MAGAZINE
May 2020 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
Global M&A had another strong showing in 2019. The deal volume and value recorded was even more impressive given the uncertainty which has haunted the global economy over the last few years. The looming threat of a global recession…
FEATURES
Ethics frameworks in the FS space
Ethics and financial services (FS) make for awkward bedfellows in the eyes of many, especially so in the wake of the financial crisis and the sector’s subsequent mea culpa. Today, in 2020, some 12 years after the fact, the question of how thoroughly the FS space…
The activist effect: shareholder activism in the UK
Shareholder activism in the UK has risen significantly in recent years, sparked by a cocktail of factors including a weak pound, strong shareholder rights and Brexit. Companies’ governance issues are also a major factor behind shareholder revolts. According to research…
The impact of social entrepreneurship on economic growth
Vital to economic growth and inclusion, especially for developing economies, social entrepreneurship – a fast-emerging discipline that generates social impact through an entrepreneurial approach – helps to boost a country’s economy…
Following years of speculation and acrimony, the UK finally withdrew from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020. Yet, in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, which stipulates a transition period ending on 31 December 2020, EU law…
International tax: trends and developments in 2020 and beyond
International tax is a complex beast, subject to seemingly endless rules, regulations, statutes, guidelines and directives, all of which serve to portray global tax matters as somewhat technical and opaque. Despite this opacity and technicality, tax practitioners…
ROUNDTABLE
THE PANELLISTS: Alan J. Castillo, BDO; Joshua F. Bonnie, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; and Thomas W. Greenberg, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Although spin off and carve out activity was strong in 2019 and early 2020, recent market volatility stemming from the COVID-19 crisis has changed the outlook for these types of transactions. In a challenging environment for divestments, increasing uncertainty…
SPECIAL REPORT
Business strategy and operational performance
Q&A: Driving efficiency through digital supply chain transformation
FW discusses driving efficiency through digital supply chain transformation with Rob Barrett, Peter Liddell, Carmelo Mariano and Maureen O’Shea at KPMG.
Environment, society, governance: new business imperatives
University of Melbourne Key stakeholders are increasingly concerned with the environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, practices and results of organisations. Shareholders are looking to invest in companies that give them a sound financial return, of course, but are also…
Sonnedix UK Services Ltd. Sustainability has become an important factor in business strategies. How a company performs socially and environmentally is becoming just as important as how it performs financially. The growing demand by consumers and investors for sustainable…
Leveraging new technologies to fulfil organisational governance, risk and compliance mandates
Exterro Two years into what has been a seismic shift in the world of data management and data privacy, it is a good time to step back and ask: how has the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) been treating you and your organisation? Have you reached a point of…
Seven steps to build digital resilience in an uncertain world
Mills Oakley As COVID-19 spreads across the globe, impacting our health and wreaking havoc on businesses large and small, it is becoming clear that the world has become much more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Compared with previous global shocks…
HCMoneyball A hard-to-grasp yet persistent reality is that well over 70 percent of M&A deals fail to meet expected outcomes. Even with this track record, the global volume of deals continues to increase at a rapid rate, and even COVID-19 is not expected to cripple M&A activity…
In uncertain times, legal risk can now be shared
Augusta The markets today are highly volatile. It goes without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has destabilised the normal course of business in a way none of us have ever experienced before. For many companies, cash flow issues are naturally at the forefront…
Q&A: Coronavirus risk management and response
FW discusses coronavirus risk management and response with James Green at SAI Global.
TALKINGpoint
FW discusses M&A contingent risk insurance with Tim Kennedy and Charles Turnham at Ambridge.
Addressing the financial and operational challenges caused by COVID-19
FW discusses how to address the financial and operational challenges caused by COVID-19 with Alan Tilley, David Bryan and Matthew Quade at BM&T European Restructuring Solutions.
Brexit – the impact on German restructuring and insolvency
FW discusses the impact of Brexit on German restructuring and insolvency with Christian Graf Brockdorff, Fabian von Ritter, Peter Jark and Tom Braegelmann at BBL Bernsau Brockdorff.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Aon buys Willis for $30bn in world’s largest insurance deal
Aon is to acquire Willis Towers Watson in an all stock deal worth nearly $30bn. The deal is the insurance sector’s largest ever merger. The merger will combine the industry’s second and third largest brokers, creating a new industry-leading company…
Thermo Fisher to buy Qiagen for $11.5bn
In a deal which gives it a foothold in the fast-growing molecular diagnostic market, global life sciences company Thermo Fisher Scientific is to acquire diagnostic test manufacturer Qiagen for $11.5bn, including the assumption of approximately $1.4bn…
private equity & venture capital
Blackstone to buy iQ for £4.7bn
In what is the UK’s largest ever private real estate transaction, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and the Wellcome Trust is to sell iQ Student Accommodation to global investment and advisory firm Blackstone for £4.7bn. Formed in 2006 with Wellcome…
DXC and Veritas agree $5bn deal
In a deal focused on debt reduction, DXC Technology has agreed to sell its state and local health and human services business to private equity firm Veritas Capital for $5bn in cash. The deal is expected to close in December, subject to customary closing conditions…
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
Mallinckrodt agrees to $1.6bn opioid settlement
In a move to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by state and local governments over its role in the opioid crisis in the US, opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt plc and its specialty generics-focused subsidiaries Mallinckrodt LLC, SpecGx LLC and certain other affiliates…
Flybe enters administration amid coronavirus chaos
British airline Flybe entered administration in early March, becoming one of the first high-profile business casualties of the coronavirus crisis. The regional airline was acquired for £2.8bn in March 2019 by Connect Airways – a consortium of Virgin Atlantic…
SPOTlight
Credit insurance, Basel III and COVID-19
Norton Rose Fulbright The use of credit insurance has exploded in recent years. Credit insurance is used by suppliers and manufacturers for cashflow management purposes in the same way that factoring is used. Whereas factoring is typically limited to domestic transactions, credit insurance…
Outsourcing and the provision of financial services in Ireland
Dillon Eustace In recent years, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), in its capacity as the primary regulator of financial services firms in Ireland, has significantly increased its focus on outsourcing carried out by regulated financial services firms and the management by firms of the risks…
A managed buy/sell private placement programme: creating non-repayable profits from debt
PreConstruction Catalysts In a managed buy/sell trading programme, the spread between the buying and selling of bank debentures creates profits by buying low and selling high to a predetermined exit buyer. Because traders cannot use their own money to operate a programme…
Communicating COVID-19 risks and protocols to employees, customers and investors
Edelman UK The world is on edge. Nobody quite knows what is happening, or what happens next. It is difficult to comprehend what ‘normal’ now means or what it will look like next week, next month or next year. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world…
Furloughing during the COVID-19 crisis
Bellevue Law The world is on lockdown fighting an invisible enemy in the form of coronavirus (COVID-19). What is not so invisible, unfortunately, is the effect that this battle is having on global economies and a wide range of industries. Governments around the world have been…
What the joint global tax force ‘J5’ means for international criminal tax enforcement
Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. On 8 November 2017, during closing arguments for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a five-point action plan was announced. Point one of that action plan called for a focus on targeted responses to professional enablers of…
CONTRIBUTORS
Ambridge
Augusta
BBL Bernsau Brockdorff
BDO
Bellevue Law
BM&T European Restructuring Solutions
Dillon Eustace
Edelman UK
Exterro
HCMoneyball
Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C.
KPMG
Mills Oakley
Norton Rose Fulbright
PreConstruction Catalysts
SAI Global
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Sonnedix UK Services Ltd.
University of Melbourne