NEXT
Sign in to follow

International Edition

UBS wealth management head in fraud charge

Raoul Weil, the chairman and CEO of the global wealth management and business banking division at UBS, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he helped US taxpayers avoid income taxes on assets in overseas accounts. According to the indictment, Weil and other UBS bankers used encrypted laptops and other counter-surveillance techniques to assist US clients in concealing their identities and nearly $200bn (£135bn) in offshore assets from US authorities. The indictment claims that Swiss bankers who reported to Weil routinely travelled to the US to discuss Swiss bank accounts with current and prospective clients. Between 2002 and 2007, these activities allegedly generated nearly $200m (£135m) in cross-border business for UBS.
3 minute read

International Edition

DLA and Camerons in Bulgaria complaints

CMS Cameron McKenna and DLA Piper are among a cluster of firms to have complained to the European Commission (EC), arguing local laws governing their right to practise in Bulgaria are against European Union (EU) law. The group of five firms, which also includes CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz, Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati and Wolf Theiss, believe the Bulgarian Bar Act is anti-competitive and against the principals of free trade.
2 minute read

International Edition

Cuatrecasas set for practice overhaul

Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas is revamping its practice group structure, appointing eight partners to head the newly-defined groups. The firm has created four broad practices covering corporate, finance and tax, employment and litigation.Partners Fernando Torrente and Miguel Trias will co-head the corporate group while Eduardo Ramirez and Alejandro Escoda will head up the finance and tax group. Pilar Cavero and Jordi Puigbo will lead the employment practice and Jorge Badia and Alvaro Mendiola will co-head litigation.
1 minute read

International Edition

The South: The Kent landings

Our French clients set up businesses all over the UK - from Bristol to Liverpool; from Northampton to Sheffield. However, many of them end up choosing Kent. Technology is no substitute for meeting clients and potential clients face to face, so being a short train ride away from the French market is a major plus. The Eurostar is a fantastic business tool - I recently left a function at the British Embassy in the heart of Paris at 8:30pm and was back home in Tunbridge Wells by 11:05pm, having worked for two hours while on the train.
6 minute read

International Edition

Taylor Wessing begins rebuilding in Paris after 'partner-stealing' case

Taylor Wessing has begun the process of rebuilding its Paris office after losing a chunk of its partners to US firm Nixon Peabody to launch in the French capital. Taylor Wessing and Nixon Peabody last week reached an agreement over allegations that the US firm poached a group of 12 partners to launch in Paris after merger talks between the firms collapsed. A court settlement last week in Nixon's favour stated that the firm did not steal Taylor Wessing partners, despite a two-year moratorium agreement on recruitment.Taylor Wessing France is currently in discussions to hire three lateral partners and one senior associate, after losing 25 lawyers from the office in total. The raid leaves the firm with eight partners and 27 associates. Taylor Wessing's new France managing partner Christian Valsamidis said: "The early departure of the team joining Nixon Peabody enables us to move ahead more quickly with our plans to grow the Paris office. Four out of the five founding partners remain and, with four other partners and 27 associates, the French office of Taylor Wessing remains a significant player in the French market." Meanwhile, Nixon's Paris office, headed by former Taylor Wessing Paris managing partner Arnaud de Senilhes, hopes to add four partners and around 20 associates in the next 18 months. It will open with 14 partners after having promoted one former Taylor Wessing associate and relocating New York-based private equity and corporate partner Douglas Glucroft, who is dual-qualified for the New York and Paris bars.De Senilhes said: "We are already pretty much full-service, but we want to add additional capacity in finance, add partner capacity in insurance and we would also like to grow the public-private partnership practice group."
2 minute read

International Edition

Garrigues announces merger and 15% revenue rise

Garrigues has boosted its revenues 15% over the 2007-08 financial year to fall just short of the €300m mark. The Spanish leader, whose year-end is 31 August, has seen its turnover rise to €296.8m (£234m) during the last year, a 14.8% increase on last year's total of €258.6m (£203.9m).Commenting on the results, Garrigues managing partner Jose Maria Alonso told Legal Week that the firm's restructuring and labour law departments were boosted by the financial crisis, while the corporate and M&A group performed above expectation.
2 minute read

International Edition

Iceland Govt instructs Lovells in wake of financial meltdown

Lovells has been bought in by the Icelandic Government to advise on any potential claims that it might make against the UK Treasury in the wake of the country's recent banking collapse. The mandate comes against the backdrop of a war of words between the UK and Icelandic Governments after three banks - Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir - were taken into the hands of the Icelandic authorities earlier this month.Iceland's foreign minister, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, slammed the UK Government's use of anti-terror laws to seize around £4bn worth of assets from Landsbanki, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the behaviour of the Icelandic Government was "totally unacceptable" in the face of the scale of the country's economic crisis.
2 minute read

International Edition

Scandinavia: A piece of the action

Change is in the air in Scandinavia. The region's legal centre, Stockholm, has long been dominated by a combination of the major Swedish players and a number of international outfits. However, ambitious Finnish firms are increasingly looking to muscle in on the action. At the same time, there are signs that the Norwegian and Danish legal markets - long considered rather local-minded - may be beginning to open up.
9 minute read

International Edition

Scandinavia: Our financial Waterloo

While a little more settled of late, the markets are still in relative turmoil. We are faced with an unprecedented financial crisis, the depth of which is unknown. Despite the various government-backed initiatives, stock markets have lost up to a third of their value and banks continue to look vulnerable. Perhaps the best way to gauge what is going to happen in the future is by looking back to previous crises. The Swedish financial market faced complete meltdown in 1992, and, although far smaller-scale than the present situation, the crisis offers some interesting lessons.
6 minute read

International Edition

Scandinavia: A matter of principle

A dispute between a Latvian building company and Swedish trade unions has had enormous implications for employee rights across the EU. Rimtis Puisys and Nerijus Zaleckas take a closer look In January 2004 the European Commission introduced the Services Directive, which compelled member states to eliminate obstacles preventing service providers of other member states from setting up and doing business within their borders.
6 minute read

More from ALM

More from ALM

Legal Speak is a weekly podcast that makes sense of what’s happening in the legal industry.

Resources

  • Aligning Client Needs with Lawyer Growth and Profitability

    Brought to you by BigHand

    Download Now

  • Technology to Make E-Discovery Smarter, Not Harder

    Brought to you by Nuix

    Download Now

  • Does Generative AI Have the Power to Transform Legal Services?

    Brought to you by HaystackID

    Download Now

  • International Export and Trade Assistance State Law Survey

    Brought to you by LexisNexis®

    Download Now