Filter This View

  • June 26, 2008 |

    Cleary appeals sanctions over Congo witness row

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton yesterday (25 June) took to the courts in a bid to overturn sanctions brought against the firm for improperly attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying, writes The American Lawyer. Lawyers from the firm, led by managing partner Mark Walker, filled a number of the gallery seats in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeal as Cleary attempted to reverse a stinging sanctions order by Southern District of New York Judge Loretta Preska last August saying the firm had shown "a willingness to operate in the murky area between zealous advocacy and improper conduct" in attempting to interfere with the deposition of a non-party witness.

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2008 |

    Italy: All Gianni's boys

    Last year's high-profile Gianni exodus underlined the mounting tension between Italy's select band of elder rainmakers and the new generation of talent. Dominic Carman reports on the battle of ideas raging within the profession "I do not think there is room in the Italian market for new independent, full-service law firms - there is a sufficient number already." When Francesco Gianni said this 18 months ago, he was at pains to add: "If you change your partnership agreement to reduce competition between partners in terms of profits, you create a more stable firm."

    1 minute read

  • June 25, 2008 |

    Italy: The butterfly effect

    In March 2008, the Bank of Italy issued a supervisory regulation regarding Italian banks' and bank holding companies' internal organisation and corporate governance. The regulation was an implementation of guidelines set in August 2004 by the minister of economic affairs on the principles banks and other financial intermediaries should follow when adopting the governance systems introduced in the 2004 corporate law reform. In fact, since 2004 Italian stock corporations have been given the option to adopt, in addition to the traditional Italian model (based on a board of directors and a board of statutory auditors with technical oversight powers), either a one-tier or two-tier governance and supervisory structure.. The regulation aims both to provide guidance to banks on how to implement the governance model and to safeguard the sound and prudent management of banks. The deadline to adopt the new principles is June 30, 2009. The level of detail and the prescriptive nature of the provisions have been criticised by commentators because of the significant restrictions imposed on the banks' ability to freely implement the governance systems provided for under Italian corporate law.

    1 minute read

  • June 24, 2008 |

    Lovells leads on latest Bradford & Bingley bid

    Lovells has advised financial services company Resolution on its attempt to wrest control of troubled UK lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) via a proposed £400m cash injection. Under the terms of the proposal by Resolution - which together with founder Colin Cowdery owns around 20% of B&B - the lender would scrap plans for a £300m rights issue and a proposed cash injection from US private equity group TPG.

    1 minute read

  • June 4, 2008 |

    Freshfields, Cleary get mobile on Reliance and MTN merger

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising on alliance talks between Indian mobile telecoms company Reliance Communications and African wireless company MTN Group. The pair, which between them have more than 116 million customers and combined annual revenues of around £7.3bn, announced that they were in exclusive talks about a possible merger late last month (26 May).

    1 minute read

  • June 2, 2008 | International Edition

    Cleary joins Links on Bradford & Bingley deal

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has taken a lead role opposite City giant Linklaters as struggling UK lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) sells a stake to US buy-out giant TPG. The pair is advising the private equity group, formerly Texas Pacific Group, which today announced it was taking a 23% stake in B&B after the lender was hit by losses relating to its mortgage exposure.

    1 minute read

  • June 2, 2008 |

    Cleary joins Links on Bradford & Bingley deal

    Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has taken a lead role opposite City giant Linklaters as struggling UK lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) sells a stake to US buy-out giant TPG. The pair is advising the private equity group, formerly Texas Pacific Group, which today announced it was taking a 23% stake in B&B after the lender was hit by losses relating to its mortgage exposure.

    1 minute read

  • June 2, 2008 |

    US leaders join China quake aid effort

    A clutch of leading US law firms have opened their wallets to help China's recent earthquake victims, writes The American Lawyer, including a number of firms with active China practices. Firms to have contributed to various relief organisations working to aid the Chinese include New York's Dewey & LeBouef and Sullivan & Cromwell; West Coast outfits Heller Ehrman, Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe; and the Chicago pair of Kirkland & Ellis and McDermott Will & Emery.

    1 minute read

  • May 22, 2008 |

    Countdown to this year's Global 100: the UK members

    Later this year Legal Week and The American Lawyer will be joining forces to produce the Global 100 the definitive ranking and analysis of the world’s…

    1 minute read

  • May 21, 2008 |

    The Treasury Department's false alarm sounds

    Who says lawyers aren't an excitable bunch? On Friday, 29 March, the US Department of the Treasury released a 22-page summary of a radical plan to revolutionise a wide swathe of financial markets. Lawyers sprang into action. Many spent the weekend dissecting the summary and answering calls from panicked clients. Of course, the promise of sweet, sweet billables made the loss of Saturday and Sunday a little more palatable. The following Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held a press conference to announce the new plan, which covered everything from hedge funds to home mortgages. Lawyers felt an earthquake coming. Sweeping new regulations would mean one practice area would boom, another would die. There would be new laws to learn and new deals to make.

    1 minute read