MAGAZINE
October 2014 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
In late July, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act celebrated its fourth birthday. The Act, which was borne out of the financial crisis, has generated a mixed reaction since it was first signed in 2010. The legislation was designed to increase...
FEATURES
Closing the tax inversion loophole
Increasingly, American corporations have begun to take advantage of a merger and acquisition loophole which provides them with considerable tax benefits. The practice, known as inversion, allows US firms to purchase foreign companies and re-domicile abroad. By engaging...
IASB unveils new accounting rules
Tough new accounting rules were unveiled by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in July, which will force banks to change the way they view losses. The new directives are the product of a five-year project enacted to enable company accounts to...
Pension investment could bridge African infrastructure gap
In recent years African nations have begun to experience a new feeling of confidence surrounding the role of their pension administrators. Built on a solid foundation of an increasingly stable political atmosphere, widespread social security reforms, a nascent...
The status of the UK’s shale revolution
The discovery of vast quantities of both shale gas and oil in the US has proved revolutionary for the country’s energy sector. In July it was reported that the US has surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s single largest oil producer, with daily...
Argentina flies in face of vulture funds
While Argentina may be the third-largest economy in Latin America, the past century has proved a rollercoaster of financial highs and lows. Once one of the richest countries in the world, the twentieth century saw the state slip into long term decline, punctuated...
ROUNDTABLE
THE PANELLISTS: Kimberly J. Schenk, Charles River Associates; Michael J. Sacksteder, Fenwick & West LLP; Georgia Chiu, Hogan Lovells; Paul D. Collier, Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Richard Vary, Nokia; Jürgen Dressel, Novartis Pharma AG; Gary E. Hood, Polsinelli PC; and Jim Badke, Ropes & Gray LLP.
Market players are seeing a general increase in patent disputes across a range of sectors, but notably in pharmaceuticals and technology. Many disputes are brought by non-practicing entities, or ‘patent trolls’, attempting to monetise portfolios...
SPECIAL REPORT
International dispute resolution
With each passing year multinational firms spread their reach ever further into new sectors and jurisdictions. With this comes a corresponding rise in the incidence of disputes. For international organisations, disputes in overseas...
FORUM: Enforcement of foreign judgments
FW moderates a discussion on enforcing foreign judgments between Doug Jones at Clayton Utz, Ozan Akyurek at Jones Day, Jason Woodland at Peters & Peters, and Tatiana Menshenina at Simmons & Simmons.
Controlling the rising costs of arbitration
Hogan Lovells, US LLP The lower assumed cost of arbitration compared to litigation is often touted as one of arbitration’s top advantages over traditional court litigation. Still, with the rise in popularity of this dispute resolution alternative, especially among sophisticated parties in...
Dilatory tactics and the courts’ readiness to safeguard arbitration through cost sanctions
Bryan Cave It is not unusual for parties to seek to involve the courts in disputes that are ostensibly subject to arbitration as a dilatory tactic. Such legal manoeuvrings, including bringing court proceedings in contravention of an agreement to arbitrate or challenging...
The use of summary disposition in international arbitration: some observations
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP The past decade has seen various proposals put forward to improve the procedural and cost efficiencies of international arbitration. One proposal that received significant attention was the summary disposition of an arbitration, i.e., the dismissal or upholding...
Multiple issues in arbitration
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP The growth of international commercial arbitration as an effective dispute resolution mechanism is in part due to the flexibility it allows, stemming from the fact that it is based on the consent of the parties. Parties can agree rules, timelines and procedural...
Basic strategic considerations in the funding of disputes
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP In the post-crisis environment, where at one and the same time budgets are tighter and the consequences of disputes are often more business-critical, corporate clients including financial and investment firms have rightly sought greater budgetary and...
Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Russia
Khrenov & Partners Integration of the Russian Federation into the global economy resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of disputes involving Russia-related parties. As a consequence, Russian courts frequently deal with recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and other...
FW moderates a discussion on discovery in disputes between Bennett B. Borden at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Jason Coyne at IT Group and Shannon Capone Kirk at Ropes & Gray LLP.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
$80bn Fox-Time Warner deal off
Following months of speculation and negotiation, Twenty-First Century Fox (Fox) announced in August that it was withdrawing its $80bn unsolicited offer for rival media giant Time Warner Inc. Fox’s $85 per share offer...
Scientific Games to buy rival Bally Technologies
The consolidation of the US gaming industry continued in August when slot machine manufacturer Scientific Games Corp agreed to acquire rival firm Bally Technologies in a deal worth around $3.27bn. Under the terms of the...
private equity & venture capital
JP Morgan to spin off PE division
JP Morgan Chase & Co is to spin off its private equity unit, One Equity Partners. The firm announced in August that the sale of the division will see part of its stake in One Equity sold to investment firms Lexington Partners LP and Carlyle Group LP’s AlpInvest...
PE firms tussle for Treasury Wine
Just months after rejecting a $2.9bn takeover offer from private equity (PE) giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP (KKR), Australian firm Treasury Wine Estate Ltd, the world’s biggest listed wine manufacturer, now finds itself at the centre of a two-way PE...
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
Lights dim as Entegra files for Chapter 11
The Entegra Power Group LLC, and a number of its subsidiaries, filed for pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August citing debts of approximately $1.5bn. Florida based Entegra...
Eagle Bulk sails into Chapter 11
Following a missed interest payment in June, Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc filed for pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August, becoming the latest in a succession of shipping firms to file for bankruptcy in the US. In its filing at Manhattan’s US Bankruptcy Court...
SPOTlight
Investors in US mid-market private equity funds continue to flex their muscles
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP The 2007 financial crisis precipitated a shift of the balance of power in US-based mid-market private equity funds from general partners (GPs) to investors. Prior to the crisis, abundant capital and high rates of return created an environment where GPs generally dictated...
Discouraging market misconduct
Kinetic Partners The regulatory landscape has changed significantly over the past few years. The impact of the financial crisis has led to an increase in focus on market integrity from regulators, and as such an expectation on greater focus from firms on compliance in this...
India’s new Modi Government attempts to unshackle economic growth
SKP Group India’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is acutely aware of the high expectations placed on his government by the Indian electorate as well as the international community – to place India back on a trajectory of high economic growth...
Firing the board – advice from an employment lawyer
BDBF There are a number of legal and business implications that should be considered in the dismissal of a staff member, along with an employer’s own emotional tendencies towards the person involved. The process only becomes more...
Compliance to harness tech innovation as pressure grows
Stroz Friedberg Hardly a week goes by without yet another, often well-known, organisation coming under the spotlight of industry regulators or law enforcement. From allegations of bribery and corruption, to charges of manipulating markets in their own favour, a heightened...
Reexamining the notion that public companies cannot fight criminal charges
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP It is a well-understood maxim of US criminal practice that publicly-traded companies cannot risk indictment. This stems from the widespread belief that the collateral impact – from debarment, credit rating downgrades, reputational injury and investor...
CONTRIBUTORS
BDBF
Bryan Cave
Charles River Associates
Clayton Utz
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Fenwick & West LLP
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Hogan Lovells
IT Group
Jones Day
Khrenov & Partners
Kinetic Partners
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Mishcon de Reya New York LLP
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Nokia
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
Novartis Pharma AG
Peters & Peters
Polsinelli PC
Ropes & Gray LLP
Simmons & Simmons
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
SKP Group
Stroz Friedberg