According to Allen & Overy’s latest M&A Index, the state of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has given mixed signals in the third quarter, with a total of 458 deals announced — 22 per cent lower than the same period last year. The index also revealed a 13 per cent increase in the value of transactions […]
Allen & Overy has seen a flurry of emerging market sovereign debt issues in recent weeks as the Fed’s decision to postpone the start of tapering its quantitative easing programme had opened the window for emerging market sovereigns. In the past few weeks, the law firm has advised on the largest emerging-market offering so far […]
It was just five years ago that Prince Sultan University in Riyadh introduced Saudi Arabia’s first law degree for women, but since then progress has been minimal. Women who wanted to practise law in Saudi Arabia faced numerous hurdles, not least that they were not permitted to argue a case in court. The observant reader […]
Leeds firm Shulmans has reported a 25 per cent increase in turnover for the first six months of the current financial year, breaking through the £4m barrier. Turnover for the half-year rose from £3.3m in the first six months of 2012/13 to £4.1m at the end of September this year. The results follow record results for the […]
11 KBW has secured an injunction for Covanta Energy preventing Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) from going ahead with a £1.2bn contract with rival waste management company SITA. SITA was contracted to dispose of half a million tonnes of rubbish from Liverpool and surrounding areas across the Pennines by train but Covanta is claiming the […]
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) corporate finance partner Michael Weir is to join the firm’s former global private equity head Raymond McKeeve at Jones Day. McKeeve, widely regarded as a leading private equity rainmaker, was hired by Jones Day in August (20 August 2013) after months of speculation surrounding his move. His exit marked the last […]
Wragge & Co’s projects head David Fennell as been elected as the firm’s new global managing partner, after the current chief Ian Metcalfe steps down next year. Corporate partner Metcalfe, who has held the global managing partner role since 2006, has decided to return to fee-earning rather than continuing into a third term. His current […]
The press is not fit to regulate itself. Indeed, only yesterday Newsnight reported that – ahead of the full Privy Council meeting on Wednesday – a sub-committee of the Privy Council has already rejected the industry’s charter for regulation as insufficiently independent. Two recent examples of the press’s poor conduct underline why real independent regulation is vital. Two […]
The world’s leaders and global CEOs are gathering in Bali for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this week, where strong economic growth across South East Asia will give delegates plenty to talk about. The absence of US president Barack Obama has already been a key talking point, although secretary of state John Kerry, […]
Taylor Wessing is planning further expansion across Asia after entering into a formal association with 10-partner Indonesian firm Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners (HPRP). The move follows an announcement earlier this year that the group’s Singapore member, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, would launch a regional network under which it would form associations with local firms across the South […]
The first Saudi Arabian woman lawyer to be allowed to appear in the country’s courts and open her own law firm was awarded a licence by the authorities last weekend. Criminal law and domestic violence specialist Bayan Al Zahran was given the nod by the country’s ministry of justice on Sunday. According to local media […]
West country firm Follett Stock has closed its Exeter office two weeks before it faces a wind-up petition issued by HM Revenue and Customs in the High Court. The firm opened its Exeter office in 2009 with partner Rebecca Gurgul leading the base. Gurgul left the firm last year to join F Haskins & Co in the […]