LATEST ANALYSIS
May 2011
30 May 2011
The recent spate of lawsuits involving Chinese companies listed in the U.S. by way of a reverse merger has escalated to a level where there is now tension between...
26 May 2011
Yandex, the “Google of Russia,” made waves with an impressive debut on the U.S. NASDAQ when its shares jumped by more than 50 percent in value on their first day of trading in New York, but a review of its prospectus reveals risks for the unwary…
26 May 2011
With double digit growth rates, the Chinese appetite for the finer things in life beckons brand names to the PRC. The path to profitability is, however, fraught with risks including challenges in intellectual property protection…
26 May 2011
Executive compensation never seems to stray far from the headlines in Canada. While say-on-pay has dominated much of the spotlight over the past two years, other issues such as change of control, also garner attention...
26 May 2011
The recent decision by TMX Group to reject a now-hostile takeover proposal by Maple Group Acquisition Corporation again highlights the quandary boards are faced with when reviewing competing bids…
26 May 2011
The long shadow cast by risks of expropriation, unrest and war around the globe can make cross-border operation a dicey proposition...
26 May 2011
Relying on variable interest entities, the controversial glue of many China-based companies, is getting riskier. Often used by offshore companies to gain access…
26 May 2011
Caterpillar is opening wide to swallow its Bucyrus International acquisition, offering $4.5 billion in notes to finance the deal…
26 May 2011
Debt fears continue to percolate and with concern growing over a Eurozone restructuring, companies are disclosing their trepidation over…
26 May 2011
Employees at ConocoPhillips know a gusher when they hit one. With 100 million shares registered for its incentive plan…
25 May 2011
A Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading case filed warns compliance officers and supervisors at financial service firms to be sure their staffers treat their home office like the office...
25 May 2011
Goodrich Corp recently signed a new $700 million credit agreement...
24 May 2011
Given the collective expertise behind synthetic derivatives, the SEC’s designation of “qualified” with regard to investors may be misplaced…
24 May 2011
In her keynote address to the Third Annual Chicago OTC & Exchange Traded Derivatives Operations Conference, Andrea S. Kramer, discusses the operational challenges firms face in preparing for the implementation of Dodd-Frank…
24 May 2011
The Trustee for Lehman is currently sorting through the ashes of the great investment bank, determining which parties are rightfully entitled to certain assets. One debate that has erupted from the investigation is between the Estate and the former company’s clearing bank, JPMorgan. The dispute turns on issues of...
24 May 2011
Diversity is making its way to the forefront of the agendas of multinational corporations, as some regulatory bodies are growing increasingly aware of the absence of women in boardrooms or upper echelons of management. The Australian Stock Exchange, for instance, has issued guidelines addressing diversity policies...
24 May 2011
Promising low tax and returns from even the most unlikely of assets, the market in exchange traded funds shows no sign of slowing down. Fears of systemic risk are, however, causing some regulators to rethink the growth of synthetic ETFs…
24 May 2011
The majority of public issuers in Canada have adopted charters delineating the roles and responsibilities of their boards of directors and committees. Yet, in the absence of any mandated form for such charters…
24 May 2011
The much debated and poured over Glencore prospectus is now available in Business Law Research and it makes for interesting reading. Creating billionaire owners and registering as the largest institutional offering in Hong Kong it is a…
24 May 2011
While the efforts of Chinese companies to secure access to mineral resources have attracted a lot of attention, they are not the only companies with such aspirations. Copper miner Quadra FNX Mining of Vancouver has entered into an agreement with…
24 May 2011
China’s already red-hot tourism industry recently received an additional online boost. Late last week, Expedia-backed Chinese travel website eLong disclosed…
24 May 2011
There is nothing Mickey Mouse about the Walt Disney Company’s $500 million global notes issue…
24 May 2011
Texas Instruments’ big deal means big debt is blooming along with the bluebonnets down in the Lone Star State…
24 May 2011
Carbon-dating fossils is one thing; backdating Fossil stock options is another…
24 May 2011
As corporate fraud and corruption increasingly come under scrutiny, global regulators are looking to whistle-blowers for tip-offs as they seek to stamp out white-collar crime...
