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This paper aims to summarize new disclosure and procedural rules and related guidance for initial public offerings in the UK that will become effective on July 1, 2018.

This study summarizes new disclosure and procedural rules and related guidance published by the Financial Conduct Authority intended to improve the quality and timeliness of key information made available to investors in advance of an initial public offering (IPO) in the UK, in particular the timing of the publication of IPO research by connected and unconnected analysts.

While it remains to be determined whether the new process will provide investors with more time to digest information about the issuer and its business and increase the likelihood that investors will place greater emphasis on the prospectus and less on research reports of connected analysts, at the very least, the publication of the prospectus or a registration document, rather than the intention to float announcement as is currently the case, will provide the first public confirmation that an IPO is imminent.

This study provides practical guidance from experienced securities and financial services lawyers.

This study attempts to develop an approach with triangulation to explore the determinants of knowledge flows, as well as the relationships among them.

The proposed approach with the use of triangulation is designed to handle the issues that arise in the various interactions and numerous contexts among entities and/or activities that are associated with KM.

The proposed hybrid approach is found to be helpful in dealing with the issue of knowledge flow, especially involving various entities and complex interactions with numerous contents and dynamic contexts. In addition, the findings also show the presence of multi‐directional and adaptive interactions among determinants to knowledge flows, and also how these influence a firm's KM initiatives and performance.

The proposed hybrid approach can be considered as a way to overcome the limitations both of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the relationships among knowledge flows explored in this study provide some directions for future KM research.

The proposed approach focuses on the visualization of probable determinants to knowledge flows within an organization. This visualization can be utilized to evaluate the determinants and their relationships with each other, which may help managers to take actions to achieve more effective and efficient KM.

The results show the value of using a hybrid approach for dealing with research issues involving various entities and activities with complex content, such as knowledge flows.

The existing literature offers various perspectives on integrating cryptocurrencies into investment portfolios; yet, there is a gap in understanding the behaviours, attitudes and cross-investment links of individual investors. This study, grounded in the modern portfolio theory and the random walk theory, aims to add empirical insights that are specific to the UK context. It explores four hypotheses related to the influence of socio-demographics, digital adoption, cross-investment behaviours and financial attitudes on cryptocurrency owners.

This study uses a logistic regression model with secondary data from the Financial Lives Survey 2020 to assess the factors impacting cryptocurrency ownership. A total of 29 variables are used, categorized into four groups aligned with the hypotheses. Additionally, hierarchical clustering analysis was conducted to further explore the cross-investment links.

The study reveals a significant lack of diversification among UK cryptocurrency investors, a pronounced inclination towards high-risk investments such as peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, and parallels with gambling behaviours, including financial dissatisfaction and a propensity for risk-taking. It highlights the influence of demographic traits, risk tolerance, technological literacy and emotional attitudes on cryptocurrency investment decisions.

This study provides valuable insights into cryptocurrency regulation and retail investor protection, underscoring the necessity for tailored financial education and a holistic regulatory approach for investment products with comparable risk levels, with the aim of minimizing regulatory arbitrage. It significantly enhances our understanding of the unique dynamics of cryptocurrency investments within the evolving financial landscape.

The aim of the paper is to examine what type of relationship existed between the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Riggs Bank in respect of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Different commentators have established certain trends in the interaction between a regulator and a regulated entity, and this paper seeks to apply these findings to the relationship between the OCC and Riggs Bank and ascertain where this example lies in the wider domain of regulatory relationships. The paper then examines whether the relationship between the OCC and HSBC United States was similar to the one between the OCC and Riggs Bank or did the regulator adopt a more aggressive supervisory stance. Throughout this work, there is also a focus on the underlying incentives which may adversely affect how a financial institution interacts with a financial regulator and possible solutions to this problem proposed.

Research undertaken by commentators was assessed and their findings as the different regulatory relationships that may develop between a regulator and a regulated entity were applied to the interactions between the OCC and two different financial institutions, namely, Riggs Bank and HSBC United States. Examples from the Senate Subcommittee Reports into the AML failings into these financial institutions were examined through the prism of pre-existing regulatory relationship categories.

The paper ultimately concludes that the OCC was far too passive in its interactions with both Riggs Bank and HSBC United States and that the primary underlying motivations for both institutions were profit- rather than compliance-led.

