World round up
Legal Week Global reports
December 16, 2002 at 07:03 PM
4 minute read
The fall out from the collapse of Enron may have dominated the legal headlines, but lawyers across the world have been grappling with plenty of other challenges this year. We asked lawyers from five jurisdictions what they will remember 2002 for.
Peter Michelmore, Richards Butler's Abu Dhabi-based Middle East managing partner, cites new money laundering regulations and the proposed regulatory framework for the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) as two key developments. The DIFC aims to make Dubai a global hub for institutional finance and investment and will have its own court system. "The proposed regulatory framework for the DIFC has attracted much interest as it contemplates, among other things, a court system, a companies law and a trust law operating outside the existing federal and Emiri systems," he says.
Peter Whelan, head of Bowman Gilfillan's Cape Town office, says the biggest development by far in South Africa is the implementation of the New Economic-Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). He says the drive to boost investment on the continent will "change the face of Africa". And he adds that it is throwing up a "myriad of legal issues relating to governance, corruption, loans and funding".
Maxim Kalinin, the managing partner of Baker & McKenzie's St Petersburg office, says that in terms of "the sheer speed and scope of legal reform", this has been a major year for Russia. He cites a new labour code that imposes restrictions on the trade unions and gives employers greater flexibility. He says the code reflects Russia's
market, as opposed to socialist, economy.
Stefano Sutti, managing partner of Studio Legale Sutti, says the overhaul of company law currently taking place in Italy has given Italian lawyers plenty to chew on. "The raging debate on the reform of company law in Italy definitely qualifies as being the biggest legal issue to affect Italy in the past 12 months," he says. Bruno Gattai, the head of Simmons & Simmons' Italian corporate practice agrees. He says the reforms have generated widespread debate among both lawyers and academics and will change all aspects of company law in Italy.
Scott Schreiber, a senior partner at Arnold & Porter in Washington, says the fallout from Enron has led to the "biggest sea change" in the regulation of business in recent times. US business lawyers are up in arms over the whistleblowing provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed by Congress in June. But Schreiber prefers to focus on the positive aspects of the changes. He says: "It will have a tremendous affect on corporate governance and hopefully lead to greater transparency, more accurate information being available about companies and more efficient systems in terms of the trade of securities."
Kai Thogersen and Anders Arnkvaern, partners at Norwegian firm Thommessen Krefting Greve Lundas, say the Norwegian Government's decision to privatise and dispose of many of its key companies has "definitely affected the legal environment in Norway". The move follows the successful part-privatisations of Statoil, Norway's principal oil and gas company, in 2001.
Gerard Tavernier, senior partner at Paris-based Gide Loyrete Nouel, cites the New Economic Regulation Law, which came into force on 1 December, as the biggest issue for French lawyers in 2002. The act brings into a force a new corporate governance regime as recommend by the government-backed Bouton.
Luis Lucero, a partner at Argentinian firm Cardenas Cassagne & Asociados, said the devaluation of the peso together with the country's defaulting on its debt had sent shock waves through the country's legal sector. The emergency law passed by the Argentine National
Congress means that private contracts denominated in US dollars and contracts entered into for the purpose of carrying out the aggressive privatisation programme of the 90s are now subject to re-negotiation.
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