It’s time for the FSA to toughen its stance on insider dealing, say Richard Lissack and Farhaz Khan The perception held by some in the 1970s that insider dealing was nothing more than ‘being something in the City’ appears astonishing in today’s terms. Indeed, even in the 1970s when insider dealing was not yet a […]
The failure of many EU states to implement Mifid hasn’t stopped the European Commission from trying to push through the new regulations, says David Heard The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) has been described as one of the most significant changes in the EU financial services regulatory environment. It is already clear, however, that […]
Section 75 debts are proving a hard nut to crack for the Department of Work and Pensions. Chris Close reports Almost all defined benefit (or final salary) pension schemes are subject to Section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995. This legislation (supplemented by regulations) provides that when a pension scheme winds up, the scheme’s employers […]
Germany’s Act on Equal Treatment brings discrimination laws under one blanket, but it will potentially increase the burden for companies, warns Michael Leue On 29 June 2006, the German Federal Parliament passed the much-debated Act on Equal Treatment (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG)). The AGG, which came into force on 18 August 2006 and was subsequently amended […]
Irish corporate firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice has worked alongside the UK’s Wragge & Co to establish a single electricity market for Ireland. Matheson acted for the Commission for Energy Regulation and the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation in relation to the legislation, licensing and transition aspects of the single electricity market. The team was […]
Brodies has beefed up its technology and information group with the addition of former Addleshaw Goddard partner Andrew Rigby. Technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) expert Rigby, who left Addleshaws’ London in the spring, has joined Brodies’ Edinburgh office as a partner. His appointment takes the firm’s partner headcount to 55. According to Rigby he […]
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has snared Weil Gotshal & Manges’ head of restructuring to head up its European restructuring practice. Chris Mallon, currently head of the business finance and restructuring group at Weil, announced his departure from the firm today. His experience includes advising on a number of key restructurings including Enron, Global […]
Heather Mills has parted company with her divorce lawyer, Anthony Julius of Mishcon de Reya, a week after being dropped by her media spokesman Phil Hall. Mills is in the throes of a divorce from former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. Litigation specialist Julius is known for representing high profile figures in divorce cases, having represented […]
Linklaters has won back Dubai International Capital (DIC) as a client, completing two mega-deals for the emirate’s investment arm in one week. The firm navigated DIC through its $1.2bn (£580m) purchase of German aluminium producer Altadis from Rhône Group and Teachers’ Private Capital (TPC). Then a day later, the £600m purchase of Alliance Medical was […]
Norton Rose has dealt a blow to Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) by poaching highly-rated head of Islamic finance Farmida Bi. Bi, who leaves DWS after five years at the firm, will join Norton Rose as a partner to kickstart the rebuild of the firm’s securitisation and debt capital markets practice in the Middle East. Norton […]
Linklaters has been drafted in on its second major mining deal in a week, advising British mining giant and longstanding client Rio Tinto on its £50bn approach from Australian rival BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton confirmed that it had approached Rio Tinto but that the offer, which would have created the world’s biggest mining company, had […]
US firm Dorsey & Whitney has hired a key tax official from the European Commission to bolster its UK contentious tax team. Paul Farmer will join Dorsey’s London office as a partner from the Commission, where he was head of analysis and co-ordination of tax policies. Prior to working at the Commission, Farmer was a […]