Chairman Giancarlo last week discussed three cross border swaps proposals that he will schedule for Commission consideration before he steps down on July 15. Giancarlo has been particularly focused during his tenure on advancing a cross border swaps framework based on regulatory deference for jurisdictions that have adopted comparable G-20 swaps reforms—a position he advocated in a White Paper in 2018. He is keenly interested to see his…

FinReg

The FSB and IOSCO Are Watching Crypto Assets and DeFi

By Jai R. Massari & Annette L. Nazareth on June 7, 2019

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) are increasing their focus on crypto assets and decentralized financial technologies (DeFi). Over the past week, the organizations published reports providing updates on, discussing developments in, and assessing risks relating to crypto-asset and DeFi initiatives around the world. Given that these organizations facilitate coordination among national financial regulators, these reports may reflect the thinking of U.S. banking and markets regulators, as well…

FinReg

SEC Cross-Border Proposal Balances Burdens and Benefits of New SBS Regime

By Annette L. Nazareth, Gabriel D. Rosenberg, Jai R. Massari & Adam B. Fovent on May 16, 2019

On Friday, the SEC proposed a package of rule amendments and regulatory guidance regarding the cross-border application of its security-based swap (“SBS”) rules. The proposal represents an attempt by the SEC to reconsider certain aspects of the cross-border application of SBS regulatory requirements that market participants have identified as unnecessarily burdensome or incongruous with parallel CFTC swaps requirements. The proposal addresses five key topics, two of which relate to the application of the SBS rules…

FinReg

SEC Staff Doubles Down on Howey for Digital Assets

By Joseph A. Hall, Jai R. Massari, Annette L. Nazareth & Zachary J. Zweihorn on April 9, 2019

Last week, the SEC staff published new detailed guidance on its views of when a digital asset may be considered a security, in the form of two documents: a guidance “framework” issued by the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology and a no-action letter from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. The Framework for “Investment Contract” Analysis of Digital Assets sets out “a framework for analyzing whether a digital asset is an investment…

FinReg

Chairman Jay Clayton and Director Brett Redfearn Preview Potential Further Equity Market Structure Reforms—Exchange Market Data Business Model Targeted

By Annette L. Nazareth, Zachary J. Zweihorn, Mark A. Sater & Eric B. Lewin on March 18, 2019

Earlier this month, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and Division of Trading and Markets Director Brett Redfearn engaged in a public dialogue on equity market structure issues. In addition to reviewing three equity market structure initiatives adopted by the SEC in 2018 (the transaction fee pilot, enhanced order handling disclosure requirements and new transparency requirements for alternative trading systems that trade NMS stocks), Clayton and Redfearn highlighted three areas for potential further rulemaking:…

FinReg

SEC Adopts Enhanced Order Handling Disclosure Requirements

By Annette L. Nazareth, Gregory Rowland, Zachary J. Zweihorn & Mark A. Sater on November 27, 2018

The SEC recently voted to adopt amendments to Rule 606 of Regulation NMS (the “Final Rule”) that expand broker-dealers’ disclosure obligations with regard to how they handle investors’ orders. Specifically, the Final Rule requires broker-dealers, beginning May 20, 2019, (i) to provide, upon request, individualized reports in a standardized format containing information on their handling of customers’ “not held” orders (i.e., those orders for which the broker has price and time discretion) and (ii) to…

FinReg

CFTC Chairman Giancarlo’s White Paper Outlines Specific Recommendations to Cross-Border Swaps Regulation

By Jai R. Massari, Annette L. Nazareth, Gabriel D. Rosenberg & Meghan E. King on October 12, 2018

After a several-year pause, the CFTC is again re-assessing its approach to cross-border regulation of swap activities. The CFTC’s current approach is embodied in various rulemakings, guidance, orders, and agreements with non-U.S. regulators that have been adopted, issued, and entered into since 2013. The CFTC has, over the past several years, periodically sought to adjust or re-evaluate its approach to cross-border swaps regulation, including in a 2016 Proposed Cross-Border Rule. CFTC Chairman Giancarlo has…

FinReg

SEC Reopens Comment Period for Security-Based Swap Capital, Margin and Segregation Rules

By Annette L. Nazareth, Jai R. Massari & Mark A. Sater on October 12, 2018

On October 11, 2018, the SEC reopened the comment period and requested additional comments for previously proposed rules relating to capital, margin, and segregation requirements for security-based swap dealers (“SBSDs”), major security-based swap participants (“MSBSPs,” and together with SBSDs, “SBS Entities”) and, in some cases, broker-dealers. The rules, most of which were initially proposed six years ago, would establish: capital and margin requirements for non-bank SBS Entities (the federal banking regulators adopted capital and margin…

FinReg

The New York AG Weighs In On Virtual Currency Exchanges

By Jai R. Massari, Annette L. Nazareth & Ryan Johansen on September 21, 2018

The regulation and operations of virtual currency exchanges are again in the spotlight, due to the new report issued by the Office of the New York Attorney General (OAG). The report, which follows the April launch by the OAG of its Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative (VMII), describes in detail the results of the OAG’s “fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices of platforms used by consumers” (discussed in an earlier Blockchain Bulletin). The…

FinReg

Regulators Step Up Enforcement on Crypto Firms

By Annette L. Nazareth, Jai R. Massari, Zachary J. Zweihorn, Ryan Johansen & Trevor I. Kiviat on September 13, 2018

After a several month lull that led some to question the SEC’s focus on crypto enforcement, this week saw a spate of enforcement activity involving crypto assets: several SEC enforcement actions, an SEC trading suspension order, the first FINRA cryptocurrency enforcement action, and a preliminary court decision consistent with the view that ICO tokens may be (and perhaps often are) securities. These actions give life to SEC Chairman Clayton’s statement that “to the extent something…

Annette L. Nazareth

Giancarlo Races to the Cross Border Line

The FSB and IOSCO Are Watching Crypto Assets and DeFi

SEC Cross-Border Proposal Balances Burdens and Benefits of New SBS Regime

SEC Staff Doubles Down on Howey for Digital Assets

Chairman Jay Clayton and Director Brett Redfearn Preview Potential Further Equity Market Structure Reforms—Exchange Market Data Business Model Targeted

SEC Adopts Enhanced Order Handling Disclosure Requirements

CFTC Chairman Giancarlo’s White Paper Outlines Specific Recommendations to Cross-Border Swaps Regulation

SEC Reopens Comment Period for Security-Based Swap Capital, Margin and Segregation Rules

The New York AG Weighs In On Virtual Currency Exchanges

Regulators Step Up Enforcement on Crypto Firms

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