On 3 October 2016, during a conference organized by the French Comity of Car Manufacturers (“CCFA”) during the Paris Motor Show, Mrs. Sophie Nerbonne, the Compliance Director of the French Data Protection Authority (“Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés” or “CNIL”), hosted a press conference in the ongoing fact-gathering for the CNIL’s “compliance package on connected vehicles” (link – in French) on the basis of the Act no. 78-17 dated 6 January 1978, relating to information technology, data files and civil liberties.

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K&L Gates ranked “Highly Recommended” with E. Drouard & Claude-Etienne Armingaud by Leaders League.

Source: No longer publicly available

K&L Gates is ranked in the Industry focus: IT, telecoms and the internet ranking as Band 3

Headed by E. Drouard, K&L Gates LLP’s six-lawyer team assists major companies with digital transformation, outsourcing matters and IT systems integration. It also advises on cutting-edge data protection matters. Altarea-Cogedim Group and Voyages-SNCF.com are clients, as are a number of luxury goods manufacturers and advertising groups. Senior associate Claude-Etienne Armingaud is another name to note.”

Source: Legal 500 EMEA

On March 24, the French National Assembly hosted a day-long conference on “Blockchain: Disruption and Opportunities.

This event aimed at raising awareness of the French elected representatives and corporate executives on blockchain issues and potential uses for the digital transformation of society as a whole.

The closing statement provided by Emmanuel Macron, the French Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Economy, was subsequently echoed by his announcement on March 29 of the upcoming adaptation of the French finance regulatory framework in order to progressively allow the introduction of the technology.

This adaptation should first open up to experimentation on the mini-bond market, to be expanded to other tools.

Mr. Macron stated that he was “aware of the importance of the disruptive potential of the blockchain” while the regulatory framework was limited by the current French and European regulations, which prevented the use of the blockchain “in real-life situations, i.e. with real clients and not exclusively in closed beta test scenario within a given financial institution.

It was also announced that a ministerial ordinance had just been submitted for review to the French Administrative Supreme Court (“Conseil d’État”) to allow for such experimentation in the coming weeks.

First published on K&L Gates FinTech Law Blog.

While the Obama administration just announced that the financing of the autonomous car would be one of its last projects during the Detroit Auto Show, the research services from the European Parliament also published a prospective note on a similar topic.

The two projects share a same ambition: reduce the death toll on the roads as well as energy consumption. (more…)

Prima Biomed Ltd. (ASX:PRR) entered into an agreement to acquire Immutep, S.A. for $28 million in cash, shares and warrants on October 2, 2014. Acquisition funding of the total consideration of up to approximately $28 million will be funded with up to $18 million in cash, partly based on the achievement of key milestones, the issue of Prima ordinary shares totaling approximately $3 million and based on a VWAP calculation and the issue of 200 million warrants equating to a consideration value of approximately $7 million. In order to fund the acquisition and provide ongoing working capital, Prima Biomed has secured an investment agreement with Bergen Global Opportunity Fund, LP managed by Bergen Asset Management for up to $37.4 million. Immutep’s founder and Scientific and Medical Director, Frederic Triebel will join Prima as its Chief Scientific Officer, along with his scientific team, to oversee the LAG-3 development program and to advise on the ongoing development of CVac. The deal is subject to approval of Prima Biomed Ltd. shareholders. As of November 14, 2014, the transaction was approved by shareholders of Prima Biomed Ltd.

Adam Holdsworth from ProActive Capital, Matthew Gregorowski from Citadel Communications and Axel Muhlhaus from edicto GmbH acted as the public relation advisors in this transaction. Jean-Patrice Labautière, François Lan, Alexandre Brossier, Claude-Etienne Armingaud, Ariane Samson-Divisia, Julie Bouchard, Bertrand Dussert and Glenn Hughes of K&L Gates acted as legal advisors to Prima Biomed Ltd. Pascale Gallien and Vincent Maufront of Heenan Paris acted as legal advisors for shareholders of Immutep.

Prima Biomed Ltd. (ASX:PRR) completed the acquisition of Immutep, S.A. for $25 million in cash, shares and warrants on December 17, 2014. Prima made upfront cash payment of $10.8 million with the remaining cash component of $7.2 million partly payable on the achievement of a predetermined milestone and partly payable after 12 months subject to the satisfaction of warranty retention arrangements. The total consideration paid by Prima for the acquisition is estimated to be approximately $25 million as opposed to the previously $28 million. The difference is attributable to the reduction in value of the warrants based on the Black Scholes option pricing model using updated market data.