LATEST ANALYSIS
April 2012
27 Apr 2012
This week’s significant events in M&A, corporate governance, litigation, regulation and corporate finance…
27 Apr 2012
There are signs indicating that bespoke transactions could be making a small resurgence…
26 Apr 2012
Calgary-based oil and gas producers Pengrowth Energy and NAL Energy have agreed to a “strategic combination” of their businesses…
26 Apr 2012
A new CSA consultation paper sets out its recommendations for an exemption from specific requirements being developed to regulate OTC derivatives…
26 Apr 2012
Boutique investment banks acting as sponsors for IPOs in Hong Kong should review their systems and controls following the enforcement action by the Securities and Futures Commission...
26 Apr 2012
Businesses stricken by allegations of corporate bribery are scrambling to reassure increasingly skeptical shareholders, regulators and even credit raters from denting…
26 Apr 2012
Canadian exploration company Alderon Iron Ore Corp disclosed it has entered into a subscription agreement with Heibei Iron & Steel…
26 Apr 2012
Exposing a novel debt offering this week was Sanctuary Group, the social landlord operator in the UK, who filed a strippable bond programme for £300 million 5 per cent secured bonds due 2047…
25 Apr 2012
European “cookie laws” are prompting a radical overhaul of customer data collection in Europe, and will require a rethink of online business models…
24 Apr 2012
The first quarter of 2012 did not paint a pretty picture of transactional activity, but amidst the negativity on display there are positive indicators…
24 Apr 2012
International banks are becoming shape-shifters, undertaking creative restructuring measures to elude the most stringent measures of the Dodd-Frank act…
24 Apr 2012
Canadian buyers and sellers are increasingly finding themselves embroiled in litigation in the midst of M&A transactions…
24 Apr 2012
Mining and exploration companies in the Asia-Pacific region are feeling the heavy hand of geopolitical risk on their shoulders as some governments move to scrutinize mining activities…
24 Apr 2012
China Shenghuo Pharmaceuticals has opted to voluntarily delist from the NYSE Amex Equities board due to financial hardship...
24 Apr 2012
Unearthing renewed interest in London listings from Russian companies, Evraz Group is drilling into market appeal with a US$600 million debt offering…
24 Apr 2012
Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard has entered into an agreement with Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA…
23 Apr 2012
Banks that engage in corporate restructuring need to be aware of the risks associated with inadvertently taking on "shadow directorship" roles...
20 Apr 2012
Federal regulators acted nearly unanimously in voting to issue rules defining swap dealers and major swap participants, but a dissent by Scott O'Malia could offer a preview of...
19 Apr 2012
Aircraft financings are in for some choppy flights as credit turbulence is continuing to substantially impact the sector…
19 Apr 2012
Canada’s Competition Bureau has issued revised draft guidelines regarding the bureau’s enforcement approach vis-à-vis the abuse of dominance provisions contained in the Competition Act…
19 Apr 2012
A peak through the veil of incorporation, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled that holding companies can be liable for the unfair trading practices of subsidiary companies…
19 Apr 2012
The impact of a recent lawsuit contesting the CFTC’s registration requirements for investment advisers could resonate across the financial services industry…
19 Apr 2012
China Forestry Inc, a U.S.-listed China-based business embroiled in allegations of embezzlement and accounting fraud, recently moved to clear out…
19 Apr 2012
Contrans Group of Woodstock, Ontario has announced it will seek shareholder approval to eliminate the company’s dual-class share structure…
19 Apr 2012
Elements of social, environment and even moral conscience are seeping into company disclosures in Hong Kong, a city better known for its cutthroat business environment…
19 Apr 2012
European debt issuers are turning Japanese – and Chinese – as Euro denominated debt continues to be treated with distrust…
18 Apr 2012
The importance of risk oversight and risk management is underscored by the continued uncertainty in the global marketplace due to factors ranging from…
17 Apr 2012
Companies involved in electric power generation are all facing major environmental and energy policy issues in 2012…
17 Apr 2012
In a public company, the departure of an executive can pose significant challenges on the corporate governance and disclosure fronts, particularly when it is involuntary…
17 Apr 2012
Public companies, broker-dealers and start-ups with an interest in “crowdfunding” received a reprieve from the Securities and Exchange last week…
17 Apr 2012
U.S. and European companies are becoming increasingly attracted to using Dutch holding companies in their corporate structures as a means to boost tax savings...
17 Apr 2012
Eros International plc, the Indian language film studio, has announced its intention to delist from UK’s AIM market in order to float on the American NYSE…
17 Apr 2012
Sino Payments, a China-based electronic payment solutions provider, joins a growing list of U.S.-listed Chinese companies that anticipate delays in filing disclosure documents…
17 Apr 2012
Norway’s Yara International has entered into a strategic investment and off-take agreement with IC Potash Corp. Yara will make a $40 million investment…
17 Apr 2012
Revised arbitration rules for the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission are expected to usher in a number of positive changes in China-based dispute resolution and arbitration proceedings…
16 Apr 2012
The JOBS Act creates new opportunities for privately-held and smaller publicly-traded companies, but provisions to allow Internet based “crowdfunding” may turn out to be less attractive...
