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  • August 16, 2010 |

    Freshfields Beijing managing partner joins Davis Polk for HK law launch

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Beijing managing partner is leaving the firm to launch a Hong Kong law practice for Davis Polk & Wardwell, reports The Am Law Daily. Antony Dapiran (pictured), a capital markets lawyer at Freshfields, has taken roles on several high-profile transactions for Chinese state-owned enterprises, including working side-by-side with Davis Polk representing Agricultural Bank of China on its dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which this week became the world's largest initial public offering (IPO) ever with over $22bn (£14bn) raised.

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  • August 12, 2010 |

    Weil and Skadden head up latest billion-dollar AIG sell-off

    Weil Gotshal & Manges and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have taken the lead roles on AIG's sale of an 80% stake in its consumer finance lender, American General Finance (AGF), to the Fortress Investment Group, reports The Am Law Daily. The purchase price of the deal - which will allow AIG to offload between $17bn (£11bn) and $19bn (£12bn) worth of debt - has not been disclosed, but AGF has been previously valued at around $2bn (£1.3bn).

    1 minute read

  • August 3, 2010 |

    Milbank secures five-partner deal finance team from Latham

    Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy has made a daring attempt to upgrade its New York acquisition finance practice with the hire of a five-partner team from Latham & Watkins. The team comprises Marc Hanrahan, Ronan Wicks, Marcus Dougherty, Patrick Flanagan and Lauren Hanrahan, all of whom were partners in Latham's global banking and leveraged finance group.

    1 minute read

  • July 29, 2010 |

    Latham, Skadden and Hogan Lovells advise on $3.5bn Qatar development finance deal

    Latham & Watkins, Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom and Hogan Lovells have taken roles relating to Qatari Diar Finance's $3.5bn (£2.2bn) bond offering, as part of Qatar's plan to target international finance to fund domestic development. Latham represented Qatari Diar Finance, a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the emirate's sovereign wealth fund. The team was led by finance partner Bill Voge alongside Doha-based corporate counsel Craig Stoehr.

    1 minute read

  • July 28, 2010 |

    RenCap reviews panel after Cleary hire in bid to expand outside counsel ranks

    Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital (RenCap) has kicked off a review of its advisers, aiming to double its panel to 12 law firms. The bank has asked around two dozen law firms to pitch for the review, which comes less than a year after the bank appointed its first formal panel last August. The review is being led from London by executive vice chairman Ashar Qureshi, who joined the bank earlier this year from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. RenCap is due to conclude the review in August and has not set a limit on the length of the panel appointments.

    1 minute read

  • July 23, 2010 |

    Letter from Asia: Should US firms build local practices in Hong Kong?

    The Agricultural Bank of China's initial public offering (IPO), expected to become the world's largest, debuted this week, landing squarely in the middle of a debate over whether leading Wall Street law firms should build local practice capability in Hong Kong. The IPO on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges would seem an obvious rallying cry for those arguing that top US capital markets firms will miss out on deals without their own Hong Kong lawyers - except that the lead lawyers on the AgBank deal are from New York's Davis Polk & Wardwell, which only practises US law.

    1 minute read

  • July 20, 2010 |

    Brown Rudnick adds partner to City base with Skadden hire

    US firm Brown Rudnick has added a partner to its London office with the hire of a financial services specialist from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Ned Swan, a counsel in the financial services team at Skadden's Canary Wharf office, has more than 30 years' experience in UK, European, and US financial services law and regulation, with a focus on regulation and litigation within financial services.

    1 minute read

  • July 16, 2010 |

    Goldman reaches record $550m settlement with SEC

    Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $550m (£366m) to settle fraud charges brought against the bank by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), writes The American Lawyer. The SEC on Thursday (15 July) confirmed the terms of its agreement with Goldman with the bank to pay $300m (£200m) in fines to the Treasury Department and another $250m (£166m) in restitution to investors.

    1 minute read

  • July 9, 2010 |

    Skadden leads on $10bn transatlantic airline joint venture

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has taken a leading role as leading Italian airline Alitalia signs up to an alliance with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines. The US firm advised Air France on the addition of Alitalia to the joint venture, with the four-way deal now representing around 26% of total transatlantic capacity.

    1 minute read

  • July 6, 2010 |

    Latham launches Asia litigation practice with Jones Day hire

    Latham & Watkins has launched an Asia litigation practice with a lateral hire from Jones Day's Hong Kong office, reports the Am Law Daily. Hong Kong-qualified lawyer Simon Powell, who joined Latham's Hong Kong office last week, is regarded as one of the region's top insolvency and litigation specialists. He also advises financial institutions and companies in the region on securities and competition regulation, as well as commercial litigation.

    1 minute read