Tradition of Innovation

We have a long and distinguished history in the development of the U.S. capital markets, both in shaping the regulatory structure of the U.S. markets and in introducing innovative financing techniques. Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers were instrumental in drafting the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, the legislation that forms the foundation of present day U.S. securities laws and regulations. No law firm has more experience than Sullivan & Cromwell with matters before the financial market regulators in the United States, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the major stock exchanges. We provide comment on most of the substantive proposals introduced by these and other U.S. securities regulators. We are familiar with their evolving approaches on a wide variety of issues and practices, which permits us to propose novel and innovative transactional structures that meet the needs of our issuer clients.

Outside of the United States, we have participated for nearly a century in groundbreaking transactions that have been part of the opening of the world's capital markets to international investors. As in the U.S., this work has given us access to and familiarity with the capital markets regulators in the major markets around the world. In the EU, for example, we maintain close relationships with the English, French, German and EU regulators and are actively involved in commenting and advising on the emerging body of law surrounding the new EU Prospectus, Transparency and Market Abuse Directives and their implementing measures in France, Germany and elsewhere. We also have wide experience with listings on international exchanges, including London, Luxembourg and other European markets.