Search results for

Finland Recommended firms Tier 1 Hannes Snellman Roschier White & Case Tier 2 Castrén & Snellman Waselius & Wist Tier 3 Borenius & Kemppinen Fennica Merilampi Marttila Laitasalo Tier 4 Dittmar & Indrenius Krogerus Attorneys LMR Finland's capital markets are still quiet as they continue to face overwhelming competition from other capital raising sectors. There have been no listings on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (Hex) in 2007 as bank loans are still relatively cheap and trade sales are seen by private-equity houses as a less onerous and time-consuming way of exiting than an initial public offering (IPO).

Equity slowly picks up Equity capital markets activity in the French market, which was practically dead between 2001 and 2004, has been picking up, although the beginning of 2007 was a little slow with fewer initial public offerings (IPOs) than the previous year. There has been a decrease in the number of privatizations using the capital markets – the last one was EDF – although the country's new president Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that he will be signing off state assets. And the buoyant M&A market has meant that equity offerings are quite often made to finance acquisitions.

Generous equity Australian firms have experienced an interesting year marked by a generous number of initial public offerings (IPOs), particularly in the resources sector. As one partner commented: "There were 212 IPOs in Australia, half of them from mining, and the trend is continuing. The question is how long the boom will last for."

Canada Recommended firms Tier 1 Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg Osler Hoskin & Harcourt Stikeman Elliott Torys Tier 2 Blake Cassels & Graydon Goodmans McCarthy Tétrault Tier 3 Bennett Jones Borden Ladner Gervais Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Ogilvy Renault What used to be a time of income trusts dominating the equity market in Canadian initial public offerings (IPOs) has now dried up due to the new legislation taxing the trusts. "There is a three-year window where it still remains an advantage to be an income trust," said one partner. Some have seen new yield equity instruments and common share IPOs popping up to replace the demand. Real estate investment trusts (Reits) – an area where the law remains unchanged – are consistently strong in equity, as is resource financing.

How capital markets trends have affected firms in 22 economies worldwide

China has propelled high-yield debt this year. But the battle for the legal work is becoming complicated as more UK firms hire US lawyers

Hong Kong's regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has frozen Great Honest Investment Company's operations after finding evidence of unauthorised dealings and irregularities with clients' accounts.

Romanian and Bulgarian outfits beat international newcomers in the real estate boom

Ikea may now be able to sell it s chairs in Thailand Thailand's Finance Ministry has given much-needed hope to foreign investors after insisting it will approve ING's $674 million stake in TMB Bank.

Use your minority stake to buy together