Regions

Executive Summary Revised notification requirements with regard to significant shareholdings conferring voting rights in companies listed in Germany as well as with regard to (financial) instruments regarding such shares in force since 26 November 2015 Mandatory standard form for notifications to be used Scope of sanctions for breach of disclosure requirements substantially broadened One-off disclosure … Continued

In brief The low oil price and limited capacity for oil and gas producers to further reduce operating costs is presenting challenges for producers of all shapes and sizes. In 2015 we expect that a number of producers will conduct strategic reviews which may lead to the sale of ‘non-core’ assets. Traditional solutions of raising … Continued

Main Article: Recently, there have been three important studies by prominent economists and law professors, each of which points out serious flaws in the so-called empirical evidence being put forth to justify short-termism, attacks by activist hedge funds and shareholder-centric corporate governance.  These new studies show that the so-called empirical evidence omit important control variables, … Continued

Highlights:  On September 4, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Ontario court has jurisdiction to hear an action brought by Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking the recognition and enforcement in Ontario of an Ecuadorian judgment against the U.S. multinational corporation Chevron (Chevron US) and its Canadian subsidiary (Chevron Canada) even where Chevron US had … Continued

Highlights: The Takeovers Panel recently issued a draft guidance note on when shareholder intention statements to accept a bid may be unacceptable. Statements of intention from major shareholders to accept a takeover bid or vote in favour of a scheme should be qualified as being subject to no superior proposal emerging. Shareholders should allow a … Continued

Executive Summary: Memorandum published by the General Director of the Israel Antitrust Authority earlier this year proposed reform that reflects a considerable expansion in the application of Israeli antitrust law to mergers between foreign corporations, as well as mergers involving Israeli and foreign corporations (including the acquisition of an Israeli corporation by a foreign corporation … Continued

Executive Summary: U.S. public pension funds – longstanding proponents of corporate governance and shareholder proposal-style activism in the U.S. – are now allocating increasing amounts of capital throughout the world, and increasingly considering whether and how to globally apply their strategies and tactics for increasing shareholder power, changing governance norms, influencing boards and management teams … Continued

Highlights: Toward the end of 2014, the Belgian M&A market became increasingly active.  Due to several factors such as a weaker euro, fear on the part of business owners for a tax shift and greater willingness of the banks to finance acquisitions, the positive trend of enhanced M&A activity continued in H1 2015. Private equity … Continued

Highlights: Foreign investment projects in China are categorized into encouraged, permitted, restricted and prohibited projects.  The 2014 revisions to the Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment were made with the intention to substantially reduce the restricted projects, to loosen the restrictions on foreign shareholding percentage, and to primarily promote the opening-up of the manufacturing … Continued

MAIN ARTICLE Korea had the strongest and most active M&A market in 2014 during the past five years with a 47% increase in announced deal volume from USD 64.8 billion in 2013 to USD 95 billion in 2014 (based on Bloomberg statistics), and Kim & Chang had the privilege of advising on transactions accounting for … Continued