19 May 2011
A subtle shift from equity to debt continues on apace, as General Electric issues medium term notes in Europe to fund share buy-backs in the U.S. Joining the likes of John Wood Group, Philip Morris and AT&T…
19 May 2011
Conflicting corporate governance standards cause strife for issuers as the discrepancies between domestic and international norms clash over issues like political donations and short notice periods…
19 May 2011
A saggy dollar and a crumbly euro make for uncertain times for multinational companies. Whether buying raw materials abroad or exporting to foreign markets, cross-border transactions rely on...
19 May 2011
The Canadian Securities Administrators is updating the new national registration regime for those who deal in securities, provide investment advice or manage investment funds…
19 May 2011
A very great deal of global wealth, but particularly Russian, Asian and Middle Eastern/North African wealth, is held through British Virgin Islands business companies...
19 May 2011
Today’s M&A deals are drawing scrutiny from U.S. antitrust regulators and other competition authorities around the globe. Just ask NASDAQ OMX Group and ICE or NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Borse Group...
19 May 2011
No man is an island and neither is the SEC, as the Commission seeks help formulating a credit ratings policy…
19 May 2011
Foreign-invested private equity firms are rallying in Shanghai, eagerly awaiting the results of a second round of applications for the Qualified Foreign Limited Partners…
19 May 2011
In the rarified air of high tech, Israel’s Orbotech is in an atmosphere of its own. Orbotech has just written its own ticket, issuing 6,700,000 shares…
19 May 2011
Sprott Resource’s subsidiary Orion Oil & Gas is merging with WestFire Energy to create an intermediate-sized producer focusing on the Viking oil resource play in Alberta and west central Saskatchewan…
19 May 2011
Another U.S.-listed Chinese company has dismissed their accountants. On May 18, NASDAQ-listed Sinocoking Coal and Chemical Industries announced that they had replaced…
19 May 2011
Responding to an SEC query, UPS lived up to its billing as “The Tightest Ship in the Shipping Business”…
19 May 2011
Norfolk Southern will ride the rails of a 100-year bond to bring $400 million into its wheelhouse…
19 May 2011
A recent judgment from the Bundesgerichtshof, Germany's highest civil court, on the sale of an interest-rate derivative investment to a corporate client could have far-reaching implications for...
17 May 2011
A war of words continues to wage between two partners caught in an unhappy partnership. Though U.S. search engine Yahoo Inc and China’s Alibaba Group have…
17 May 2011
Credit markets are open for business and loans are booming. Caesar’s Entertainment and Consol Energy are just a few of the companies that have recently executed new credit agreements...
17 May 2011
The SEC’s trophy case gets a new addition with the conviction of Raj Rajaratnam, but shelf room is still available…
17 May 2011
Consider that in a world of multi-jurisdictional e-discovery and byzantine corporate structures, issuers and their counsel are still uncertain whether to take an umbrella when going out for lunch. Yet public issuers continue to disclose forward-looking information…
17 May 2011
Investing in China’s fast-growing insurance industry may have lost its appeal for some. Recently, China United Insurance Service Inc, a provider of life, property and casualty…
17 May 2011
Atmos Energy has cashed in with a $124 million deal for its Midwestern gas distribution assets…
17 May 2011
A consortium of Canadian pension funds and bank-owned investment dealers have thrown a monkey wrench in the works of the proposed acquisition of TMX Group by London Stock Exchange Group…
17 May 2011
Tobacco giant Philip Morris International, Inc has fired up $1 billion in senior notes…
17 May 2011
Cardinal Health Inc recently entered into a $1.5 billion credit agreement...
17 May 2011
Range Resources is looking for greener pastures as it seeks to swap out old debt for new…
17 May 2011
Gift basket retailer Harry & David is preparing to emerge from Chapter 11, with a basketful of attorneys in tow...
17 May 2011
Xerox will keep its machines humming with an issuance of $1 billion in senior notes…
17 May 2011
The Central Bank of Bahrain has proposed a new corporate governance framework for capital market service providers...
17 May 2011
The first of many trials following the “Shot Show” FBI/City of London Police arms trade bribery sting began on May 12th in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia...