One of the main limitations to this research was the absence of direct input from either personnel from the banking sector in the USA or of regulators from the same jurisdiction.

This paper proposes a number of practical solutions to recast the relationship between financial regulators and regulated institutions away from the former deferring to the latter to one where the former dictates to the latter.

This paper seeks to examine an actual regulatory relationship between a financial regulator and two different institutions that is reported in the public domain by applying pre-existing academic research on question of regulatory relationships and see how the practice differs or corresponds with the theory.

The purpose of this article is to determine the burden of proof that is applicable in the range of activities covered by the civil offence of market abuse. It also considers the approach adopted in the USA and discusses the extent to which that approach may be worth applying in this country.

The methodology adopted is a mixture of black letter law in analysing the nature of the burden of proof and the relevant market abuse issues, historical research in examining how the modern law relating to the burden of proof has evolved and comparative research through the consideration given to the US approach.

The findings are that the burden of proof in market abuse cases is unclear, that the burden may well not be the same in all cases, that clarification is needed on the point and that the approach adopted in the USA offers the advantage of clarity. Therefore, its adoption should be considered.

The main practical implication is that cases are currently being brought without this key issue being properly considered and clarified.

The author can find no other research that has been published in this specific area.

This paper aims to examine the implications of exemptions to facilitate small businesses’ access to crowdfunding (CF) schemes. The aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and even now witnessed many small profits and non-profits encountering significant difficulties in accessing funding from the conventional sources and on many occasions have to turn to the newly emerging Internet-enabled donation or product compensation CF schemes. Access to securities-based CF schemes has, however, been seriously difficult due to securities laws obstacles. Regulatory authorities in the USA and the UK have responded with exemptions to facilitate small businesses’ access to CF.

The paper driven by the qualitative doctrinal approach would rely extensively on primary data from the applicable regulations and secondary data from industry sources and other publicly available commentaries.

Securities-based CF schemes hitherto heavily restricted in the USA and the UK are under current regulatory interventions-accorded exemption status, thereby enabling enhanced access for those small businesses seeking alternatives to conventional financing and enhanced investment opportunities for small investors. The paper’s preliminary analysis suggests that the proposed new regulatory rules in the USA and the UK are generally well-balanced with adequate small investors’ protection, while simultaneously not hampering the innovative growth of small businesses with excessive restrictions. Further, the preparedness of the regulators to fine-tune the proposed rules as the CF industry evolves would likely ensure its orderly growth, thereby helping to address various humanitarian and social challenges in these jurisdictions.

The added value of the analysis lies in its substantive evaluation of the proposed rules in both jurisdictions to ascertain the feasibility of securities-based CF schemes as alternatives for small businesses in relation to traditional financing and enhanced investment opportunities for small unsophisticated investors.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the market abuse regulation to determine whether the general assumption that it has made little difference to the pre-existing UK law on market abuse is accurate. In particular, the potential impact on compliance and behaviour in financial services firms and those who potentially receive inside information is considered.

The methodology adopted is a combination of critical analysis and black letter law utilised to determine the content and potential impact of the market abuse regulation. A process of discovery made more important by the limited assistance given by the European Securities and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority in terms of the guidance and definitions they have provided.

The new Regulation has a wider definition of insider dealing than under the previous law, has a wider application in terms of the financial instruments that it applies to, has triggered significant new compliance and disclosure requirements and it also extends the law to new markets.

There are limitations in that the relevant regulatory bodies, ESMA and the FCA have made little effort to clarify how they interpret the new Regulation. This is a serious problem because in the case of the FCA, their view will impact on the approach they will take in future enforcement actions.

This paper provides the first real analysis of the market abuse regulation’s effect and shows that, if carefully analysed in context, it has a significant impact on firms in the financial services sector and those engaged in activities which can put them in receipt of inside information. It will cause an increase in relevant compliance and has significant cost implications for affected firms.

This is not really relevant here. There will be necessary changes to compliance procedures.

The originality stems from the fact that there appears to be little else published which has engaged in a sustained analysis of the impact and effect of the EU market abuse regulation on the UK’s financial markets and those other firms who receive inside information.

