Partner Aymen Mahmoud spoke with Law360 about the continued growth of shareholder claims against UK-listed companies, despite limited case law addressing key questions around reliance, loss and recovery.

The article highlights McDermott Will & Schulte’s claim on behalf of more than 100 institutional investors against British American Tobacco, as well as the broader rise in shareholder litigation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Commenting on the limited number of substantive judgments to date, Aymen said, “The relative absence of judgments in the area suggests that out-of-court settlements are being agreed.”

He also cautioned against viewing the trend simply as the arrival of US-style class actions in the UK: “These are claims grounded in English law and being pursued through the English courts.”

Read the full article in Law360.

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Marc Elovitz and John Fitzgerald shared insights on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposals to expand retail access to private markets, with commentary featured in the Financial Times, Ignites and Pensions & Investments.

Drawing on their experience in private fund regulation and registered investment products, Marc and John discussed how proposed changes to performance-based compensation, interval fund rules and share-class structures could affect managers seeking to bring private market strategies to a broader investor base.

Financial Times: A measured approach to expanding access

Marc, who leads the firm’s Investment Management Regulatory Group, described the proposed changes as “thoughtful and meaningful attempts to expand access,” emphasizing their targeted approach to broadening participation in private markets.

Pensions & Investments: Removing barriers for private market managers

John discussed how the proposed performance-fee changes could encourage private market managers to reconsider offering their strategies through registered funds.

“There have been private market managers who’ve been hesitant to enter registered funds because of the fee construct,” he said.

Marc explained that allowing regulated closed-end funds to offer multiple share classes without individual exemptive relief could reduce the time and expense associated with bringing products to investors.

Ignites: Investor demand remains key

John emphasized that greater regulatory flexibility alone would not determine whether managers enter the registered fund market. Managers would still need to assess whether their strategies appeal to investors, noting that “they are not going to offer a strategy if they do not think they can raise assets.”

Advising at the intersection of private markets and registered funds

McDermott Will & Schulte’s Investment Management practice combines private funds regulatory experience with advice on the formation, structuring and operation of registered investment products. With more than 150 lawyers worldwide, the group advises investment managers across the fund life cycle, from fund formation and capital raising to portfolio management and liquidity solutions. Its combined fund structuring, tax and regulatory experience helps managers develop investment vehicles for diverse investor bases and navigate evolving regulatory requirements.

McDermott Will & Schulte partners Dr. Jens Ortmanns and Dr. Maximilian Clostermeyer examine how variable purchase price clauses and alternative financing structures can help bridge valuation differences and financing gaps in real estate transactions in an article for Börsen-Zeitung.

The authors explore four approaches: variable purchase prices and earn-outs, vendor loans, combined financing and purchase models, and joint venture structures using put/call rights.

They also highlight key legal and regulatory considerations, including contractual protections, banking regulation, insolvency risks and governance arrangements.

Read the full article in Börsen-Zeitung.

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Partner Jason Zemmel spoke with Investors in Healthcare following a roundtable on UK social and long-term care at McDermott Will & Schulte’s HPE Europe conference.

The discussion explored renewed transaction activity and international investor interest, alongside financing, valuation and operational challenges shaping the market.

Jason also addressed whether the recent increase in deal activity will translate into completed transactions as the sector looks towards 2027.

Read more in Investors in Healthcare.

Carl Fleming was featured in The Tech Capital discussing how growing demand for AI and data center capacity is reshaping investment in energy and digital infrastructure.

In the article, “Own the Stack: When Power Meets Compute,” Carl discusses the increasing convergence between AI, energy developers and data center investors as companies seek greater control over power, land, connectivity, development expertise and access to capital. He explains that investors are increasingly looking beyond standalone assets to platforms that bring together multiple parts of the infrastructure stack.