17 May 2011
Cash-strapped companies are increasingly looking to scrip dividends as a way of preserving cash as the financial woes of Greece and Portugal weigh on European debt markets…
16 May 2011
The Australian anti-money laundering sector has criticised the government for introducing a controversial package of legislation that will make Australia the first country to...
12 May 2011
For some businesses, the combination of investor and consumer discontent with the alternative dispute resolution mechanism of an ombudsman can prove troublesome…
12 May 2011
To the relief of the average consumer and perhaps the astonishment of businesses, the Chinese government is acting swiftly to control pricing within the PRC, at whatever the cost…
12 May 2011
In the past two months, the securities of more than a dozen Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges have been halted or delisted as a result of allegations of fraud, accounting irregularities or other regulatory concerns...
12 May 2011
Headquarters abroad won’t relieve foreign filers from regulatory headaches. No matter the industry or the country of origin, companies filing with the SEC disclose the same kinds of regulatory risks confronting domestic companies…
12 May 2011
High stake cross-border disputes are revealing the growing prevalence of a secretive and non-legal new trend as big business steps outside the law to resolve its disputes…
12 May 2011
Employee compensation has gotten a lot sweeter at Hershey Co. The chocolate-making icon has registered 16.5 million shares…
12 May 2011
Trouble continues for multinational banking institutions in Hong Kong, many of which have been under recent scrutiny by the Securities and Futures Commission…
12 May 2011
For Chicago-based Ventas, $700 million worth of senior notes will soon be blowing through the Windy City…
12 May 2011
The SEC has not been so sweet to the JM Smucker Co, jamming the jelly giant’s bid to exclude a shareholder proposal…
12 May 2011
Canadian Tire, the ubiquitous national retailer, has entered into an agreement to acquire sports retailer the Forzani Group in a friendly, all-cash offer worth $771 million…
12 May 2011
The bluest of the blue chips, IBM will ride its sterling credit rating to $1 billion in cheap debt…
12 May 2011
Secure Energy Services of Calgary has entered into a $75 million bought deal public offering of subscription receipts in order to help fund the acquisition of Marquis Alliance Energy Group…
12 May 2011
Roadshow Broadcast LLC was recently granted no action relief under Section 15(a) and Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act...
10 May 2011
Scana Corporation, a South Carolina power provider, has pumped up its coffers with $300 million in medium term notes…
10 May 2011
Executives are used to big checks, but not the types contained in Dodd-Frank. From a review of proxy materials and votes to date, it is clear that the new law is...
10 May 2011
Bringing a whole new meaning to recycling, News America has offered to exchange $2.5 billion in senior notes...
10 May 2011
Stepping up regulatory scrutiny of listed entities that are based outside of the United States, the SEC has put one Chinese insurance company under the microscope…
10 May 2011
Offshore wind energy development is in the spotlight, with at least two projects clearing major legal and regulatory hurdles on the way to powering the northeast U.S. grid with electricity...
10 May 2011
Credit-confusing but supposedly shrinkwrapping risk, wrapped bonds may be poised for a comeback on the London Stock Exchange despite the fact that the financial crisis almost killed off this theoretically low-risk form of borrowing…
10 May 2011
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every citizen of Canada the right to vote – something all Canadians are acutely aware of in light of the May 2 federal election. In the corporate environment, however…
10 May 2011
Hoping to capitalize on rising demand, two Greek shipping companies will float offerings on Wall Street…
10 May 2011
In 2001, Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund was spun out of Marsulex Inc. Now Chemtrade appears set to swallow its former parent, with closing scheduled nearly 10 years to the day after they initially went their separate ways…
10 May 2011
Memorial Day’s “Rolling Thunder” rides will rumble on thanks to a $675 million credit facility for Milwaukee’s Harley Davidson…
10 May 2011
Using a $400 million SunTrust bridge loan, TC PipeLines LP has closed the gap on two Canadian acquisitions…
10 May 2011
Accounting mishaps, and even the departure of a company’s audit committee, have become so commonplace that these events scarcely provoke investor reaction these days…
10 May 2011
CMS Energy will stoke the fires of growth with $250 million in senior notes...
9 May 2011
Related-party transactions remain the single largest risk to shareholders of Chinese and Indian listed companies, speakers told delegates at an industry conference in Singapore last week...
