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  • October 12, 2011 |

    SJ Berwin expands structured finance group with Sidley hire

    SJ Berwin is to add to its structured finance practice with the hire of a partner from Sidley Austin, doubling the team's partner capacity in London. Sidley finance partner Andrew Bliss, who is a UK-qualified solicitor in the US firm's London office, is set to join SJ Berwin's City finance group after being voted into the partnership on 7 October. Bliss, who joined Sidley in 1999, has a practice focused around structured finance deals, including the securitisation of loans and rental deposits, repackagings, and bond and equity-linked transactions in the developed and emerging markets.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    The Untouchables - legal immunity in Hong Kong

    One of Hong Kong's major appeals as a base for international companies doing business in Asia has been recourse to its British-established common law courts. But recent Hong Kong rulings have raised the unsettling possibility that a whole class of potential defendants may have legal immunity from claims. These are government parties. And, while it is hardly surprising that sovereigns themselves can claim immunity in courts, the long reach of government into the private market in Asia means there are a host of potentially immune state actors that are difficult to identify at first glance.

    1 minute read

  • October 12, 2011 |

    Global 100: Empire builders - does globalisation equal profit?

    Since the early days of the Global 100 survey, globalisation and profit have seemingly grown hand in hand. For the top 50 firms in 1999 – the first year that The American Lawyer published profits per equity partner (PEP) for what was then the Global 50 – the proportion of lawyers employed outside each firm's home country doubled, while PEP more than doubled. But whether there is a causal relationship between global expansion and financial success is unclear, whether one charts the performance of individual firms in a single year or over time. Star performers may be found among the most stubborn homebodies, like Slaughter and May, and the most persistent imperialists, like Allen & Overy (A&O).

    1 minute read

  • September 28, 2011 |

    Cracking China – has Mandarin become de rigueur for modern Asian counsel?

    For would-be new hires at several international law firms in China and Hong Kong, speaking Mandarin has come to be a strict and unyielding prerequisite. "Certainly from our point of view, hiring someone in Hong Kong without Chinese language speaking skills is a waste of time," says Antony Dapiran, a fluent Mandarin speaker and capital markets partner with Davis Polk & Wardwell in Hong Kong. "I honestly do not see how they can function, especially if they are dealing with capital markets work."

    1 minute read

  • August 9, 2011 |

    Slaughters adds third New Zealand firm to secondment network

    Slaughter and May has agreed a new secondment arrangement with New Zealand firm Chapman Tripp. The pair have been in discussions over the last few months and have decided to enter into a non-exclusive programme that will see junior lawyers from each firm seconded to the other for a year.

    1 minute read

  • July 27, 2011 |

    A&O dominates global bond rankings at halfway mark

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has topped Thomson Reuters' debt capital markets (DCM) rankings for international cross-border bonds for the first half of 2011 by both manager and issuer. The firm advised managers on 238 bond deals worth $180bn (£110bn) during the period, giving it a 7.1% share of the market, ahead of Linklaters, which held a 3.5% share of the market, with roles on 117 deals worth $104bn (£63.8bn).

    1 minute read

  • July 14, 2011 |

    Freddie Mac general counsel heads to to SNR Denton

    Robert Bostrom, general counsel of much-maligned Freddie Mac, is leaving July 29 to become partner and co-head of the financial-institutions sector at SNR Denton, writes Corporate Counsel. Principal deputy general counsel John Dye will serve as Freddie Mac's interim GC while the company conducts an internal and external search to fill the position.

    1 minute read

  • July 13, 2011 |

    BNP Paribas GC launches global panel review with expansion aim

    BNP Paribas has kicked off its first global panel review since bringing in the former head of Herbert Smith's Paris banking practice, Georges Dirani, in October 2010 as general counsel. The France-headquartered bank sent out a tender document to more than 20 firms last month, with a view to increasing the size of the roster to take into account the bank's geographic reach.

    1 minute read

  • July 1, 2011 |

    Elite US trio added to Barclays panel after review of bank's advisers

    Barclays has added three US firms to its general advisory panel, following a comprehensive panel review intended to increase value for money from the bank's regular advisers. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Shearman & Sterling and Sullivan & Cromwell have been added to the bank's main general advisory panel after Barclays decided to include the creation of a US sub-division for the first time.

    1 minute read

  • July 1, 2011 |

    Slaughters and Sidley post 100% retention rates for autumn NQ intakes

    Slaughter and May and Sidley Austin have both posted 100% retention rates for their autumn intake of newly-qualified lawyers (NQs). Slaughters is set to keep on all of its 59 trainees in September, marking an increase on recent rounds, after the firm retained 96% of its NQs in March 2011 and 93% in autumn 2010.

    1 minute read