Search results for

Nationwide Australian firm Blake Dawson Waldron has agreed a merger with Sydney's tax and corporate boutique Rosenblum & Partners. The two firms merged with effect from July 1. The expanded firm will continue to be known as Blake Dawson Waldron. The move takes the firm to over 500 lawyers, with 144 partners.

Ernst and Young and a major US law firm are looking to move into the Canadian market. A source has confirmed that Ernst & Young is one of the firms behind an anonymous recruitment advertisement placed in a Canadian magazine. The advert, placed in The Ontario Reports on May 16, offers salaries up to C$400,000 (US$290,000) in a bid to poach "the best talent in Toronto" and states that "the firm is determined to quickly become a major tier-one firm". A source at ZSA Legal Recruitment, which placed the advert, confirms the agency is working for "a big six accountancy firm and a US law firm". Another source has confirmed market rumours that linked the advertisement to Ernst & Young. The firm has already displayed its interest in the Canadian legal market by developing a relationship with the Canadian law firm Donahue & Co. Rob Lord, vice-chairman of Professional Services for Ernst & Young in Toronto, refuses to confirm or deny the firm's involvement with ZSA. However, he does say that the legal market is of considerable interest to Ernst & Young, and indicates that the firm will make an announcement in the future. The other big six accountancy firms denied any involvement with the advertisement. The identity of the US law firm is unknown.

Law firms in the oil-rich country that rejected EU membership are poised to abandon their traditionally sedate culture and adopt a more aggressive approach. Samantha Wigham reports

Half of Denmark’s traditionally small, family-based firms are set to disappear, according to a recent report. Clare Hepburn looks at how lawyers there are meeting the challenges of liberalization

A report on company law commissioned by the Hong Kong government calls for radical streamlining and a move away from British legislative models. By Cally Jordan of Stikeman, Elliott, Hong Kong

The commission considering financial regulation in Australia has recommended a new format for regulation, aimed at boosting financial services competition. By Don Harding of Freehill Hollingdale & Page, Sydney

The first measure in the long-awaited liberalization of Japanese financial markets has been passed. Naoaki Eguchi, Yasushi Murofushi and Jeremy Pitts, of Tokyo Aoyama Law Office – Baker & McKenzie, Tokyo look at the new foreign exchange regime

Auditors' duty of care

The cabinet has recently approved a draft Bill, which will now go before parliament, enabling the government to adopt the necessary provisions for the replacement of the lira by the Euro.

The Finnish government recently proposed changes to the regulation of the subscription and purchase of shares in real estate funds aimed at creating a more secure and better regulated means of investing in real property. The new legislation would apply to public limited liability companies (referred to in the proposal as 'real estate funds') through which the public can participate in a fund primarily investing in real estate and shares in real estate companies.