Sponsored practice area spotlight: Insolvency and restructuring: Combining unique skills to achieve a successful outcome

Sponsored practice area spotlight: Insolvency and restructuring: Combining unique skills to achieve a successful outcome

Insolvency and restructuring proceedings are intricate and complex. Practitioners must be able to combine legal knowledge, in particular in the areas of litigation, finance and transactions, with strategic, tactical and managerial skills to deliver positive results.

PRAGER DREIFUSS has extensive experience and a longstanding tradition in insolvency and restructuring matters. In the wake of the financial crisis, we combined our finance and bankruptcy knowledge which enabled us to assist in complex project financing, also lately in a major multinational commodity project. Our attorneys regularly represent creditors, some of which are banks, hedge funds or other financial institutions, in large national and international insolvency and restructuring proceedings, whether in registering or purchasing claims or in enforcing disputed claims vis-à-vis bankruptcy administrators and before courts. Assisting clients in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Switzerland and abroad is a key feature of our daily practice. Frequently and increasingly, we are retained by creditors in enforcing claims (awards, bonds) against sovereigns. Continue reading “Sponsored practice area spotlight: Insolvency and restructuring: Combining unique skills to achieve a successful outcome”

Sponsored briefing: Why good directory submissions matter

Sponsored briefing: Why good directory submissions matter

For any lawyer or law firm of note, being listed by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners directories is a must: it serves to underline their status and validate their expertise. Clients are reassured that they are being legally advised by someone who is independently judged to be among the leaders in their field. Listings confirm market credibility, support the recruitment of talent and potentially attract new business. Every lawyer in every law firm knows this – or at least they should.

For law firm marketeers, the directory process is a critical part of their annual cycle. Compiling information and submitting directory entries is challenging and time-consuming. Some firms find themselves with thousands of pages of information to prepare, present and submit – in the correct format and according to directory deadlines and criteria. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Why good directory submissions matter”

Sponsored briefing: New consolidated regime of early access in France

Sponsored briefing: New consolidated regime of early access in France

On 14 December 2020, the French Social Security Financing Act for 20211 (article 78) reformed early market access mechanisms in France and simplified the former systems of derogatory reimbursement for medicines, which included the temporary authorisation for use (ATU) and temporary recommendation for use (RTU) regimes.

Two new regimes have been created: early access authorisation (AAP – exceptional use of certain drugs for specific therapeutic indications, intended to treat serious, rare, or disabling diseases) and compassionate use (exceptional use of certain medicines in specific therapeutic indications). Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: New consolidated regime of early access in France”

Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?

As the COP26 continues its doings, one of the talks of town in the legal finance world this autumn is that about sustainability. Newspapers open up with announcements about investment funds gone green, social or sustainable, about private equity firms deciding to raise new funds to exclusively invest into climate-related issues, and about companies and firms setting up new cross-border strategies aimed at complying with ESG – environmental, social and governance – objectives. Consulting firms are issuing longest-ever reports about their ESG compromises and their commitment towards UN sustainable development goals. Legal and services firms are setting up cross-industry teams aimed to cope with the various deeds the market is looking at and will request, it seems, quite immediately. And yet behind all this, how will the legal finance world be affected? Do we need to change and adapt? True to sceptics, we have been doing renewable and green deals for many years, so what is the difference?

We can split this modern ESG thinking in at least two initial settings: looking inwardly towards our firms and institutions, to see what we need to adjust internally to progress towards ESG objectives, for the people in our firms, for the society we live in and for everybody’s future. It is not so much the legal services we can provide to our clients, but rather our commitment towards our own people and the societies we live in, towards the next generations and the planet. And looking outwardly, to see how we can, or need, to adjust our legal advice to the new requirements of private equity houses, banks and other financial institutions. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: ESG, the regulatory battle is coming. Are the legal finance teams truly ready?”

Sponsored briefing: Compliance in Switzerland and abroad: Tackling corruption and white-collar crime

Sponsored briefing: Compliance in Switzerland and abroad: Tackling corruption and white-collar crime

Fabian Teichmann and Marie-Christin Falker on how multinational corporations operating in Switzerland can improve their compliance regimes

Clients from all over the globe appreciate the security and stability of Switzerland as one of central Europe’s economic and financial powerhouses. This makes Switzerland a designated safe haven for multinational corporations, entrepreneurs, and wealthy individuals alike. On top of that, Switzerland offers advantageous taxation regimes and privacy. Unlike most other countries, Switzerland places great value on its longstanding tradition of banking secrecy. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Compliance in Switzerland and abroad: Tackling corruption and white-collar crime”

Sponsored practice area spotlight: Dispute resolution – Strategic case management with legal acumen

Sponsored practice area spotlight: Dispute resolution – Strategic case management with legal acumen

State court litigation and private arbitration proceedings require practitioners to combine legal thoroughness and the management of evidence with strategic ingenuity. Understanding court processes, legal practice and tactical procedural advantages all add up to sound advice in contentious legal matters.

