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  • April 16, 2013 |

    CC and A&O among international quartet on key Hong Kong IPO double

    Clifford Chance (CC) and Allen & Overy (A&O) have landed lead roles on two key Hong Kong initial public offerings (IPOs), working opposite US outfits Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis respectively. The planned listings of state-owned brokerage China Galaxy Securities Co and Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asia's biggest oil refiner, Beijing-based Sinopec Group, are said to be the biggest IPOs in Hong Kong so far this year.

    1 minute read

  • April 11, 2013 |

    A&O makes up 19 to partner around the world including six in London

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has made up 19 lawyers in its latest promotions round, including six in the magic circle firm's London office. The City base has seen Charles Yorke made up in tax, while Jeffrey Sullivan, Kevin Young and Sara Pickersgirll have been promoted in the arbitration, banking and corporate practices respectively, alongside international capital markets duo Theo Trayhurn and Tom Grant.

    1 minute read

  • April 11, 2013 |

    Linklaters, Hogan Lovells and A&O lawyers join Competition Commission

    Linklaters partner Gavin Robert and Hogan Lovells London competition head Lesley Ainsworth are among four lawyers joining the Competition Commission in an 18-strong round of new appointments to the regulator. The appointments, announced yesterday (10 April) by consumer minister Jo Swinson, come ahead of the merger of the Commission and the Office of Fair Trading to create the new Competition and Markets Authority next April.

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2013 |

    Growth is dead, part 7: pricing and the emergence of low-cost competitors

    At the end of the last instalment in this series, I asked aloud whether we as lawyers are intellectually and emotionally capable of adapting to the new market landscape, suggested that adapting would require experimentation and - yes - failure, and noted that countries and industries that did not reflexively punish failure enjoyed stronger long-term growth. Let's talk about that some more.

    1 minute read

  • April 3, 2013 |

    Slaughters' Japan best friend Anderson Mori to open in Singapore and Shanghai

    Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, one of Japan's biggest law firms, has announced plans to open new offices in Shanghai and Singapore this year in a bid to boost its international client base. The local outfit, which is one of the country's 'Big Four' firms and which has a best friend relationship with UK magic circle firm Slaughter & May, will also launch a branch in Nagoya to boost its coverage of middle Japan.

    1 minute read

  • April 2, 2013 |

    Stephenson Harwood and Freshfields advise on Prudential's £30m FSA fine

    Stephenson Harwood and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer picked up lead advisory roles as Prudential was last week fined £30m by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over its attempt to take over Asian rival AIA in 2010. The FSA, which was this week replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, fined Prudential and censured its chief executive Tidjane Thiam, for failing to inform the FSA at the appropriate time about its $35.5bn (£23.5bn) bid - breaching FSA principles and UKLA listing principles.

    1 minute read

  • March 27, 2013 |

    Pinsents tops Government billers with £13m in legal fees since 2011

    Pinsent Masons has billed almost £13m through the Government Procurement Service (GPS) legal panel since the start of the 2011-12 financial year, more than double any other law firm, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The figures show Pinsents accumulated £12.9m through the Government legal services framework – the central panel intended to cover all of the Government's external legal advice – between April 2011 and December 2012, well ahead of the next biggest biller, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which charged £6.2m over the same period.

    1 minute read

  • March 27, 2013 |

    Crunching the numbers - going behind the headline figures to look at the top 30's financial health

    Caroline Thorpe pores over the top 30 UK firms' LLP accounts covering the past two financial years and assesses their performance during the ongoing financial storms

    1 minute read

  • March 26, 2013 |

    Addleshaws makes up eight to partnership across UK offices

    Addleshaw Goddard has made up eight partners in its latest round of partner promotions, an increase on last year's round of six. Half of the promoted lawyers are based in the firm's London office with Louisa Caswell (litigation), Jon Cheney (professional practices), Alex Dumphy and Steve Mackie (both banking) all set to join the firm partnership as of 1 May.

    1 minute read

  • March 26, 2013 |

    Slaughters, Herbert Smith and Ashurst advise on Schroders' £424m Cazenove takeover

    Slaughter and May, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Ashurst have lined up to advise on FTSE 100 asset manager Schroders' £424m takeover of rival Cazenove Capital. As part of the deal, which was announced yesterday (25 March), Schroders - the largest listed asset management company in the UK - will recognise £395m as the acquisition cost and £29m as the effective future cost of deferred pay awards for Cazenove employees.

    1 minute read