The Board of Directors of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) has issued Decision No. 3 of 2026, introducing the Instructions for the International License to Practice Certain Activities in International Financial Markets (the Instructions).

The Instructions create a regulatory framework under which QFMA-licensed financial services firms may, with prior QFMA approval, conduct specified activities in international financial markets. The new regime forms part of Qatar’s broader effort to develop its capital markets and expand access to international investment opportunities while maintaining regulatory oversight and investor protection.

Continue Reading QFMA Introduces International Licensing Regime for Financial Services Firms

Crowell & Moring has joined the International Legal Finance Association’s (ILFA) Industry Partner Program, a network of legal and professional organizations committed to supporting the responsible growth of commercial legal finance. Through the program, partners support ILFA’s work to educate policymakers, courts, regulators, and stakeholders about the value of litigation finance, and advocate for a regulatory environment that preserves access to capital and justice.

Paul B. Haskel, co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Group, said “Crowell is proud to join ILFA’s Industry Partnership Program. We’ve seen firsthand how legal finance is reshaping the way claims get pursued and funded, and we look forward to supporting ILFA’s effort to advance the standards and policy discussions that will define where this market goes next.”

Click here to read ILFA’s press release.

Crowell & Moring attorneys Paul Haskel, John Laird, Scott Lessne, and Paul Muscutt have contributed a chapter to ICLG’s Lending & Secured Finance Laws and Regulations 2026, providing a comprehensive introduction to litigation funding.

The chapter examines the key players in the litigation funding space, the legal and regulatory frameworks governing funding arrangements in the U.S. and UK, the types of financing structures most commonly used, the underwriting process, and taxation.

Read the full chapter here.

For many asset-based lenders (“ABLs”) that do not take deposits, CRD VI’s branch requirements will not apply directly — but reliance on the non-bank carve-out requires careful, structure-specific analysis, and does not eliminate all regulatory risk.

General

CRD VI (Directive 2024/1619) introduces an EU-wide framework governing how non-EU undertakings may provide core banking services to EU borrowers. Article 21c requires third-country undertakings providing core banking services (including lending) within a Member State to establish a branch authorised under the Directive (a “third-country branch”). CRD VI applies primarily to “credit institutions” as defined under the Capital Requirements Regulation (“CRR”). The regime sits alongside existing national licensing frameworks. It should also be noted that CRD VI introduces other obligations (including ESG risk management and governance requirements) beyond the scope of this note.

Continue Reading CRD VI: New Rules for Cross-Border Lending into Europe — Why the Non-Bank Carve-Out Matters, but Is Not the Full Story

On June 4, 2026, Crowell partners Caroline Brown and Anand Sithian hosted the ACSS New York Chapter at the firm’s New York office for a panel discussion titled “Renewed Focus on Cartels, Transnational Criminal Organizations, and Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Compliance Challenges for Financial Institutions and Multinationals.” The sold-out event brought together practitioners from the financial crime compliance community for a timely and substantive conversation at the intersection of sanctions, narcotics trafficking, and AML risk.

Continue Reading Crowell Hosts ACSS New York Chapter Event on Cartels, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Financial Crime Compliance

In an effort to improve market efficiency and to speed settlement, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (the “LSTA”) has amended its trading documents in order to address concerns that market participants are increasingly failing to make timely payment of the “Purchase Price” with respect to their bank loan trade settlements. Although typically only one or two days late, some delays have been substantially longer, and such failures can understandably prove to be quite costly to loan sellers and disruptive to the market as a whole. The amendments introduce language into the LSTA Standard Terms and Conditions for its suite of trade confirmations (the “Standard Terms”) that requires tardy loan buyers to pay a “Late Payment Fee.” *

Continue Reading LSTA Introduces Late Payment Fees for Loan Trade Transactions

Crowell was proud to serve as a sponsor of the recent New York University School of Law symposium on “Charting the Future of Litigation Finance.” The symposium brought together over 200 leading lawyers, academics, policymakers, and judges for an engaging discussion on the regulatory and policy issues surrounding this rapidly growing area of finance. Crowell partner Kevin Rubinstein spoke on “Nonattorneys Enter the Room: Financier Control and Law Firm Ownership.”

Continue Reading Crowell Sponsors NYU Law Litigation Finance Symposium

Crowell is proud to serve as a sponsor of and speaker at the American Conference Institute (ACI) 20th annual flagship conference on economic sanctions enforcement and compliance over April 29-30, 2026. Crowell partner and co-chair of the Financial Services group, Carlton Greene, spoke at the conference on “Latin America Under Scrutiny: Mitigating the Expanding Cross-Industry Risks Posed by Cartels and FTO Designation.”

The largest and most respected sanctions conference of its kind, the event represents the definitive gathering for sanctions and compliance professionals, bringing together regulators, industry leaders, and legal experts shaping the future of global sanctions policy.

What You Need to Know

  • Key takeaway #1: Threat actors are no longer just looking for software bugs; they are spending months building fake identities to “befriend” organizations and conduct corporate espionage.
  • Key takeaway #2: The Drift incident reflects a familiar Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) playbook with an in-person twist: identity deception, relationship-building, privileged access, and rapid monetization ― the same methods central to North Korea’s remote IT worker schemes.
  • Key takeaway #3: Where a small group of individuals can authorize consequential financial or administrative actions, social engineering and insider-enabled compromise present significant legal, compliance, and operational risk. High-risk approvals, access governance, and hiring controls should be treated as core security measures.

The recent $285 million theft from Drift Protocol serves as a high-stakes reminder that the human element remains one of the biggest cybersecurity gaps in any organization. This was not a “hack” in the traditional sense of breaking through a digital wallet. North Korean actors used sophisticated social engineering to exploit human trust ―  highlighting what looks like a “hacking” risk into valuable lessons learned for cybersecurity oversight.

Continue Reading Drift Protocol Exploit: Why “Social Trust” Is the Newest Cybersecurity Gap

Crowell was proud to serve as a sponsor of and speaker at the recent Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS) annual U.S. conference on global sanctions and export controls. Crowell partners Anand Sithian and Caroline Brown spoke at the conference. Anand spoke on “The After-Action Review of Recent Sanctions and Export Controls Enforcement Actions,” and Caroline spoke on “The New War on Drugs: Cartels, and Transnational Criminal Organizations.”

The event brought together leading government officials and industry specialists for insight and practical guidance on today’s geopolitical, sanctions, and export controls landscape and the most pressing compliance challenges.

Continue Reading Crowell Sponsors ACSS Annual U.S. Conference on Global Sanctions and Export Controls