K&L Gates assembled a great panel on March 28 during the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (#GMIS2017) at Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, including David Bell, Mohammed Omar, Mark Beer OBE, Arthur Artinian, Claude-Etienne Armingaud and William Reichert, to discuss the legal and regulatory issues relating to the Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Connected Cars

#GMIS2017 IoT & Connected Car panel with K&L Gates

#GMIS2017 IoT & Connected Car panel with K&L Gates

K&L Gates LLP Paris a conseillé FactSet, un des leaders mondiaux en matière de gestion de données financières et d’édition de logiciels d’analyse, dans le cadre de l’acquisition auprès de Aquiline Capital Partners et du management de BISAM Technologies S.A. (“BISAM”), un des principaux éditeurs de logiciels de mesure et d’attribution de performance et de mesure du risque. L’opération s’élève à 205 millions de dollars.

De nombreux grands gestionnaires d’actifs mondiaux utilisent les logiciels de BISAM pour évaluer et améliorer leurs stratégies d’investissement et mieux servir leurs clients. Ces produits vont élargir l’offre existante de FactSet.

L’avis de l’associé en charge du dossier, Jean-Patrice Labautière sur l’opération: “Nous sommes très heureux d’accompagner à nouveau FactSet dans le cadre de son expansion internationale. Cette opération transatlantique sophistiquée est au cœur de notre savoir-faire.

L’équipe multidisciplinaire qui a conseillé FactSet était constituée de : Jean-Patrice Labautière, Arthur Anton, Julie Dahan (M&A) ; Claude-Etienne Armingaud, Olivia Roche, Clémence Marolla (IP/IT/Data Privacy) ; Christine Artus, Julie Bouchard, Charlotte Dubois (Social) ; Bertrand Dussert, Alban Michou Tognelli (Fiscal).

Première publication : Le Monde du Droit

The French Act No. 2016-1321 of 7 Oct. 2016 for a Digital Republic (the “Digital Republic Act”) amends the existing framework for online intermediation platform created under Article L.111-5-1 of the French Consumer code by the Act No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015.

The Digital Republic Act creates a general, autonomous and impersonal status of online platform operator (“OPO”) and completes the existing legal framework relating to consumer protection through the consumers’ prior information.
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After its invalidation of the data retention requirements imposed by Directive 2006/24/EC in its Digital Rights Ireland decision dated 8 April 2014, the ECJ was requested to assess the compatibility with the Directive 2002/58/EC (the “ePrivacy Directive”) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the “CFREU”) of a domestic legislation mandating a general and indiscriminate obligation to retain traffic and location data, without prior judicial review, for purposes including the fight against crime.). The ECJ joined the two cases which had been submitted for review and issued its decision on 21 December 2016 (the “Decision”).
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The advent of autonomous cars represents a unique opportunity to rethink urbanism globally. Indeed, such a technological evolution will undoubtedly foster the development of a range of new offerings, such as car sharing and value-added opportunities, while at the same time ensure added safety on the roads at a time when traffic injuries remain the primary cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.

One direction in which this new paradigm could be expressed may be the decline of exclusive car ownership and the shift toward CaaS, or “Car-as-a-Service”. Autonomous cars could be shared among a community of subscribers and used on an as-needed basis, after which they could then park themselves outside of the urban landscape for battery-reloading purposes or when not in use.
Nevertheless, such an idealistic picture can only be achieved once all regulatory barriers have been lifted.
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New China Article:

However, the convention has been signed by 75 contracting countries only, said Claude-Etienne Armingaud, Paris partner at K&L Gates. One of the most notable absentees is the United States, he added.
Read full article here.

New China Article:

However, the convention has been signed by 75 contracting countries only, said Claude-Etienne Armingaud, Paris partner at K&L Gates. One of the most notable absentees is the United States, he added.
Read full article here.

ArabianIndustry.com article by Fatima De La Cerna

Autonomous transportation systems may no longer be the stuff of science fiction, but there’s still a large amount of work, regulation-wise, that needs to be done before they can replace conventional vehicles on the road.


“A start has been made towards laying the foundation of a regulatory framework in many countries around the world, but there are still considerable challenges that must be overcome by lawmakers and regulators alike in developing a comprehensive and unified approach to govern what we anticipate will be a strong sector in the near future,” said Claude-Étienne Armingaud, a Paris-based partner at K&L Gates, who spoke via video link during a press conference held on 7 March, in Dubai.

Read the full article here.

ArabianIndustry.com article by Fatima De La Cerna

Autonomous transportation systems may no longer be the stuff of science fiction, but there’s still a large amount of work, regulation-wise, that needs to be done before they can replace conventional vehicles on the road.


“A start has been made towards laying the foundation of a regulatory framework in many countries around the world, but there are still considerable challenges that must be overcome by lawmakers and regulators alike in developing a comprehensive and unified approach to govern what we anticipate will be a strong sector in the near future,” said Claude-Étienne Armingaud, a Paris-based partner at K&L Gates, who spoke via video link during a press conference held on 7 March, in Dubai.

Read the full article here.

Despite the lack of announcement by UK Government to give notification to the EU under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty of its decision to withdraw from the Union, France is already making its move to move into the steps of the former Fintech capital of Europe. On January 25-26, 2017, more than 1,500 people attended the second edition of the Paris FinTech Forum, encompassing more than 28 countries and 130 companies, from global players to startups.

The irony of the event location, set in the historical venue of the former Paris Stock Exchange building, was not lost to the Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau who wondered “Who would have imagined just a few years ago that a central banker would be speaking at a forum on innovation?” before recognizing that “For banks and insurers, the digital revolution is upsetting the traditional model for client relations” and “there are difficult choices ahead.

In addition to Fintech – both in their classic understanding of technological innovation applied to the finance industry to more disruptive models, the Forum also gave the opportunity to demonstrate the blossoming RegTech scene. RegTech encompasses all added-value solutions which make it easier for banking services to ensure compliance with applicable regulation, be it for the KYC or AML purposes. Blockchain based solutions also departed from their original Bitcoin association to showcase a broad range of innovative services, from identity control to supply-chain management.

While investments, both in terms of number of operations and invested amounts, have been slightly decreasing in 2016, the Paris Fintech Forum was a proud statement that the market was maturing into products ready to hit the market on a large-scale basis.

The Paris Fintech Forum showcased the strong interest of the French current Government in blockchain technology (see NewsBTC article here), in the wake of the uncertainty surrounding the consequences of the Brexit announcement (see Business Mirror article here). However, France itself will be facing a general election next April and uncertainty may also prevail until then on the continent.

First publication: K&L Gates Fintech Law Watch