The article highlights Copia Power’s sale to EQT, a transaction led by Carl and the McDermott team, as an example of that shift. McDermott represented Copia, a developer, owner and operator of integrated large-scale energy and digital infrastructure campuses across the United States, in its sale by Carlyle to EQT Infrastructure. The transaction reflects the growing intersection of renewable energy, data centers and AI infrastructure.

Carl also discusses how this integrated approach can create both opportunities and additional risk for investors, particularly as financing, construction and development become increasingly interconnected. Looking ahead, he notes that the next phase of digital infrastructure investment will be driven not only by data center development, but by control over critical inputs including power, interconnection, land and development expertise.

Read the full article.

Stephanie McCann spoke with LevFin Insights about the emergence of “fallaway covenants” in private credit documentation and how lenders are responding to increasingly aggressive sponsor requests.

Fallaway covenants can allow financial maintenance covenants to fall away once a borrower reaches a specified metric, such as an EBITDA threshold, effectively converting a covenanted loan into a cov-lite facility.

“This is an up-market ask by sponsors,” Stephanie told LevFin Insights. “In the middle market space, our lenders are not agreeing to this ask.”

Stephanie also discussed how lenders are approaching financial covenants amid competitive deal dynamics. “From an investment committee perspective, they often need one financial covenant in the loan documentation,” she said. “In order to be competitive, they are agreeing to cov-wide with no step-downs. In practice in a down-side scenario, the borrower/company is going to face liquidity issues before they trip the financial covenant.”

In a recent Modern Healthcare article, Emily Cook discusses why more hospitals are at risk of losing 340B eligibility as Medicaid coverage declines. Emily notes this is a situation many hospitals are facing, as shrinking Medicaid volumes threaten their ability to clear 340B’s eligibility thresholds — a trend she expects to accelerate. She also shared that some hospitals are considering adding back inpatient psychiatry and obstetric services, which many had previously cut due to low margins, due to the often-high Medicaid patient volume for such services that may increase opportunities to remain eligible for the 340B program.

Neil Kawashima shared his perspective with Forbes Finance Council on where wealth management firms should invest to strengthen the client experience while supporting efficient, scalable operations.

Neil advised firms to invest in talent, particularly in developing the people-facing skills of younger advisors. As raw data becomes more accessible, he explained, the ability to connect face-to-face is “more valuable, not less.”

He added that advisors who know how to connect authentically with clients and teammates strengthen the business and grow into better leaders.

Read the full article in Forbes Finance Council.

David Saunders spoke with StateScoop about the prospects for a comprehensive federal privacy law, which he and other experts say are increasingly unlikely this year as Congress contends with midterm elections and competing legislative priorities.

“Unfortunately, at this point, I think it is safe to assume we are not going to have a federal privacy law,” David said.

David explained that past efforts stalled in part due to opposition from states unwilling to see their existing privacy laws preempted. He noted that Congress has largely focused on issues like the economy, immigration, and national security over privacy, and that progress made in one legislative session, such as work on the SECURE Data Act, doesn’t automatically carry forward.

Looking ahead, David pointed to artificial intelligence as a potential trigger for federal action, adding that any crisis involving AI would likely force Congress to confront related privacy risks.

“At that moment, Congress will have to do something. When you’re considering AI, ancillary to it is privacy — protecting consumers from a disclosure of their information to a tool they can’t control. To me, that’s the lever.”

Read the full article in StateScoop.

Partners Emmanuelle Trombe and Anthony Paronneau spoke with Investors in Healthcare about the opportunities for European companies and investors as China’s biotech sector becomes an increasingly important source of global innovation.

Drawing on insights from a recent McDermott Will & Schulte roundtable on China’s biotech ecosystem, Emmanuelle and Anthony discussed evolving deal structures, including NewCo models, equity investment, co-development and co-commercialisation, that could enable European partners to participate more directly in the value created by Chinese biotech assets.

They also explored how Europe’s clinical capabilities, regulatory expertise, market access and investment capital could make it an increasingly important partner for Chinese biotech companies pursuing global development and commercialisation.

Read the full Investors in Healthcare article.