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International Edition

Revealed: Clifford Chance investigation into RBS hits obstacles as report delayed

Clifford Chance's (CC) independent review into the lending practices at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been delayed by difficulties in evidence collection, Legal Week has learned.
3 minute read

Legal Week

Pure and simple – the most popular Legal Week Law briefings from Q4 2013

The practice of law is often maligned – and sometimes fairly so – as overly complex and inaccessible, with its use of arcane language, dense documents and labyrinthine legislation. But the issues that engage lawyers on a day-to-day basis are often the most simplistic, and, as the most popular briefings on Legal Week Law demonstrate, subjects as straightforward as clear communication, signatures and getting names right remain just as much of interest as ever. The doctrine of misnomer was thrown into the spotlight last year by the case of Liberty Mercian v Cuddy Civil Engineering, which was covered by Macfarlanes in its briefing 'Mistaken identity – the importance of getting names right in contracts', which proved to be one of the top 10 most popular downloads during the last three months of 2013.
14 minute read

International Edition

Pure and simple – the most popular Legal Week Law briefings from Q4 2013

The practice of law is often maligned – and sometimes fairly so – as overly complex and inaccessible, with its use of arcane language, dense documents and labyrinthine legislation. But the issues that engage lawyers on a day-to-day basis are often the most simplistic, and, as the most popular briefings on Legal Week Law demonstrate, subjects as straightforward as clear communication, signatures and getting names right remain just as much of interest as ever. The doctrine of misnomer was thrown into the spotlight last year by the case of Liberty Mercian v Cuddy Civil Engineering, which was covered by Macfarlanes in its briefing 'Mistaken identity – the importance of getting names right in contracts', which proved to be one of the top 10 most popular downloads during the last three months of 2013.
5 minute read

International Edition

TTIP of the iceberg – what the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership means for lawyers on both sides of the Pond

It has been billed as the largest free trade agreement in history, yet many trade lawyers are still in the dark when it comes to the details of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal. TTIP, which was announced last summer and is now being negotiated, will for the first time create a trade treaty between the US and the EU in its entirety. Designed to drive growth by removing trade barriers and tariffs, independent research cited by the European Commission suggests the annual benefits could be as much as €120bn (£99.9bn) to the EU economy, €90bn (£74.9bn) to the US and €100bn (£83.2bn) to the rest of the world. "Everybody is going to be affected by this, and it really will change the balance of political power," says Ross Denton, a UK-qualified partner in Baker & McKenzie's European competition and trade department. "In recent years the balance [of US trade] has been gradually shifting towards Asia, because they don't have the same heavy tariffs. But if you eliminate most tariffs between the EU and US, then this will have huge ramifications for business."
11 minute read

International Edition

Credit Suisse latest bank to see profits hit by legal costs

Credit Suisse has become the latest investment bank to have its profits hit by escalating litigation provisions and costs. A financial report, published today (6 February), shows the group recorded net litigation provisions of 577m Swiss francs (£392m) in the fourth quarter of 2013.
2 minute read

International Edition

Calling the tune – PPL legal director David Harmsworth on music licensing, litigation and his pop picks of the year

Next time you are placed on hold by a phone operator or patiently queuing at the hairdresser, listen out for the background music. If it is a piece by an artist you recognise, there's a fairly good chance PPL legal director David Harmsworth and his team have had a role in that recording reaching your ears. If they haven't, they still may need to get involved. PPL – or Phonographic Performance Limited – is a non-profit organisation that grants companies licences to play music recorded by its members, which range from performers and session musicians to studio producers and composers. Given music played for personal consumption at home or at a private party are the only real exceptions, this adds up to a lot of licenses. At the last count, it was more than 300,000. When I meet Harmsworth at PPL's offices – the Bob Marley room to be exact – I cannot hear any background music, despite him assuring me he is a firm believer in workplace music. Which means PPL itself also has to have a PPL licence.
9 minute read

International Edition

White collar lawyers prepare for introduction of new SFO powers

A type of plea bargain that will radically alter City-based white collar partners' dealings with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), will come into effect at the end of this month. Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), which are heavily used in the US, allow self-reporting companies to strike a deal with the SFO to pay a fine rather than face the uncertainty of a criminal prosecution.
3 minute read

International Edition

How Simpson Thacher and Paul Hastings brought home the bacon on $7.1bn Smithfield takeover

The acquisition of American pork producer Smithfield Foods by Hong Kong-based meat manufacturer Shuanghui International Holdings came at a good time for Hong Kong's corporate lawyers. Last year's $7.1bn (£4.2bn) deal was the largest ever takeover of a US business by a Chinese company and was announced just as a host of law firms were focusing their energies on Chinese outbound investment. When it came to choosing their advisers, it was no surprise that both Shuanghui and Smithfield picked US firms with which they had long-term relationships. Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was appointed lead counsel on the US side, having advised Smithfield since the turn of the century, while Paul Hastings was selected by Shuanghui, having assisted it on restructuring, offshore activities and other transactions since 2003.
10 minute read

International Edition

Should cyber security standards be imposed by regulation or left to discretion?

Late last year London's largest financial institutions stress-tested their cyber security resilience with a series of 'war games' co-ordinated by financial regulators and Government officials. Bank staff had to respond to several simulated cyber incident scenarios, which included challenges such as the availability of cash from ATMs and coping with a liquidity freeze in the wholesale market. Dubbed 'Operation Waking Shark II', the simulation – one of the largest ever conducted – emphasises the potential severity of cyber attacks affecting the financial markets. Along with a similar exercise carried out in New York – and plans for 200 US banks to participate in what amounts to a competition over which is best prepared to handle an attack – it signifies a growing awareness of cyber risk among Government, regulators and corporations.
6 minute read

International Edition

Collaboration between public and business sectors is key in the fight against corruption

As global regulation mushrooms and anti-corruption legislation is extended across more and more countries, we have also seen polarising of the public and private sector. On one side are those who make and enforce regulations: governments, institutions and regulatory agencies. On the other side are companies and individuals – those who must abide by these regulations wherever they do business and bear the consequences of non-compliance. In recent years the relationship between the two sides has become strained, at best. We think this division is unhealthy and unproductive. Approximately 50 nations have anti-corruption laws, often with many differences between them, and often there is little transparency about enforcement decisions. Numerous studies show that bribery and corruption is at the top of the regulatory risks companies face today, followed by anti-trust and competition regulation, data privacy and international trade ('Global Agenda 2012: Issues & Priorities for Senior In-house Counsel Worldwide' conducted by the World Law Group and ELD International). The same studies reveal that corporate legal and compliance chiefs find enforcement decisions inconsistent and uneven across the regulators and the regulated enterprises.
4 minute read

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