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International Edition

UBS picks Sullivan as US counsel on $60bn bailout

Sullivan & Cromwell has landed a lead role for UBS after the Swiss National Bank and the Government of Switzerland created a fund for the bank to dump $60bn in illiquid assets, reports the Am Law Daily. The elite US firm is advising UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, on US aspects of the bailout.Sullivan has worked with UBS in the past, advising the bank on its $10.8bn (£6.3bn) acquisition of private banker PaineWebber in 2000. The team handling the work was led by firm chairman Rodgin Cohen.
2 minute read

International Edition

Norton Rose Italy litigation chief joins Lovells

Norton Rose is to lose its Italian head of litigation and arbitration Cristina Pagni to City rival Lovells. She will join the top 10 UK firm's Milan office, where she will co-manage the group with partner Francesca Rolla. Pagni's practice covers litigation and arbitration with a special focus on insurance and reinsurance matters. She also advises on contentious insolvency and general corporate disputes.
2 minute read

International Edition

Simmons hire from local rival beefs up Netherlands corporate expertise

Simmons & Simmons has boosted its corporate capabilities in the Netherlands after adding a partner from Dutch rival Stibbe. Michiel Wurfbain will join the City law firm's corporate group as a partner in its Amsterdam office. He previously served as a senior associate at Stibbe, joining the firm in 2000.Wurfbain's practice focuses on equity capital markets (ECM) work, including advising banks on securities offerings, private placements and initial public offerings. With his arrival, Simmons' Dutch corporate practice now comprises six partners and 18 associates across offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
2 minute read

International Edition

Maitland's ambition expands into Monaco

Professional services firm Maitland Group has launched its second office in four months, with the opening of a branch in Monaco. The new office will be headed by deputy chairman Michael Soloman, who will relocate from London, and wealth management partner Chris Theo. The office will act as a trust company for Maitland's high net worth client roster. However, even though both Soloman and Theo are qualified lawyers, they will not be providing legal advice due to local Bar restrictions.
1 minute read

International Edition

Projects and energy: The carbon harbour

On 9 September, 2008, a new coal-fired power plant at Schwarze Pumpe in northeast Germany was commissioned. The plant is small compared with most commercial power plants, producing only 12 megawatts (MW) of electrical output and 30 MW of thermal power for local heating (a conventional power plant produces 1,600 MW of electrical output). Apart from its size, Schwarze Pumpe is unusual because it is designed to capture the carbon dioxide (CO2) it produces. In a process heralded as a major technological step forward in the fight to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the CO2 will then be transported to and injected into a depleted gas field, where it will be stored permanently.This is the first demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology involving electricity generation. Although it is worth noting that there are several existing projects around the world which involve the storage of CO2 produced by industrial processes, some of which have been in operation for a number of years.
6 minute read

International Edition

SJ Berwin recruits real estate team in Germany

SJ Berwin has significantly boosted its European real estate practice with the hire of a team from a rival German firm. Hans Thomas Kessler joins the Frankfurt office from Beiten Burkhardt - one of the top real estate firms in the region - with what is expected to be a large team, although exact numbers are yet to be clarified.The addition will ramp up the firm's capabilities in real estate transactions, finance, infrastructure and funds.Kessler is the fifth partner to join SJ Berwin's German real estate team across the firm's two offices in Berlin and Frankfurt.
2 minute read

International Edition

Moscow lawyers wary as Russia feels force of global market rout

The impact of the credit crunch finally hit the Russian legal market last week, with local leaders of international law firms admitting that they have begun to feel the effects of the turbulence in the global financial markets. Capital markets practices are taking the biggest hit after the Russian Government was last week forced to inject $20bn (£11bn) to support the country's financial markets. aTrading on the country's stock market was halted for several days.
3 minute read

International Edition

Shearman's German practice comes under scrutiny after fresh walk-outs

Shearman & Sterling's German practice was dealt a fresh blow last week as half of the law firm's Munich partners left to launch Allen & Overy's (A&O's) fifth German office. The departures of Shearman's Munich office head Gottfried Breuninger (also German tax head and global co-head of tax) and M&A partner Astrid Krueger to A&O came after the US-based law firm lost global co-head of M&A Hans Rolf Koerfer, and M&A partner Birgit Reese to the magic circle law firm's Duesseldorf arm in January and March respectively.The losses come on top of Shearman's nine-partner Mannheim office walking away from the firm earlier this year.
2 minute read

International Edition

Two nations, one market

As with neighbours everywhere, the warmth of feelings between Spain and Portugal has ebbed and flowed. Despite sharing one of Europe's longest borders, the economic, political and social integration of the two countries has been limited for much of their history. The two Iberian neighbours have been separate states since Portuguese independence was finally established through the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668. Since then they have coexisted, but Spain traditionally looked to France economically, while Portugal looked to the UK.But in just the past 20 years, the two countries' entry into the European Community and then the European Union (EU) has managed to undo long-held mutual suspicions. Now, multinational companies are among those capitalising on Iberia's open borders and shared currency and they are increasingly combining their Spanish and Portuguese business operations and legal functions.
9 minute read

International Edition

Romania: Stock standard

A new arbitration system will radically overhaul the way the capital markets in Romania are regulated The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), the operator of the regulated securities market, has set up the Arbitration Court of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSEAC). It is governed by the 2006 procedure rules, which are approved by the regulatory authority, the National Securities Commission.
5 minute read

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