Deals of the Year 2013
May 9, 2014
In this landmark Deals of the Year Issue, you will find an overview of the winning deals, which won acclaim for a combination of reasons including uniqueness, complexity, size and innovation. Our final run-down includes: historic aircraft orders, inaugural sukuks, ground-breaking project financing deals, and a multitude of capital market deals, as well as many others. Despite a relatively restrained backdrop in 2013, activity rallied in the final quarter of last year and certain sectors flourished – particularly in the project finance, energy and food and beverage (F&B) sectors.
Investigative Intelligence
May 9, 2014
Hidden ‘Red flags’ – Getting under the surface in Southeast Asia
Kicking the Tyres before lighting the fires
May 8, 2014
Sitting in the legal driver’s seat at a renowned MNC in India has its rewards. However, as Shahana Basu Kanodia, Chief Legal Officer/Global General Counsel of Apollo Tyres Limited explains, one of the biggest challenges can be integrating the legal function between different offices in Asia, Europe and Africa to provide timely, consistent and pragmatic legal advice to business divisions in different time zones. Here she tells us more about her role.
Jumping the (white picket) fence and going in-house…. into real estate and the investment management business
April 25, 2014
Amy Ng, General Counsel for CBRE Global Investors Asia Pacific describes some of the ups and downs inherent in her role since she joined the company in 2005. For her, the appeal in moving in-house was to go beyond a purely legal role and explore the more esoteric aspects of a business itself. Eight years on, she deliberates on how her career has changed and what she looks for specifically when retaining external counsel.
New schedule for foreign owned capital to implement trading and related activities
April 25, 2014
On May 21st, 2007 the Ministry of Trade (currently Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)) promulgated Decision No. 10/2007/QD-BTM to announce the schedule for implementation of trading …
UAE Anti-Commercial Fraud Law passes through Federal National Council
April 25, 2014
On March 4th, 2014, a new law aimed at combating counterfeit goods and other forms of commercial fraud passed through the UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC). …
The FBPA: South Korea’s Act to prevent bribery of foreign officials
April 25, 2014
Recently, several former executives of a large multinational corporation were hit with the largest civil penalty ever for individuals in a corporate foreign bribery case – each was ordered to pay US$524,000. …
Key features of the mandatory liability insurance regime in Saudi Arabia
April 25, 2014
Saudi Arabia recently passed a new law requiring certain types of business to put in place third party liability insurance. The law came into force on February 21st, 2014. This is a positive development not …
Migrant Welfare Charters
April 25, 2014
As Qatar prepares to host the one of the biggest sporting events in world, the Fifa world cup 2022, working conditions of expatriate workers are a priority. Human Development is one of the five pillars of …
New Trade Law and its effect on business
April 25, 2014
Indonesia’s House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR) recently passed into law a long-awaited trade bill. The new Trade Law will act as an underlying regulation for other trade-related …
External Counsel of the Year 2013
April 17, 2014
Based solely on the votes of members of our In-House Community, we are pleased to present the winners of our External Counsel of the Year accolade. In-House counsel from around the region were asked, as part of ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL’s annual Representing Corporate Asia and Middle East Survey 2013, to name who they believed to be the outstanding external counsel in their jurisdiction, and why. Broken down by jurisdiction, below you will find a roll-call of over 60 private practitioners who won the particular acclaim of our In-House Community together with client testimonials. External counsel who received an overwhelming number of votes and plaudits, have been singled out as In-House Community External Counsel of Distinction. Congratulations to all those recognised below.
What investors should know about Mexico’s new Energy Law
April 8, 2014
A significant step toward permitting private capital to support Mexican oil and gas production …
Investigating procurement fraud in South and Southeast Asia
April 8, 2014
Markets in Asia can pose unexpected challenges for companies that rely on fraud mitigation and investigation practices applicable to developed markets. Quite simply, these practices do not work in Asia …
More firms eye Myanmar as client demand in the frontier market grows
March 28, 2014
With a changing…
Tanzania: Prospecting for and mining of radioactive minerals
March 13, 2014
New uranium mining projects have recently been announced in Tanzania. This briefing looks at the legislative framework surrounding radioactive minerals in Tanzania.
Public private partnerships in Tanzania
March 13, 2014
PPP’s: an update following the Finance Act 2014
Latest Singapore firm to set up an association with a Myanmar based outfit
March 8, 2014
Singapore based…
MINTing it and banking on a better 2014
March 3, 2014
As ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL explores some of the biggest banking and finance issues and trends taking centre stage in Asia and the Middle East between 2013 – and Q1 of 2014, we consider the extent to which legal, political and monetary policies originating in the US impact the success of these economies. External and in-house counsel from around the region weigh in with their analysis on the pros and cons brought about by regulatory changes, new legislation and a changing landscape in 2014.
Embracing the law firm convergence model
March 3, 2014
Increasingly, the notion of law firm ‘convergence’ has prompted meaningful change in many of the world’s biggest legal departments. Here, Paul Smith, the new Chairman at Eversheds expands on the convergence model and explains how a decrease in the number of law firms per client has led to heightened efficiency and a reduction in costs. He also underscores the importance of a deeper sense of trust between law firm and client.
Deals of the Year 2012
March 3, 2014
In our landmark ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL Deals of the Year report, we are delighted to bring you a comprehensive overview of our winners from 2012. A varied constellation of deals made it onto our shortlist this year and these consisted of some heavy-hitting M&A transactions, impressive energy projects, titanic IPO’s and various Islamic finance deals.
External Counsel of the Year
March 3, 2014
The relationship forged between in-house counsel and their external counterparts is a strong one, and in many cases can determine the volume of work directed their way. From our Representing Corporate Asia & Middle East Survey 2011, we have mined in-house counsel’s votes to reveal the winners of ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL’s External Counsel of the Year accolade.
The accuracy of witness testimony and the psychology of investigations
March 3, 2014
Ula Cartwright-Finch and Alex Waksman of Herbert Smith Freehills explore the problems associated with witness testimony when an incident at work leads to an internal investigation. Using insights gleaned from the field of cognitive psychology, they reveal how fragile memory can be, the power of suggestion and the critical nature of (mis)leading questions. Here, they take us through the steps that counsel can take so as to diminish the effects associated with these concerns.
Investigative Intelligence
March 3, 2014
Safeguarding the legal profession from being implicated in money laundering