9 May 2011
Firms should be well into the risk assessment stage of preparing to meet the July 1 implementation date of the UK's long-awaited Bribery Act 2010...
9 May 2011
The Dubai Financial Services Authority intends to assume responsibility for the supervision of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance compliance by designated non-financial businesses and...
6 May 2011
Thomson Reuters' Cost of Compliance Survey 2011 has some interesting things to say about the relationship between compliance and risk and internal audit functions...
5 May 2011
Inside information seems to be making its way out of the office and boardroom and onto the Street...
5 May 2011
As the source of over 40 percent of the world’s electricity and also used in the production of iron and steel, increasing needs for coal have driven a considerable amount of deal activity, both on the financing front and through M&A…
5 May 2011
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has come out with its annual list of who has been naughty or nice…
5 May 2011
Making headlines for making headlines, the media mogulette Arianna Huffington famously inked a $315 million deal with AOL for the sale of her internet buzz-builder, the Huffington Post. As the terms of the agreement come to light…
5 May 2011
A recent amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China should have PRC-focused corporate executives and their business partners sweating…
5 May 2011
In preparation for its primary listing in London, Glencore issued a prospectus on May 4, opening the floodgates for poking and prodding by inquisitive investors…
5 May 2011
Calgary-based oil and gas company Bellatrix Exploration has been issued a receipt for its final short-form prospectus in connection with the company’s $55 million bought deal offering…
5 May 2011
The notable absence of women on the boards of UK-listed companies has pushed the Financial Reporting Council to issue a consultation document on further gender diversity changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code…
5 May 2011
AK Steel Corp has dug deep and extracted a shiny new credit facility...
5 May 2011
A $165 million buyout has induced Scripps Interactive Network to pry itself free of Shopzilla’s clutches...
5 May 2011
St. Louis-based Arch Coal will go back to the mines to fund its $3.4 billion acquisition of International Coal Group…
5 May 2011
The Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned UBS Financial Services over fraudulently rigging at least 100 municipal bond reinvestment transactions...
3 May 2011
Barbarians are banging at the gates of the NYSE, wielding weapons from pro-forma M&A agreements to unsolicited exchange offers...
3 May 2011
After taking a Macondo-related charge of $41 billion last year, BP celebrated the blowout’s anniversary by filing its own lawsuits...
3 May 2011
Enthusiasm from global investors and international applicants shows little sign of easing up on the gatekeepers of Hong Kong’s bourse, one of the hottest capital markets in the world…
3 May 2011
Corporate boards are making moves this proxy season, but so are investors and regulators. From reincorporation to declassification of the board itself, directors are walking a fine line...
3 May 2011
As well as lifting the corporate veil on sham company arrangements, the UK courts have held that even non-malfeasant companies can owe a duty of care to the employees of a subsidiary company in the leading decision on…
3 May 2011
In some ways, the asset-backed commercial paper crisis of 2007-2008 was the Canadian version of the subprime credit crisis in the U.S. – a huge wake-up call. And just as the subprime mess continues to have regulatory repercussions…
3 May 2011
Calgary-based Gibson Energy has taken its first step towards becoming a public company, having filed a preliminary PREP prospectus with Canadian securities regulators…
3 May 2011
Southwest Airlines has taken off early with a new $800 million credit facility…
3 May 2011
Healthcare reform is nothing to sneeze at for players like Express Scripts, as evidenced by its $1.5 billion notes offering…
3 May 2011
The rich get richer as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries scoops up Cephalon, Inc. for $6.8 billion. The all-cash transaction will…
3 May 2011
Registering $443 million in shares for its employee incentive plan should result in positive diagnoses at Intuitive Surgical…
3 May 2011
Affiliates of PE all-star Silver Lake Partners will acquire SMART Modular Technologies in a deal valued at $645 million...
3 May 2011
Another round of dim sum bond offerings is set to debut in Hong Kong. Following the likes of Unilever and Buffett-backed Chinese car maker BYD, Melco Crown Entertainment…
1 May 2011
The Dubai Financial Services Authority has entered into an enforceable undertaking with E-Trade Securities (Dubai International Financial Centre branch) following a DFSA investigation that found...