UK and US firms are battling for supremacy in Europe’s most promising markets after Saturday’s (1 May) expansion of the EU. A survey by The Lawyer has found that, across the key Eastern European markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, a handful of international firms are best placed to profit from the anticipated upswing in […]
The European Commission has raised fears that citizens of some countries joining the EU in May could defy EU regulations because they may not all have been translated into their national language. News service MaltaMedia has reported concern from officials working for EU Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen that the translation of the 85,000-page ‘acquis communautaire’ was […]
The EU is to pay for a new software system, computers and other IT equipment to improve the judiciary in the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia. The EU aid – worth €1.9m (£1.3m) – follows a report detailing serious inadequacies in Macedonia’s legal system, including the fact that judges had to deal with around 800 […]
Allen & Overy (A&O) is to transfer its two-lawyer Albanian office to Austrian ally Wolf Theiss after deciding that the office no longer fitted with its strategy. A&O had inherited the Tirana office when it merged with Italian firm Brosio Casati e Associati in 1998. It was initially established to serve the European Bank for […]
Allen & Overy is to transfer its two-lawyer Albanian office to its Austrian ally Wolf Theiss, after deciding that the office no longer fitted with the magic circle firm’s strategy.A&O had inherited the Tirana office when it merged with Italian firm Brosio Casati e Associati in 1998. It had initially been established to serve the […]
Four Parmalat-linked companies in Malta set up by Maltese government lawyers and a further three established by Parmalat’s own auditors have been given a clean bill of health by the island’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Joe Bannister, the MFSA’s chairman, said investigators are looking into whether questionable off-balance sheet transactions took place through Parmalat-related accounts in […]
Maltese lawyers have won a major victory in the ongoing Parmalat investigation by reversing an order by the food giant’s special administrator Enrico Bondi not to disclose audits into the company. In a breakthrough with far-reaching consequences, lawyers for the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) have stopped the tug-of-war over access to Deloitte’s audits into […]
A court-monitoring network has been set up in Macedonia by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to promote judicial reform. The OSCE has persuaded 18 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to join its ‘All for Fair Trials’ group. By watching domestic hearings of all kinds it aims to restore public confidence in the legal […]
An OECD report has uncovered loopholes that allow beneficial owners of vessels to go unnamed. Richard Coles reports on how easy it is to bypass shipping registration rules In a recent article in shipping industry newspaper Lloyd’s List, David Osler drew attention to the ‘Ownership and Control of Ships’ report published in March 2003 by […]
Dewey Ballantine has closed its first deal for the Republic of Croatia’s government. The firm advised on its client’s e282m (£190m) financing for the first and second phases of a motorway project. Jonathan Simpson, a projects partner at Dewey who led the deal, got the work after acting for the government at his previous firm, […]
Baker Botts advises Ministry of Economy; shortlisted buyers instruct Hogan & Hartson and Allen & Overy The London offices of US firms Baker Botts and Hogan & Hartson as well as Allen & Overy have won lead roles advising on Croatia’s largest ever privatisation. Baker Botts’ London office is advising the Croatian Ministry of Economy […]
With 75 million people preparing to join the European Union, Sarah Biontino and Tim Castorina discuss the criteria that the ten new member states need to meet Last year has to be considered as one of the most significant in the EU’s history. It began with the successful introduction of euro notes and coins, a […]