Search results for

A poor year for capital markets work and the prospect of a slowing economy are adding to the pressures on Portuguese law firms to define their strategies. Thomas Williams reports from Lisbon on what firms are looking to do next

For years Spanish firms had a comfortable grip on their domestic market, coexisting almost peacefully with their international rivals. But now competition in the Spanish legal market is growing as firms enter a new phase. Thomas Williams reports from Madrid and Barcelona

Linklaters and A&O act on benchmark Polish bond issue

Derivatives have traditionally been viewed as forbidden territory to insurance companies. But is this always true? Maria Ross and Charlotte Davies of Norton Rose, London, ask if the two can be reconciled

Many senior Canadian issuers access the Canadian capital markets through the shelf prospectus system, which allows an issuer which meets certain criteria to issue securities over a two-year period. A shelf prospectus is filed qualifying the total amount of securities which the issuer expects to issue over a two-year period and the issuer then issues securities in tranches depending on market conditions and its needs.

Tender offers have been coming to the attention of the public more and more due to the increase in mergers and acquisitions of publicly-owned companies. The Communiqué Serial IV, No 8 issued by Turkey's Capital Markets Board sets forth the principles relating to tender offers. According to the Communiqué, tender offers fall into two categories: voluntary and mandatory tender offers.

Law No. 724 of October 29 1984 introduced the regime of the Tesoreria Unica with respect to regions and other public entities. According to this regime, and prior to the coming into force of the recent amendments, regions, which were included in Table B of Law No. 724, had to deposit the majority of their available funds and revenues with the Central State Treasury.

The law in New Zealand governing security over personal property is soon to undergo significant reform with the implementation of the Personal Property Securities Act 1999 (PPSA). As previously reported (IFLR, December 1999) the PPSA, which was passed by parliament in October 1999, will introduce a regulatory regime for all security interests taken in personal property (which covers property including goods, motor vehicles, livestock and shares and other investment products, but not land and buildings). Holders of security interests in personal property will need to register prescribed details of their interests on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) to perfect those interests. Registration will usually ensure priority for a security over another security that is not registered.

Clifford Chance, Shearman & Sterling and Denton Wilde Sapte have advised on two of the first deals to build own and run power stations in the Gulf State of Oman, marking a significant step forward in the privatization of the power industry in the Gulf state. At the beginning of March Clifford Chance announced the completion of the $130 million Al-Kamil gas fired power station project on which it acted for International Power, while Shearman & Sterling expects later this month to close a similar deal for AES Barka, a joint venture of US company AES Corporation and Oman company Multitech. In both cases British firm Denton Wilde Sapte acted for the government of Oman.

Legal advisers: