Capital Markets Development and Reform

Levin & Srinivasan advises many governments and sovereign clients regarding the development and reform of their capital markets, principally through the establishment or improvement of the legal and institutional infrastructure necessary to ensure the growth and development of efficient capital markets.

We assist these clients in evaluating and formulating regulatory goals with respect to, among other things:  primary offerings of debt and equity securities (including prospectus form, content, and delivery requirements); distinctions between public offerings and private placements; secondary market trading of debt and equity securities; public company reporting and disclosure requirements (including accounting and financial disclosure requirements); stock exchanges, over-the-counter markets, and the appropriate listing standards (including volume and quality requirements); integration in regional practices and requirements, transfers of and security interests in book-entry (uncertificated) securities; payment, settlement, clearing, depository, and custodial systems; brokers and dealers, collective investment schemes and mutual funds, investment advisors, and other financial intermediaries (including investment and merchant banks); and liability, anti-fraud, and jurisdiction standards.

Levin & Srinivasan helps its clients achieve those goals through:  drafting capital markets legislation and regulations in conformity with any applicable regional or international standards and, to the extent necessary, drafting constitutional amendments; creating and developing securities regulators with supervisory and regulatory authority over their capital markets, including drafting the securities regulators’ internal regulations; creating and developing stock exchanges and over-the-counter markets and related trade clearance and settlement systems; and designing and implementing specifically-tailored training programs for local capital markets professionals (including current and prospective members of the securities regulators’ and stock exchanges’ staffs, government policy makers, institutional and other investors, accountants, and attorneys) to build local regulatory and transaction execution capabilities, as well as mass education programs for the general public aimed at increasing awareness of the purpose and financial benefits of capital markets.