Law

Capital Calls: SXSW

19 April 2021

Concise views on global finance: Rolling Stone publisher Penske Media is taking a 50% stake in hipster arts festival South By Southwest.

EU’s new supply-chain stick delivers fair whack

16 April 2021

Germany and others plan to make firms liable for human rights and environmental abuses by suppliers. The financial gains derived from outsourcing justify the legal stretch. Scandal-wary giants like Nestlé already self-police their sourcing. Hefty fines are an added incentive.

Capital Calls: Icahn’s new CEO, Google vs. Oracle

1 April 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Activist investor Carl Icahn takes on a GE veteran adept at building businesses up and breaking them down; why Google’s win in the U.S. Supreme Court ought to benefit startups too.

Capital Calls: BlackRock’s Archegos angle, SPACs

30 March 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The fallout from the collapse of Bill Hwang’s family office gives regulators reasons to focus on funds, not fund managers; and bosses of blank-check companies don’t take investor questions.

Capital Calls: WFH deals, Suez Canal, NorNickel

29 March 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Fintech firm Broadridge pays a full price for trading platform; with the waterway clear, all sides will be taking up positions for a legal battle royal; the Russian nickel producer cashes in on high copper prices.

Capital Calls: Twitter time-wasting, News Corp

25 March 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Congressional hearings on Big Tech get ever less productive; meanwhile, the parent of the Wall Street Journal snaps up Investor’s Business Daily.

Review: When “Ocean’s Eleven” meets Chapter 11

19 March 2021

“The Caesars Palace Coup” rolls a casino caper and legal thriller into one edifying book. Dense bankruptcy lingo sometimes bogs down the ruthless scrap over $18 bln of distressed debt. And it’s hard to find a Danny Ocean in a Wall Street dramatis personae full of Terry Benedicts.

Fashion’s supply ignorance is no longer bliss

17 March 2021

The U.S. is detaining products containing cotton produced in China’s Xinjiang region over forced-labour concerns. The burden of proof is on the importer, so groups like Inditex and Ralph Lauren need to know the fibre’s origins. Or some goods may fail to reach American shelves.

Capital Calls: New York, Allegro exit

17 March 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The Big Apple reigns in a new ranking of global cities, but the prize isn’t what it was; shareholders in Polish e-commerce group Allegro sell down early.

UK finance watchdog finds rare area to act tough

16 March 2021

The Financial Conduct Authority launched its first criminal case against a bank for allegedly failing to spot suspicious transactions. The humiliation for NatWest may be as damaging as any eventual fine. Harsher enforcement is reassuring given post-Brexit deregulation elsewhere.

Capital Calls: CPPIB, Barclays, McPlant, DoorDash

26 February 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's CEO is booted for jab-line jumping; the UK bank wins a legal, if not ethical, victory over financier Amanda Staveley; Beyond Meat partners with McDonald’s and Yum; and DoorDash is too hot.

Europe is now the main front in gig economy war

19 February 2021

Britain’s top court ruled that a group of Uber drivers are entitled to worker rights. Spain is also cracking down. It’s a stark contrast to America, where a California ballot win gave the sector hope. Tougher rules mean a longer path to profit – and higher prices for consumers.

JPMorgan London hire is at smart end of new trend

18 February 2021

Linklaters Senior Partner Charlie Jacobs is joining the U.S. group as co-head of UK investment banking. He’s the latest in a string of senior outsiders to transfer to the industry, including ex-UK Chancellor George Osborne. Lawyers are better prepared to make a successful switch.

Biden’s minimum wage hike is worth jobs tradeoff

9 February 2021

Critics of the U.S. president's $1.9 trln stimulus plan got a boost from a report suggesting that upping the federal pay floor to $15 an hour could cost 1.4 mln jobs. It would, though, reduce poverty. Corporate America can afford it; struggling small businesses may need leeway.

Germany’s female executive quota is hard to export

15 January 2021

The government will soon require the country’s top 70 companies to have at least one woman on their management boards. The long overdue move will force firms to quickly identify a raft of female talent. But Germany’s unusual corporate structure makes it difficult to replicate.

Corona Capital: U.S. stimulus, Japanese pain

28 December 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. President Donald Trump climbs down and signs the coronavirus relief and spending package passed by Congress; and Japan's prime minister tries to keep the pandemic in check with a quiet New Year.

Time for India to end its global tax fights

23 December 2020

The Hague awarded Cairn Energy $1.4 bln in its spat with New Delhi, more than the UK group’s market cap. Vodafone had a similar win. Accepting these outcomes would make Boris Johnson’s January visit run smoothly, and inject credibility into India’s global investment ambitions.

Vodafone finds better German M&A pain threshold

22 December 2020

Seven years after its Kabel Deutschland deal, the UK telco is paying $2.6 bln to buy out minorities like Elliott. That’s better than the 18 years taken to settle a similar saga with Mannesmann. But as with other “domination agreements”, holdouts are unlikely to have done badly.

Messy U.S. aid could use creative do-over

21 December 2020

Congress finalized an inadequate but better-than-nothing $900 bln stimulus plan, though methods remain fractured and inefficient. That suggests that future aid will be necessary, but it requires both political will and a rewrite. Biden has a big cleanup job on his hands.

Big Tech pile-on could block future moon shots

18 December 2020

Google is now deluged by three U.S. lawsuits, claiming it’s abusing market power. Facebook faces its own challenges against government prosecutors. The duo may beat back the charges but, like Microsoft in the 1990s, too much distraction could make them miss the next big thing.