Within a week of hiring high-yield partner Jonathan Bloom from Ropes & Gray, Jones Day has expanded its securitisation capability in London with former Clifford Chance (CC) partner Neil Hamilton joining the firm.
A chance to turn the corner for the SFO but a high-stakes test on ‘blockbuster’ cases could define its fate
Michael West assesses the prospects for the agency after settlement of the Tchenguiz claims
He was always going to have a painfully full in-tray on taking over as head of the troubled Serious Fraud Office (SFO) a little over two years ago, but even against that context, the previous 12 months must have looked something like an annus horribilis to David Green QC. Lows during this period saw the Public Accounts Committee issue trenchant criticism of the body, important investigation documents misplaced and the chaotic collapse of the trial against Victor Dahdaleh.
Freshfields wins Deutsche Bank $243m pay out from Sebastian Holdings
The UK Court of Appeal has ruled that investment fund Sebastian Holdings must pay Germany’s Deutsche Bank $243m after losing a case at the High Court last year, or risk its appeal being struck out.
Continue reading “Freshfields wins Deutsche Bank $243m pay out from Sebastian Holdings”
Olswang’s head of real estate finance quits for Dechert
Olswang’s head of real estate finance Eleni Skordaki has quit the firm after nearly ten years to join Dechert’s City finance and real estate group.
Skordaki specialises in advising banks in real estate financings and restructurings. Continue reading “Olswang’s head of real estate finance quits for Dechert”
Guest post: Snake Hall – the games tax lawyers have played
I recently finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, a truly brilliant novel about the ascent of Thomas Cromwell to political and legal power in Tudor England. There is something of the intrigue and drama of that in Confidence Games: Lawyers, Accountants, and the Tax Shelter Industry by Tanina Rostain and Milton C. Regan. The book is a detailed investigation of a series of abusive tax shelters in the US between 1994 and 2004 whereby Rostain and Regan say, ‘law firms, accounting firms, and financial institutions involved in the shelter industry… perpetrated fraud not only on the government but also on their own clients.’ Continue reading “Guest post: Snake Hall – the games tax lawyers have played”
FCA sets aside £1.7m for Clifford Chance’s insurance industry probe
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set aside £1.7m for the independent inquiry being conducted by Clifford Chance (CC) into the regulatory body’s botched announcement of an investigation into the insurance industry, a freedom of information request has revealed. Continue reading “FCA sets aside £1.7m for Clifford Chance’s insurance industry probe”
Ashurst finance partner Simon Thrower latest to leave with move to Simmons
Ashurst finance partner Simon Thrower has quit to join Simmons & Simmons’ City practice within days of the announcement that corporate partner Nigel Stacey is leaving for US firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Continue reading “Ashurst finance partner Simon Thrower latest to leave with move to Simmons”
Comment: Whose money making machine? Not all law firms will be richer in a bank-lite world
Cov-lite, cov-loose and even now cov-lame – in some pockets of the finance market we are back to the boom days. All we need is a couple of headstrong private equity partners to quit Linklaters for a more sponsor-facing platform and we’ll be right back to 2006. On second thoughts… Continue reading “Comment: Whose money making machine? Not all law firms will be richer in a bank-lite world”
Loss and gain: Ashurst loses City corporate partner as KWM finance partner joins in Sydney
Ashurst yesterday (12 May) saw both sides of the lateral hiring coin as it announced the hire in Sydney of King & Wood Mallesons finance partner Jennifer Schlosser but lost London corporate partner Fabio Pizzoccheri, who has left the firm to launch Grimaldi Studio Legale’s (GSL’s) new City office. Continue reading “Loss and gain: Ashurst loses City corporate partner as KWM finance partner joins in Sydney”
Behind the veil – Can Islamic finance live up to the sales pitch?
‘You can’t be a credible financial centre without having a credible Islamic finance programme,’ says Qudeer Latif, head of Clifford Chance’s global Islamic practice. With studies expecting the Muslim population to grow twice as fast as the non-Muslim demographic over the next 20 years global financial institutions and governments are falling over themselves to offer Islamic finance products.
According to EY’s latest study of the global Islamic finance market, the total amount of Islamic assets held by commercial banks was expected to have grown by around 40% from 2011 to 2013, from $1.3trn to $1.8trn. 78% of international Islamic assets are held in Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE and Turkey. In Qatar, for example, Georges Racine, director of Swiss firm Lalive’s Doha operation, says that Islamic banking has grown quicker than the banking sector as a whole over the past few years as a result of its government’s supportive measures.
Continue reading “Behind the veil – Can Islamic finance live up to the sales pitch?”