Law

U.S. response to Hong Kong calls for precision

5 June 2020

Politicians want to swat China for ramming through draconian security laws in the restless city. The likely targets are Chinese banks. Starving them of dollars is a harsh option but risks collateral damage to foreign firms. Naming and shaming individuals is smarter and cheaper.

UK’s Hong Kong stance is so far mostly spin

4 June 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is offering 3 million residents of the former colony a possible route to citizenship. For now the tweaks to the visa regime look limited and vague. That's a missed opportunity for a post-Brexit economic boost as well as for righting a wrong.

China can live with a less special Hong Kong

28 May 2020

The entrepôt's unique autonomy brought prosperity without Beijing having to cede control of the economy and people. Hong Kong’s importance has dwindled, however, and may even be holding China back. A U.S. move to strip its special status only shows how disposable that status is.

Burst Michigan dams send pollution risk to surface

27 May 2020

Flooding after heavy rain almost reached a Dow chemical-storage site. That’s one crisis averted, but in general, companies pay too little attention to water contamination. Its effects are vast and are part of recent high-profile legal fights. But cleaning up won’t break the bank.

Moscow finds oil and vodka make a poor cocktail

21 May 2020

The former owners of Yukos, the energy group founded by Vladimir Putin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky, are going after the Kremlin by grabbing trademarks for brands like Stolichnaya. These won’t make up for their lost $57 bln but may give aggrieved investors some negotiating leverage.

J&J talc is a dry run for pandemic product risk

20 May 2020

The U.S. firm will stop selling talcum powder in the U.S. amid what it calls misinformation about its safety. That’s no big loss. But avoiding lawsuits can also deter companies from taking risks that aid the common good. Vaccines are an example, but the line isn’t always clear.

State bailouts could use a tax transparency clause

12 May 2020

France and Denmark want to ban companies operating out of tax havens like Panama from Covid-19 help. That’s fair but may only exclude a few firms. Forcing those which tap state aid to disclose how much tax they pay in each country would offer a bigger anti-avoidance boost.

Curbing German exceptionalism has political price

11 May 2020

A national court’s ruling on ECB asset buying has challenged the primacy of EU law. If politicians can’t defuse the stand-off, Brussels will have to take legal action against Europe’s paymaster. The fiasco is likely to give Euroscepticism across the continent a boost.

Hong Kong’s reeling companies need a quicker fix

7 May 2020

Local businesses have been battered by Covid-19 and months of protests, but the city still lacks a regime to give them breathing room while they nurse themselves back to health. A mooted Chapter 11-style system will take too long to implement, but other options are available.

ECB firefighters can circumvent German roadblock

5 May 2020

A ruling by Teutonic judges challenged the European Central Bank’s long-standing efforts to use bond buying to stimulate the euro zone economy. Inventive rate-setters will find ways to plough on to achieve their aims. But it’s a very German way to test their independence.

Leo Strine’s Wachtell plunge ups deal-advice ante

27 April 2020

The outspoken ex-Delaware chief justice is joining Wall Street’s most profitable law firm. Ditching mergers is one live issue. And the role of stakeholders beyond shareholders will only become a hotter topic. Strine and his new colleagues are at the sharp end of both debates.

Guest view: Push the economic pain up the chain

22 April 2020

The crisis created by Covid-19 will leave the most vulnerable facing the biggest burdens. Courts have tools that can help spread the pain more fairly. To preserve the basic economic relationships critical to recovery this should be a top priority, argues lawyer Jamie Gamble.

Bad news could travel fast for Facebook and Google

20 April 2020

Australia is forcing the tech goliaths to share revenue with local media. The virus was the last straw after years of digital destruction and fake news scandals. Whatever the financial formula, the costs should be bearable. The trouble is that Canberra headlines will go global.

Holding: Bad Covid-19 lawsuits can infect the good

6 April 2020

Calling crisis profiteers to account in court may be both justified and informative, as the 2008 financial meltdown made clear. Yet cases like a waxing parlor’s demand to stay open during the pandemic are not only absurd, they undermine the legal system. Real victims pay a price.

Rosneft Venezuela exit is not as good as it looks

30 March 2020

The $41 bln oil giant is selling its operations in the country to the Russian state to avoid more sanctions. Moscow is making a generous share payment but in practice keeps voting control. It’s a cheap way for the government to protect a key asset and send a message to the U.S.

Holding: Lawyers proving prepared if not prescient

25 March 2020

Covid-19 has thrown them for a loop like anyone else. Yet recent innovations in corporate law, from M&A to insider trading, have put companies and the public in a better position to face the virus fallout. It’s a change from the lousy advice that helped prompt the 2008 crisis.

Corona Capital: Religious aid, Ad-spending slump

23 March 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence wants Americans to donate to religious institutions to bolster community aid. But churches have their own fiscal problems. Plus: TV ad revenue look set for a pounding.

Holding: Governance brawl a boon for stakeholders

10 March 2020

Attorney Martin Lipton and Harvard’s Lucian Bebchuk are at it again, with the latter saying company pledges to serve the greater good are illusory. Lipton counters that firms really are moving past shareholder primacy. At least the debate could benefit all corporate constituents.

Spanish banks get slightly lighter loan albatross

3 March 2020

EU judges have ruled that local courts can resolve a dispute over unfair floating-rate mortgages. That could spare Spanish lenders billions of euros in potential losses. The catch is that the same loans are increasingly unprofitable as rates head south.

Barclays 2008 gamble has nuanced investor legacy

28 February 2020

A jury acquitted three ex-employees of fraud over a Qatari crisis cash call. The money forestalled a state bailout, allowing Barclays’ shares to beat RBS and Lloyds’. But the government may also have hacked back an investment bank which now drags down the lender’s valuation.