Highlights: A key step in planning for an IPO is choosing the location in which to establish the holding company to list on a foreign exchange. Offshore holding companies are often used for Russian IPOs to increase investor comfort, avoid an extra layer of tax or tax compliance costs, avoid stamp duties in certain jurisdictions … Continued
Executive Summary: From time to time all businesses experience unforeseen legal issues and disputes which may quickly escalate into a crisis if not dealt with properly and in good time. This article suggests eight points to consider when developing a strategy to deal with a potential crisis, and may be particularly useful for foreign investors … Continued
Highlights: China overtook the U.S. as the world’s top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2012, receiving $59.1 billion in foreign direct investment versus $57.4 billion received by the U.S in the same period. By comparison, in 2011, China attracted $116 billion while the U.S. attracted $227 billion in FDI. … Continued
Highlights: Recently, the Canadian federal government has been particularly solicitous of foreign investment involving state-owned enterprises (SOEs), so it was a surprise when the governmental rejected, for the first time, a proposal by an SOE in the oil and gas sector. The process for such approval is not transparent, but it would be prudent to … Continued
Highlights: Fed Chairman Bernanke argued that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy not only helps the U.S. economic recovery, but also helps support the global economy, including emerging economies. The speech sought to counter arguments that the Fed’s monetary policy encourages excess capital flows into emerging market economies, which some have argued causes undesirable … Continued
Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q3 was US$538 billion, down 13% compared to Q2 2012, but the cross-border component remained strong and is on pace to match 2011annual volumes. Despite companies’ substantial cash stockpiles and the availability of cheap debt, M&A activity stagnated somewhat in Q3. Some companies appear to have taken a wait-and-see … Continued
Highlights: This paper attempts to explain the tendency of foreign acquirers to choose better performing firms in emerging markets, which limits underperforming firms’ access to foreign capital. Using a simple law and finance model, the authors offer an explanation based on emerging countries’ weaker investor protection compared to acquirers’ home countries, predicting a positive relation … Continued
Highlights: Recently, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has been imposing significant penalties in the range of 5% to 10% of the turnover of enterprises violating India’s Competition Act, 2002. In one cartel case, CCI imposed a penalty equivalent to 50% of the profits made by the concerned enterprises. CCI’s increasing penchant for imposing significant … Continued
Executive Summary: The Global Capital Confidence Barometer is a regular survey of senior executives from large companies around the world, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of Ernst & Young. This snapshot of findings gauges corporate confidence in the economic outlook, and identifies boardroom trends and practices in the way companies manage their capital … Continued
Highlights: Wachtell Lipton has petitioned the US Securities and Exchange Commission to modernize the blockholder reporting rules under Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prevent exploitation by stockholder activists and address current market conditions and practices. Among other things, the petition proposed that the time to publicly disclose such block acquisitions … Continued