Dispute resolution in all its appearances enjoys a long standing tradition at PRAGER DREIFUSS. Our attorneys represent parties before local state courts as well as administrative authorities. Debt collection and bankruptcy matters are strong areas of our practice, in particular in disputes involving foreign parties. International arbitration has attained special significance in our firm and a number of our attorneys are regularly appointed as arbitrators in institutional and ad-hoc arbitration tribunals. Continue reading “Sponsored practice area spotlight: Dispute resolution – Strategic case management with legal acumen”

Sponsored briefing: Data Governance Law. Is Europe getting enough out of data?

Sponsored briefing: Data Governance Law. Is Europe getting enough out of data?

When trying to coin a definition of today’s economy, many are inclined to refer to one driven by data (the data-driven economy). As a region, the European Union considers data to be an essential resource for its economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and the general progress of society. This begs the question: is Europe getting enough out of data?

The volume of data – both personal and non-personal – that citizens, private entities and public bodies generate and collect is enormous and continues to grow exponentially as emerging technologies continue to expand. The EU’s diagnosis, however, is that data’s potential – as an asset – is not exploited enough. Data could be used to innovate, research and make new technologies more efficient. To close this gap and boost Europe’s competitiveness and digital transformation, data must be exploited more efficiently and securely in a consistent way across the EU. To this end, data should be available to be exchanged and re-used for lawful purposes, such as research or innovation. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Data Governance Law. Is Europe getting enough out of data?”

Sponsored briefing: Iberia and the Covid-19 aftermath

Sponsored briefing: Iberia and the Covid-19 aftermath

Portugal and Spain are now in the Covid-19 aftermath. Both countries have an important percentage of their population fully vaccinated and normal life is coming back. Local inhabitants are resuming their day-to-day activities each time with fewer restrictions and tourists are arriving in greater figures. Airports and streets have more people.

As a consequence. economic activity is increasing and many projects that were left aside are being resumed. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Iberia and the Covid-19 aftermath”

Sponsored briefing: Fraud and asset recovery in the Cayman Islands

Sponsored briefing: Fraud and asset recovery in the Cayman Islands

Frauds, especially those of a complex nature, often have an international or multi-jurisdictional component. Given the status of the Cayman Islands as one of the leading financial and banking centres in the world, the use of Cayman Islands based financial institutions and corporate entities has featured in some of the worlds largest frauds including the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme, 1MDB scandal and the approximate $126bn Ponzi Scheme involving Ahmad Hamad al-Gosaibi & Brothers and the Saad Group.

Fortunately, there are a number of tools in our toolkit in the Cayman Islands to combat complex and cross-border fraud and assist in asset recovery, including discovery, document, and asset preservation mechanisms such as freezing injunctions, insolvency proceedings, and Norwich Pharmacal, Anton Piller, and Bankers Trust orders; as well as the ability to recognise and provide assistance to foreign courts and officeholders. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Fraud and asset recovery in the Cayman Islands”

Sponsored briefing: Ship arrest, maritime liens and ship mortgages in the UAE

Sponsored briefing: Ship arrest, maritime liens and ship mortgages in the UAE

While the subjects of maritime liens and ship arrest are areas of divergent approaches by different legal systems, they are also persistent areas of controversy when the two subjects are to receive simultaneous treatment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This paper seeks to discuss the possibility for a creditor to arrest and enforce a contractually agreed maritime lien over a ship in the UAE jurisdiction.

Relevant to our following discussion is that the UAE has yet to ratify any of the major international maritime conventions related to maritime liens, mortgages, and arrest of ships, which aim to establish certain uniformity within different legal systems that would reconcile the divergent approaches, such as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to Maritime Liens and Mortgages of 1967, the International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages of 1993 and the International Convention on Arrest of Ships of 1999. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Ship arrest, maritime liens and ship mortgages in the UAE”