Schulte Roth & Zabel’s representation of the Strategic Organizing Center’s (SOC) shareholder activism campaign against Starbucks was highlighted in the Financial Times article, “How unions are fighting a boardroom battle at Starbucks.” 

The SOC, which represents a coalition of trade unions, has nominated a slate of three Board candidates for election at the company’s 2024 annual shareholder meeting. As reported in the Financial Times, “[T]he SOC has injected heft into its campaign by enlisting the help of well-regarded advisers, including law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel…” 

The firm’s team representing the SOC is being led by partner Ele Klein, co-chair of the Global Shareholder Activism Group, and associates Brandon S. Gold and Daniel A. Goldstein, and also includes associates Julia R. Cummings and Joseph E. D’Arco.  

Read the Financial Times article 

Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Stephanie Breslow recently discussed exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals with MarketWatch reporter Frances Yue for her article titled, “Bitcoin ETFs fueled hopes for other crypto ETFs — but don’t get too excited.” She explained whether the recent SEC approval of Bitcoin as an ETF means other cryptocurrencies will also be approved as commodities. 

Stephanie stated, “it may be too early to get excited,” because “for other crypto, there is still a dispute in many cases between the SEC and other market participants about which cryptocurrencies are securities, and whether the crypto that were once securities are still securities.” There are multiple ongoing lawsuits over unregistered securities exchanges that are important to watch, according to Stephanie. She said, “Those court cases are not in themselves directly about whether you could have an ETF, but I do think that finding the boundaries between what is and what isn’t a security will be relevant to which crypto end up being capable of being wrapped into ETFs.” 

Stephanie added that the question of whether the market for a crypto is large and rational enough remains even if it is not considered a security. She said, “In the case of Bitcoin, it is very widely traded. Something that is more thinly traded wouldn’t really support an ETF.” 

Read more here.  

In a recent article for The Hedge Fund Journal titled, “UK Short Selling Update: UK reporting threshold goes up to 0.2% from February 2024,” Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Anna Maleva-Otto and associate Matthew Dow detail the new reporting threshold for net short positions and other anticipated reforms of the UK short selling regime. 

The Short Selling (Notification Threshold) Regulations 2023 adopted as part of the post-Brexit review of the UK financial services regulatory framework will increase the initial threshold for reporting of net short positions to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) from 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent.

Read the article here. 

Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Doug Mintz commented on the potential disputes related to FTX’s bankruptcy plan in The Deal article titled, “Bitcoin Spike Burns FTX Creditors.” 

In recent months, the price of the digital currency has more than doubled, leaving creditors in the bankruptcy case of FTX Trading Ltd. to contest the value of FTX’s assets. Under the terms of the company’s current proposed bankruptcy plan, customers who held digital assets with FTX would be compensated in cash in an amount equivalent to their value on the day the company filed for bankruptcy. However, some creditors are contending that their payouts should be adjusted to reflect its current increased value.  

Doug noted that each side has its merits, he stated, “There’s an argument to be made about what it’s worth when it gets to confirmation.”  

Looking toward future implications of this decision, Doug added, “[The] biggest impact is the way courts will value an ever-changing, highly volatile asset like crypto.” 

Read more here.