To mark our inaugural Euro Elite report, management at leading independent firms give us their market views
CO-OPERATION IS KEY
‘Some international firms have been more open to co-operating with domestic Italian firms; others have not. The first category has been more successful.’
Francesco Gianni, founding partner, Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners
Three NRF laterals boost German practice
Dentons has targeted two more regions for European growth, launching an office in Munich alongside plans for a back office in Poland.
In a bid to boost its corporate offering in Europe, Dentons is launching its Munich office this summer with the recruit of three partners from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF). Alexander von Bergwelt will serve as managing partner for the Munich office, and will be responsible for building and leading the new team. He specialises in corporate, private equity, restructuring and litigation.
Continue reading “Dentons opens in Munich and looks to Warsaw for back-office”
In its continued bid to strengthen its presence in the Swiss private wealth market, Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has appointed three new partners to its Geneva office, with plans to grow its offices further.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has opened its eighth European office, opening a Zurich outpost which will have a focus on high-stakes disputes.
Continue reading “Quinn opens eighth European office with Zurich launch”
With Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) this morning (19 May) announcing an offshoring move expected to hit 170 jobs, Dentons has revealed its own plans to open a services centre in Poland.
On the face of it, Cyprus has much to celebrate. In March, the country completed the three-year economic adjustment programme that followed 2013’s €10bn bailout package agreed with the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. That the country has finally wrested back control of its finances was coupled with the Commission’s prediction of a 1.4% rise in GDP for Cyprus in 2015 – the first year of economic growth since 2011.
This good news provides a psychological boost following years of financial turmoil, but even the most ardent optimist would concede that Cyprus has a long way to go. The island is mired in debt and faces a lengthy period of post-programme surveillance (PPS) by the Commission, which will continue until it has paid at least 75% of the €7.25bn in loans it received from the bailout. The Commission estimates that, ‘barring any early repayments’, the PPS will continue till at least 2029. Alongside this are the €26.7bn of non-performing loans (NPLs) that the country’s banks must deal with. According to the World Bank, in 2015 these NPLs accounted for 44.8% of the country’s total gross loans, a figure much higher than Greece’s 34.4%. These factors will define Cyprus’s economic future for many years to come, both on a macro and micro level. Fundamental to this is how Cyprus positions itself in the global economy, particularly now that one of its key investment partners, Russia, can no longer be relied upon to generate previous levels of work. Continue reading “Cyprus: Picking up the pieces”
Partners from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer continue to exit the firm’s European offices as a four partner team is about to leave the Paris outpost to join Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Last year European partners voiced their fears over the possibility of the UK leaving the EU. Now they could be preparing for grim reality.
The issue on every European partner’s lips in London is the outcome and fallout of the UK’s Brexit referendum on 23 June. In last year’s Global London report, there was a palpable hope that Britain wouldn’t vote to leave the EU. Now European firms have to prepare themselves for that possibility.
Continue reading “Global London: European firms move into the unknown”
Taking its second step to expand its private equity (PE) practice in Europe, Goodwin Procter has turned to King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) for the second time in 12 months with six partners, including KWM’s Paris head, to launch a PE practice.
Continue reading “Goodwin Procter hires from KWM private equity team again for Paris office launch”
Homburger’s Andri Hess details the Nagoya Ordinance.
Switzerland is a member of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and signed the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization on 11 May 2011. The Nagoya Protocol pursues the implementation of the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, which is the third of the three core objectives of the CBD. On 1 February 2016, the main parts of the Swiss implementing ordinance (Nagoya Ordinance) entered into force.
Continue reading “Compliance obligations: genetic resources”
