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International Edition

Former General Re in-houser faces jail for fraud

Former General Re associate general counsel Robert Graham could spend the rest of his life in jail after a federal jury convicted him and four other defendants for aiding a sham deal with American International Group (AIG), writes Corporate Counsel magazine. Graham was found to have played a key role in a fraudulent reinsurance deal in 2000 between Gen Re - a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company - and regular customer AIG, designed to make AIG appear in better financial shape than it really was.
3 minute read

International Edition

ITV appoints new head of compliance

Broadcasting giant ITV has shaken up its in-house legal team and appointed a new head of compliance following the news that long-serving department head Ian McBride is to retire. McBride, a former journalist and producer of documentary series World in Action, will step down as director of compliance team in the summer. He has spent 30 years with Granada and ITV, becoming head of compliance in 2000.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bear Stearns general counsel cashes in

Three months before the stock price of Bear Stearns plunged below $3, general counsel Michael Solender unloaded 2,087 stock options at $89 per share, writes The American Lawyer. The sale meant Solender pocketed $186,000 (£93,840) on 21 December, according to a form filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
2 minute read

International Edition

Lovells loses insolvency man French to UBS

Lovells has been hit with the loss of restructuring partner Matthew French, who is moving on to take up a senior role in-house with Swiss banking giant UBS. French, who joined the top 10 City law firm in 1999, will become head of restructuring for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at UBS in London.
2 minute read

International Edition

Norton Rose a winner as Standard Chartered names new UK panel

Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled its new panel of UK advisers, with Norton Rose making its debut on the roster and City rivals SJ Berwin and Bird & Bird among those to miss out. The new line-up, which follows the first review of the bank's domestic panel in four years, sees City firms Denton Wilde Sapte and Herbert Smith retained alongside southwest outfit Burges Salmon and national giants Addleshaw Goddard and DLA Piper.
2 minute read

International Edition

Spending watchdog to review adviser line-up

The National Audit Office (NAO) is set to overhaul its roster of external advisers, with City firm Nabarro and national giant Wragge & Co among those likely to keep a close eye on the review. The government body, which monitors public spending, is set to name new advisers in five key areas: constitutional law; property; public law; commercial law and finance; and employment.
2 minute read

International Edition

US Briefing: Opportunities and threats

Ryan Rettmann left Thacher Proffitt & Wood in the nick of time. Last March, not long before the subprime crash paralysed the debt markets, the first-year structured finance associate moved to Chicago's Kirkland & Ellis. At Thacher Proffitt, he had been working on securities backed by home mortgages, a niche that was dead in the water by the end of summer. At Kirkland, he took a job working on auto-loan securitisations, a considerably healthier asset class. Rettmann was not prescient, just in love. He and his new wife had decided to leave New York and settle in Chicago, where he lined up the Kirkland interview after one phone call.
8 minute read

International Edition

Corporate Counsel: There can be only one

Little more than a year ago, Paul Smith, a partner at Eversheds, received a call from the irate head of a European law firm. Up until then, the European firm had regularly worked for Tyco International. Now, the caller informed Smith, Eversheds had just taken 37% of his Tyco business. What, he asked, did the Eversheds partner intend to do about it? As he recounts the story, Smith rolls his eyes at yet another example of a law firm failing to grasp some basic fundamentals of client service in the modern world. But the caller did have reason for concern. Smith had just led Eversheds' successful pitch to become Tyco's adviser of choice for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. At a stroke, the US security and fire business slashed its legal advisers for day-to-day matters in the region, such as commercial contracts and intellectual property, from a high point of 250 to just one. In early 2007, Tyco handed Eversheds a two-year mandate estimated to be worth more than £10m in total.
8 minute read

International Edition

A&O's Sheldon takes Abu Dhabi in-house energy role

Allen & Overy (A&O) banking partner Carl Sheldon has been named as the first-ever general counsel of the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA). Sheldon, who is US and UK-qualified and was most recently based in New York, takes up his new role on 1 April after 17 years with A&O.
2 minute read

International Edition

In-housers fear regulatory dispute surge - poll

Almost half of European in-house counsel believe disputes with regulators will be one of their biggest litigation risks over the next three years, according to research by City firm Lovells. The survey of more than 180 in-house lawyers, general counsel and legal heads across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK found 45% of respondents highlighted regulatory disputes as one of the biggest litigation risks facing them over the next few years.
2 minute read

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