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  • August 13, 2008 |

    Former Slaughters SP takes trading house role

    Former Slaughter and May senior partner Tim Clark has been appointed as a non-executive director at independent agency trading house Mint Partners. Mint director Richard Barnett told staff of the appointment last week (8 August) with Clark joining the six-member board with immediate effect.

    1 minute read

  • August 8, 2008 |

    Links tops Euro equity capital markets rankings

    Linklaters has retained the top spot in the European equity capital markets deal rankings, with the firm advising on double the amount of deals as its competitors. New research by Thomson Reuters shows the magic circle giant advised on 20 equity capital market deals totalling $14.6bn (£7.2bn) during the first half of 2008, keeping it above Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which advised on 11 deals worth $29.8bn (£15.3bn).

    1 minute read

  • August 7, 2008 |

    Top firms line up as SocGen kicks off review

    French banking giant Societe Generale (SocGen) is reviewing its global panel of legal advisers, with a raft of City and international firms applying to be considered. Firms will be appointed to the panel for a three-year period starting on 1 January, 2009, with the initial deadline for applications closing at the end of last month. SocGen general counsel Frederic de Brouwer and deputy head of legal for Europe, competition law and group legal David Bourdon are understood to be co-ordinating the review.

    1 minute read

  • August 7, 2008 |

    Gartmore hires Bear vet to head legal team

    Bear Stearns' former European legal chief Bill McGowan has joined independent fund manager Gartmore as its general counsel. McGowan, who joined Bear Stearns in 2005 from Lehman Brothers, where he was head of transactional management for Europe, started working at Gartmore earlier this summer

    1 minute read

  • August 7, 2008 |

    Associate morale drops at magic circle US arms

    Magic circle firms have plunged down the rankings of US associates' satisfaction levels compiled by Legal Week's sister title The American Lawyer. Allen & Overy is now the only UK firm to feature within the top 40, sitting at number 35 in the rankings. However, it has still dropped 10 places from last year. Clifford Chance (CC) has taken the worst hit, dropping 52 places down to number 81 in the table from 29 last year. The ranking comes after CC's New York office laid off six structured finance associates last November, becoming one of the first major players to demonstrate the impact of the credit crunch.

    1 minute read

  • July 31, 2008 |

    Elections to push back India liberalisation

    Attempts to open up the Indian legal market to foreign law firms look set for further delays as the country gears up for a general election. The fears come despite expectations that this autumn the Indian Government will pass a long-awaited bill allowing limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and lifting the country's 20-partner limit. A hearing concerning international firms' right to practise foreign law in the country is also expected to take place over the summer, months before the election is scheduled to take place next spring.

    1 minute read

  • July 31, 2008 |

    A&O fees breakdown reveals US expansion

    Allen & Overy's (A&O's) US office generated 6% of the magic circle firm's total turnover in the last financial year.The percentage equates to roughly £61m of the £1.016bn in revenues that the firm brought in during 2007-08. In comparison, 49% (£498m) ofrevenues came from London.The US figure is roughly in line with magic circle rival Linklaters, where the US arm pulled in £60.7m of the firm's overall turnover of £1.293bn.

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  • July 30, 2008 | International Edition

    Shearman and Weil to advise on GE's Abu Dhabi investment tie-up

    Shearman & Sterling and Weil Gotshal & Manges have come together to advise on a multibillion-dollar partnership between Abu Dhabi's state investment vehicle, Mubadala, and General Electric (GE). Shearman's New York office has taken the lead role for Mubadala, which last week (22 July) announced it is set to become one of GE's 10 largest institutional investors through the agreement, which will also see each company invest $4bn (£2bn) in a jointly-owned financial services company based in Abu Dhabi.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 |

    Shearman and Weil to advise on GE's Abu Dhabi investment tie-up

    Shearman & Sterling and Weil Gotshal & Manges have come together to advise on a multibillion-dollar partnership between Abu Dhabi's state investment vehicle, Mubadala, and General Electric (GE). Shearman's New York office has taken the lead role for Mubadala, which last week (22 July) announced it is set to become one of GE's 10 largest institutional investors through the agreement, which will also see each company invest $4bn (£2bn) in a jointly-owned financial services company based in Abu Dhabi.

    1 minute read

  • July 30, 2008 | International Edition

    Lords back decision to drop BAE-Saudi inquest

    The House of Lords has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was right to drop its investigation into BAE Systems' Saudi arms deal. In a judgment this morning the Lords backed the SFO's appeal against April's High Court ruling that said the SFO was acting unlawfully when it dropped investigations into alleged bribery and corruption involving BAE and its £43bn Al-Yamamah arms contract with Saudi Arabia.

    1 minute read