12 Apr 2012
Ongoing financial reform in China, such as the expansion of the QFII program, is expected to offer foreign investment banks increased access to the…
12 Apr 2012
A creditor protection filing has obvious and immediate repercussions for the debtor company and its customers and suppliers. Those repercussions are magnified, however, when…
12 Apr 2012
Upon implementation, certain provisions of Basel III and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will compel banks and certain other financial institutions...
12 Apr 2012
The discourse over corporate governance has come to resemble something of a Tower of Babel. This essay attempts to bring some coherence to the topic…
12 Apr 2012
Shareholder clashes over director pay and regulatory and accounting failings at Barclays have energized the debate over whether the proxy advisor industry needs regulation in Europe…
12 Apr 2012
Last month, UnionBanCal Corporation announced its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire Pacific Capital Bancorp. UnionBanCal agreed to offer Pacific shareholders…
12 Apr 2012
Molson Coors, the American brewer behind Coors and Miller Lite, has agreed to buy StarBev and its nine breweries in Central and Eastern Europe for €2.65 billion…
12 Apr 2012
A full-scale corporate governance rebellion has erupted at a China-based post-secondary school operator. Complete with battling executives and allegations of corporate theft…
11 Apr 2012
Two Mexico-focused, Vancouver-based mining companies are joining forces. First Majestic Silver has entered into an agreement to acquire Silvermex Resources for approximately $175.4 million…
10 Apr 2012
The JOBS Act loosens restrictions around capital raises, lessens both IPO and ongoing disclosure and other obligations for many issuers and reduces the costs of being...
10 Apr 2012
With glamorous technology and media-related IPOs highlighting the equity offerings pipeline, dual class share structures are drawing sharp criticism from proxy advisors and investors alike…
10 Apr 2012
Whether triggered by the exercise of registration rights or a negotiated deal, secondary offerings have a unique structure with regard to responsibilities…
10 Apr 2012
Further shedding of non-core business units is on the forefront of HSBC’s agenda. On April 10, the financial institution announced that it had entered into a memorandum of…
10 Apr 2012
Global depositary notes (GDNs), debt instruments that represent the underlying debt security of foreign companies or sovereigns but trade in U.S. dollars, are growing in…
10 Apr 2012
Hot on the heels of European sovereign risk controversy, Russia has unleashed a US$7 billion three series global bond offering replete with…
10 Apr 2012
Despite a mediocre IPO onto the NASDAQ Global Market, Vipshop Holdings, a China-based online discount retailer, managed to attract a healthy share of venture capital…
6 Apr 2012
Companies without enterprise risk management programs are only as strong as their weakest link and need only look to the damage caused by the failures of others...
6 Apr 2012
Private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners has agreed to acquire HOMEQ Corporation for approximately $138 million...
6 Apr 2012
According to the UK’s FSA, investment banks have consistently failed to comply with bribery and corruption rules and nearly half of all investment banks are failing to conduct…
4 Apr 2012
Although FATCA does not fully enter in force until January 1, 2013, the effort to become compliant with FATCA should begin immediately. Some tips on how to do so are noted below...
4 Apr 2012
This could prove to be the year that the Competition Bureau moves front and center in Canadian business circles...
4 Apr 2012
UPS, the world's largest parcel-delivery company, has boxed up a mega merger with TNT as it seeks to cut through regulatory red tape and antitrust hurdles to deliver a decisive deal…
4 Apr 2012
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to reach into the boardroom to assess a financial firm’s culture of compliance, a senior commission official told a conference in New York...
4 Apr 2012
Directors like to think of themselves as entirely rational agents of the company’s interests and not at all subject to the emotional and cognitive biases that blight ordinary mortals…
4 Apr 2012
The arrest of two prominent Hong Kong executives and a former senior government official by the city’s corruption watchdog was not an April Fool’s joke…
4 Apr 2012
New legislation aimed at throwing open the doors of U.S. capital markets to emerging growth companies and cash-starved private businesses could allow unwelcome fraudsters…
4 Apr 2012
In a rare municipal debt offering in the UK and with an even rarer AAA credit rating, Sweden’s City of Stockholm is issuing debt in Norwegian Krone (NOK) rather than its domestic currency…
3 Apr 2012
Canadians are bringing Yankee bonds to Europe. Bypassing Euro-fears, these intrepid explorers are busting Eurozone debt dams with dollar-denominated offerings as…
3 Apr 2012
Ever-growing reliance on technology in customer interactions, proprietary data storage and even normal business operations is creating increased risk...