Currently, social network (SN) analysis is focused on the discovery of activity and social relationship patterns. Usually, these relationships are not easily and completely observed. Therefore, it is relevant to discover substructures and potential behavior patterns in SN. Recently, formal concept analysis (FCA) has been applied for this purpose. FCA is a concept analysis theory that identifies concept structures within a data set. The representation of SN patterns through implication rules based on FCA enables the identification of relevant substructures that cannot be easily identified. The authors’ approach considers a minimum and irreducible set of implication rules (stem base) to represent the complete set of data (activity in the network). Applying this to an SN is of interest because it can represent all the relationships using a reduced form. So, the purpose of this paper is to represent social networks through the steam base.

The authors’ approach permits to analyze two-mode networks by transforming access activities of SN into a formal context. From this context, it can be extracted to a minimal set of implications applying the NextClosure algorithm, which is based on the closed sets theory that provides to extract a complete, minimal and non-redundant set of implications. Based on the minimal set, the authors analyzed the relationships between premises and their respective conclusions to find basic user behaviors.

The experiments pointed out that implications, represented as a complex network, enable the identification and visualization of minimal substructures, which could not be found in two-mode network representation. The results also indicated that relations among premises and conclusions represent navigation behavior of SN functionalities. This approach enables to analyze the following behaviors: conservative, transitive, main functionalities and access time. The results also demonstrated that the relations between premises and conclusions represented the navigation behavior based on the functionalities of SN. The authors applied their approach for an SN for a relationship to explore the minimal access patterns of navigation.

The authors present an FCA-based approach to obtain the minimal set of implications capable of representing the minimum structure of the users’ behavior in an SN. The paper defines and analyzes three types of rules that form the sets of implications. These types of rules define substructures of the network, the capacity of generation users’ behaviors, transitive behavior and conservative capacity when the temporal aspect is considered.

This paper seeks to provide auditors, forensic accountants, investigators, regulators, financial managers, lawyers, law enforcement personnel, academics, and others with a basic overview of the steps in and elements of a qui tam legal claim, limitations on a qui tam claim, protection for a whistleblower employee, and the role of qui tam litigation in the fight against fraud.

A sample of types of recent qui tam fraud cases is highlighted for the reader. The steps in filing a qui tam claim are described along with the limitations of pursuing such a lawsuit. The paper includes a statutory and legal case study analysis of each required element of proof in a qui tam claim. Analysis of actual qui tam court cases illustrates the importance of private civil lawsuits in combating fraud committed against the US Government.

This paper provides readers with information about the substantial recoveries earned by successful qui tam plaintiffs. Also, the necessary steps in and elements of a qui tam suit are revealed. Technical legal details of various federal court rulings are distilled for readers. The important role of this unique type of lawsuit in the arsenal of those who fight against government fraud is emphasized.

This paper fills an identified need to inform those involved in the fight against economic crime about an important tool that uncovers and deters fraud against the federal government.

The scientific community shares a heritage of knowledge generated by several different fields of research. Identifying how scientific interest evolves is relevant for recording and understanding research trends and society’s demands.

This article presents SciBR-M, a novel method to identify scientific interest evolution from bibliographic material based on Formal Concept Analysis. The SciBR-M aims to describe the thematic evolution surrounding a field of research. The method begins by hierarchically organising sub-domains within the field of study to identify the themes that are more relevant. After this organisation, we apply a temporal analysis that extracts implication rules with minimal premises and a single conclusion, which are helpful to observe the evolution of scientific interest in a specific field of study. To analyse the results, we consider support, confidence, and lift metrics to evaluate the extracted implications.

The authors applied the SciBR-M method for the Educational Data Mining (EDM) field considering 23 years since the first publications. In the digital libraries context, SciBR-M allows the integration of the academy, education, and cultural memory, in relation to a study domain.

Cultural changes lead to the production of new knowledge and to the evolution of scientific interest. This knowledge is part of the scientific heritage of society and should be transmitted in a structured and organised form to future generations of scientists and the general public.

The method, based on Formal Concept Analysis, identifies the evolution of scientific interest to a field of study. SciBR-M hierarchically organises bibliographic material to different time periods and explores this hierarchy from proper implication rules. These rules permit identifying recurring themes, i.e. themes subset that received more attention from the scientific community during a specific period. Analysing these rules, it is possible to identify the temporal evolution of scientific interest in the field of study. This evolution is observed by the emergence, increase or decrease of interest in topics in the domain. The SciBR-M method can be used to register and analyse the scientific, cultural heritage of a field of study. In addition, the authors can use the method to stimulate the process of creating knowledge and innovation and encouraging the emergence of new research.