New online version of the European Lawyer now available
To view the new page-turning version of the European Lawyer please click here … read more
Glancing at newspaper headlines is currently the sort of activity that could plunge readers into the depths of depression. Around Europe, front pages are dominated by an infection that has spread across the Atlantic from the US. The key symptoms: an abundant and apparently uncontrollable use of phrases such as ‘credit crunch’, ‘global economic slowdown/downturn/grinding halt’, and even the dreaded R-word – ‘recession’.… read more
Brands are by definition multifaceted. They are part of everything a company does, from how it makes its products or delivers its services to how it sells them. Marketing, which is where strategists get involved, is either tied directly to the brand or it is useless. … read more
Differing opinions abound on the forecast for law firms over the next year, and on the underlying financial situation that is supporting them. … read more
Change comes quickly for law firms in a recession. Some of their best long-term clients can suddenly find themselves suffering cash shortages and unable to pay bills. … read more
After years operating on the fringe of judicial processes, the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tool of mediation has recently received a major boost in gaining legitimacy as a means of settling commercial disputes.… read more
Counterfeiting is an increasingly serious problem across a wide variety of industry sectors, from DVDs to handbags. All of these areas will suffer from damage to the manufacturers’ reputation, as well as to their profits and the economy generally. However, there has also been an increase in goods counterfeiting that poses a risk to public health, including of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and spare parts for automotives and aircraft. … read more
The global credit crunch is beginning to be felt in Scandinavia, with overseas-financed deals becoming scarcer. However, the Finnish middle market is surviving on its own domestic resources and because its giant neighbour, Russia, has not been hit by bad debt.… read more
Navigating the future for vertical mergers
The acquisition of digital map producer Tele Atlas by personal navigation device (PND) manufacturer TomTom is one of the more problematic vertical unions the European Commission has reviewed since publishing its guidelines on non-horizontal mergers in November 2007.… read more
Austria… read more
SJ Berwin has advised Paris-headquartered private equity firm PAI Partners on the structuring and negotiation of terms for the PAI Europe V Fund. Successfully closed at €5.4 billion, it is the largest private equity fund ever raised in continental Europe. The SJ Berwin team was led by London-based partner Michael Halford and Paris-based partner Nathalie Duguay.… read more
Irish No vote leaves Lisbon at the crossroads
The vision must be revisited… read more
Chinese competitionThe Beijing Olympics finally kicks off at the start of August, and almost simultaneously China will fire the starting gun on its new competition law. Will the Anti-Monopoly Law be applied to favour domestic companies or make it more difficult to penetrate the Chinese markets?… read more
Restructuring bonanzaAs the ever-darkening economic climate makes investors increasingly wary, French mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and leveraged buy-out operations (LBOs) have been delayed or even cancelled. Hit at their core, Paris commercial law firms are adapting strategies and diversifying activities to find fresh growth areas.… read more
An inevitable exit Leading German private equity expert Uwe Steininger’s recent departure from Hogan & Hartson Raue’s (HHR) Munich office was an exit waiting to happen, given his experience with Middle East private equity.… read more
The French securitisation law is currently undergoing profound changes. The government was allowed by the French Parliament to implement by ordinance the reinsurance directive 2005/68/CE of 2005, which authorises EU member states to allow reinsurance via securitisation vehicles as an alternative to conventional reinsurance. Ordinance 2008-556, which was published on 14 June 2008, also provides for modernisation of the legal framework applicable to securitisation.… read more
The legal framework surrounding peer-to-peer data exchange in Europe has undergone some interesting recent developments.… read more
Akzo Nobel update… read more
Enforcing an arbitral award – the long haul
Mr Justice Tomlinson, sitting in London’s Commercial Court in the case of IPCO v NNPC, recently ordered immediate enforcement of part of an international arbitral award issued in Nigeria, despite ongoing challenges to it in Nigeria’s High Court and Court of Appeal. It comes after three applications on the award in four years.… read more
Reform of the French competition institutions
In January 2008 the ‘Commission Attali’ expert group, which was set up by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, published proposals aimed at enhancing growth in the French economy. Among the 316 suggested reforms, four (proposals 187 to 190) directly concerned competition institutions and creating a single independent competition authority in place of the current dual system.… read more
Uncertainties in the Spanish real estate market
There is no doubt the Spanish real estate market is suffering from the financial crisis, like many other European jurisdictions. This slowdown has arrived after several years of incredible growth. However, real estate is not a single market and the slowdown is not affecting all sectors equally. … read more
Multi-party arbitrations in Portugal
The Portuguese Arbitration Act (Lei de Arbitragem Voluntária), similar to many others, does not address the issue of multi-party disputes. Moreover, the act is clearly designed to accommodate disputes between only two parties – a claimant and a defendant.… read more
