MAGAZINE
June 2021 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
A PE imperative: DE&I in the workplace
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace is often consistently inconsistent across the corporate world. Some businesses treat DE&I as simply buzzwords to be trotted out during a tick-box exercise, while more enlightened entities recognise the benefits of such traits…
FEATURES
Addressing data legacy issues in M&A
As part of an M&A deal, the acquirer will typically inherit the target’s existing data. If steps are not taken to mange this data appropriately, problems can emerge. Acquirers need to give thought to potential data challenges and how to solve them, including evaluating legacy data…
Sense of purpose: asset owners amid COVID-19
In the wake of the global pandemic, more asset owners are re-examining their purpose, mulling over how they can deliver positive social impact. Perhaps spurred on by the humanitarian crisis caused by COVID-19, many asset owners are, according to McKinsey, “using their capital, capabilities…
Easing transition: FCA announces LIBOR cessation date
The transition away from the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) has been a long and laborious process. However, on 5 March 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finally announced the dates by which panel banks’ submissions for any LIBOR will stop and LIBOR will no longer be…
Environmental efforts: tackling the ‘greenwashing’ threat
The process of ‘greenwashing’ – generally defined as an unsubstantiated claim that a product or service is environmentally friendly – is becoming increasingly widespread, as companies face mounting pressure to demonstrate their green credentials. In a bid to reduce the prevalence…
Dual-use redefined: modernising EU export controls
In a world where threats seem to lurk around every corner, it is essential for authorities to take all reasonable steps – legislative and regulatory – to prevent potential perils becoming gruesome realities. Among the mass of preventative measures currently underway across the globe…
ROUNDTABLE
Shareholder activism & engagement
THE PANELLISTS: Michael J. Ulmer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Stephen Glover at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Kim Lars Mehrbrey at Hogan Lovells International LLP, Arthur B. Crozier at Innisfree M&A Incorporated, and Richard J. Grossman at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
While COVID-19 uncertainty depressed activist campaigns in 2020 to their lowest level since 2014, subsequent growth in market confidence has seen activism return in full force – an upward trend that has continued through the first half of 2021.Many of these campaigns have focused…
SPECIAL REPORT
International dispute resolution
FW discusses data privacy disputes with Sophie Dawson, Bryony Hurst, Ariane Mole, Johan Polet and Lennart Schuessler at Bird & Bird.
Recent trends in US securities and derivative litigation
Dechert LLP For the first time in several years, securities fraud cases declined in 2020, largely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, we do not expect this decrease to continue. Just three months into 2021, the following are a few of the issues trending in this practice area…
The end of LIBOR: near-term litigation over historical LIBOR ‘fallback’ rates
Kobre & Kim LLP The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) has been referred to as “the world’s most important number”. However, it is now common knowledge that LIBOR will be phased out in the coming years. In many instances, legislation, industry group momentum, and other market forces may…
Shifting tides in Canada’s approach to investor-state dispute settlement
McCarthy Tétrault In recent years, Canada has entered into a number of comprehensive free trade agreements, each featuring highly diverging approaches to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). This article canvasses the divergences as between the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)…
Virtual hearings in English litigation
Humphries Kerstetter LLP Well before the 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic removed the element of choice, virtual hearings were already fairly common in English civil litigation. The most usual format was the telephone hearing – useful for a case management conference in which parties…
Once privileged, always privileged? – a toolkit for in-house counsel
Ashurst One hundred and twenty-three years after Sir Nathaniel Lindley uttered his oft-quoted principle “once privileged, always privileged”, privilege issues continue to impact the day-to-day role of every in-house counsel. Distinguishing between what is privileged, what is not, and what has been…
COVID-19 and Brexit highlight the benefit of arbitration over litigation
WilmerHale The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has presented judicial systems around the world with unprecedented challenges, with many courts being forced to close or left trying to deliver access to justice in a safe environment. In addition, the withdrawal of the UK from the…
Blockchain and the future of dispute resolution
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Technology continues to evolve exponentially. The first personal computer was released by IBM in 1981 – exactly, and only, 40 years ago. Since that time, the world has witnessed an explosive growth in the use and capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) which has made an undeniable impact…
Gleiss Lutz German law is fundamentally based on protecting individual rights. Class actions are not part of the tradition of the German legal system. Nevertheless, forms of collective legal protection are increasingly finding their way into the German legal system. In Germany, collective legal…
Q&A: Climate and ESG-related disputes
FW discusses climate and ESG-related disputes with David Schreuders, Emily Blower, Etienne Kowalski, Harald Glander and Stuart Doxford at Simmons & Simmons LLP.
TALKINGpoint
Managing the reps & warranties claims process
FW discusses the reps & warranties claims process with Marc Sherman and Meghan Cardell at Alvarez & Marsal.
Digital payments: managing risks in high-speed transactions
FW discusses digital payments and managing risks in high-speed transactions with Kristina Sanger, Kevin Dalvi and Jennifer Lucas at EY.
Evolution of captive insurance
FW discusses the evolution of captive insurance with Christina Kindstedt, Leslie C. Boughner, Liam Fleming and Simon Kilpatrick at Advantage Insurance.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Q1 M&A boom sets the pace for 2021
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity has enjoyed a strong start to the year, with the first quarter of 2021 seeing $1.16 trillion in transactions, surpassing 2018 and 2019. It makes 2021 the most active annual opening on record, according to Mergermarket’s ‘Global & Regional M&A…
Pioneer and DoublePoint agree $6.4bn consolidation deal
In what is its fourth multibillion shale deal of 2021, energy company Pioneer Natural Resources is to acquire the leasehold interests and related assets of upstream oil & gas company DoublePoint Energy in a transaction valued at approximately $6.4bn. Under the terms of the definitive…
private equity & venture capital
Thoma Bravo to acquire Calypso for $3.7bn
Private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo has acquired financial software provider Calypso Technology from international private equity group Bridgepoint and global growth investor Summit Partners in a transaction valued at $3.7bn. “We are thrilled to begin the next chapter…
KKR raises $15bn Asia-focused fund
In April, private equity (PE) powerhouse KKR & Co announced it had raised $15bn for its fourth Asia-Pacific focused fund. The firm exceeded its original target size of $12.5bn for the fund after receiving “strong support” from new and existing global investors, including those in the Asia-Pacific…
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
The Collected Group files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
As one of many apparel and lifestyle companies in the US to have closed its doors over the past 12 months, women’s fashion company The Collected Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company plans to use the bankruptcy process to facilitate store closures and cut more than…
Fashion retailer Peacocks bought out of administration by international consortium
An investment consortium backed by Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group’s former chief operating officer, Steve Simpson, has bought beleaguered fashion retailer Peacocks out of administration. The deal will see a leaner Peacocks survive, with 200 stores and 2000 jobs saved. No additional redundancies…
SPOTlight
ESG challenges for private funds: steps to address the financial risks and compliance obligations
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP The drive to move environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations up the agenda of the financial marketplace has continued in earnest in 2021 and very few (if any) sectors have been left out. Most private fund sponsors have had ESG considerations embedded into their processes…
United States sanctions against Myanmar’s military conglomerates
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP On 25 March 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed additional sanctions in response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar by designating the country’s two largest military conglomerates: Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL)…
CONTRIBUTORS
Advantage Insurance
Alvarez & Marsal
Ashurst
Bird & Bird
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Dechert LLP
EY
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Gleiss Lutz
Hogan Lovells International LLP
Humphries Kerstetter LLP
Innisfree M&A Incorporated
Kobre & Kim LLP
McCarthy Tétrault
Simmons & Simmons LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
WilmerHale