MAGAZINE
August 2017 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
Legacy systems: the replacement and modernisation headache
‘Everything comes with an expiry date’ is an adage applicable to all things in life. One example is the IT currently used by many financial institutions (FIs), which many practitioners consider outdated, creaking at the seams and in dire need of being...
FEATURES
JV dealmaking gains steam across US healthcare
Always an arena subject to disruption, the US healthcare industry has recently experienced a convergence of unsettling developments which have led to an expansion of dealmaking activity, with joint venture (JV) transactions particularly...
MiFID II: US asset managers prepare for impact
The original Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) impacted UK and European firms, primarily on the sell side, though it also regulates portfolio managers, investment advisers with rules applicable to those sectors on best execution...
Achieving operational excellence
Operational excellence (OpEx) lies at the intersection of strategy, technology and operations. A successful OpEx programme can reward companies in many industries. With organisations turning to new digital tools to achieve better standards...
Since 2012, ransomware has emerged as the one of the most widespread and potent forms of cyber attack companies can face. It has quickly usurped other forms of cyber crime, becoming the fastest growing cause of data security incidents worldwide...
The talent pool – those employees identified as likely to attain a leadership role and ascend the ranks to an organisation’s upper echelons – is a succession planning tool that needs to be constantly monitored and consistently replenished for it to...
ROUNDTABLE
Risks facing directors & officers
THE PANELLISTS: Thomas H. Bentz Jr, Holland & Knight; Ffion Flockhart, Norton Rose Fulbright; Eddy So, Reed Smith Richards Butler; Dr Alexander Mahnke, Siemens; Virginia F. Milstead, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; and Jonathan Pflieger, Tokio Marine HCC.
In today’s uncertain world, the risks facing directors & officers (D&Os) have never been greater. Increasingly, there is a trend toward D&Os being held personally liable for numerous wrongdoings. Liability is driven by a range of factors, including legislative...
SPECIAL REPORT
Concurrent with the escalating technological innovation that envelops today’s business world is the level of risk that accompanies it – risk that has the capacity to severely compromise the substantial benefits that technology brings. Therefore, the...
FORUM: Best practices in data loss prevention
FW moderates a discussion on best practices in data loss prevention between Allen Allison at American Express Global Business Travel, Olivier Haas at Jones Day, Jonathan C. Trull at Microsoft, and Jami Mills Vibbert at Venable LLP.
Next generation of risk management meets the next generation of IT solutions
ZoneFox Introductions can be awkward and by anyone’s measure the latest meeting between security technology and global cyber attacks – Wannacry and NotPetya – left some businesses’ infrastructure in tatters. Powered by publicly disclosed nation-state...
Cyber risk frameworks as a tool for improving cyber resilience
MinterEllison Cyber security seems to be the topic of the moment, and rightly so. The systemic risk associated with a critical infrastructure organisation such as a financial institution being compromised is enormous. With the prevailing view of cyber security as an...
The danger within – tackling insider threats in the financial services sector
Huntsman Security Recent high profile cyber security attacks have dominated the business agenda. With high profile business and customer data up for grabs, not to mention the opportunity to disrupt or defraud a business, the financial services sector makes...
Developing a compliance strategy to meet data privacy regulations
DWF LLP The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 25 May 2018, replacing the UK Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). In her speech on 21 June 2017, the Queen confirmed that the UK intends to comply with GDPR post-Brexit by...
Addressing the dark web challenge in the boardroom
RepKnight If you are part of a board of directors, and cyber security is not on your agenda at the moment, you are putting your entire company in jeopardy. While cyber security may not directly help you grow revenue or improve profit margins, it is worth...
The increasing importance of effective cyber security diligence in corporate transactions
DLA Piper LLP Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker’s extensive ‘2017 Internet Trends’ report reflects that the category of online advertising and e-commerce is growing and is increasingly measurable, with data increasingly actionable...
Kemp Little LLP The risk landscape of sourcing contracts has shifted in recent years, with a fundamental change to the factors that are driving businesses to outsource and an awareness of the implications of getting it wrong from a regulatory perspective. An increased...
Risks associated with use of social media
Sheridans Social media provides a unique opportunity for businesses to promote their brand, and interact and connect directly with customers and potential customers. However, the instant, informal and public nature of social media brings with it numerous...
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Amazon offers to buy Whole Foods for $13.7bn
Online retail giant Amazon is to acquire Whole Foods Market Inc in a landmark deal worth $13.7bn, including debt. Amazon will pay $42 per share for Whole Foods, a brand which was founded in 1978 and now employs 87,000 people in more than...
Safran shareholders approve plan to buy Zodiac Aerospace
Following months of wrangling, international high-technology group Safran and French aerospace group Zodiac Aerospace has announced a business combination agreement to create the world’s third largest supplier to the aerospace and defence...
private equity & venture capital
Shell sells $3.8bn of North Sea assets to Chrysaor
In a transaction worth approximately $3.8bn, multinational oil & gas company Royal Dutch Shell plc has agreed to sell a package of its UK North Sea assets to oil exploration firm Chrysaor. The package of assets to be sold consists of Shell’s interests...
Proposed joint venture between Celanese and Blackstone
Specialty material company Celanese Corporation and private equity firm Blackstone Group have announced that they are to form a cellulose acetate tow joint venture (JV) by combining their respective units and creating a global acetate tow...
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
French oil services firm CGG files for bankruptcy
In a bid to reduce its $3bn debt, French oil services company CGG has announced that it is to undergo a comprehensive prearranged restructuring involving a Sauvegarde proceeding in France and Chapter 11 and Chapter 15 filings in the US...
Takata files for bankruptcy in US and Japan
Japanese car parts manufacturer Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Japan following the auto industry’s biggest ever product recall. Speculation over the company’s future has raged for some time given that Takata is facing...
PROFESSIONALinsight
Mergers & Acquisitions
An M&A oversight framework for boards
IMD Global mergers & acquisitions (M&A) reached an all-time high in 2015, surpassing the previous record set in 2007. The $4.28 trillion worth of deals exceeded those of 2014 by more than $1 trillion according to Mergermarket’s ‘Global and Regional...
Why M&A due diligence flounders in the face of Big Data and how smart technology can help
Opus 2 Forum Is due diligence actually working in today’s M&A transactions? To what extent does it help companies achieve the strategic business goals of the deals in question and pave the way for successful integration? Roger L. Martin, writing about...
Banking & Finance
Intelenet Global Services Poor customer experience can cost banking and financial services up to £5.81bn, highlighting the need for firms to adopt new technology solutions and offer a round the clock service. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report, which was...
GCC corporates explore alternatives as bank liquidity dries up
Falcon Group Corporates in the Middle East are faced with a new reality. The banking landscape has changed beyond recognition, leaving them looking for funding alternatives. The root cause of the change is, of course, the shrinking revenue deposits...
Finance & Investment
Stock price and ROIC: what drives performance?
ALFA Valuation & Advisory What drives long-term company performance? To paraphrase St. Augustine: if no one asks us, we know; if we need to fully explain it, we may not. Most market commentators and financial analysts focus on the top and bottom line metrics of revenue...
Understanding the clockwork of investment arbitration
GST LLP One of the most distinctive features of investment treaty arbitration is that, in spite of being based on some 3300 different international investment agreements, the issues in dispute and the multi-billion dollar discussions held over them are...
Risk Management
Stronger OFAC style sanctions enforcement comes to the UK
CCG Legal As of 1 April 2017, the UK’s new sanctions watchdog, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is now able to impose monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions. These fines can be up to £1m or 50 percent...
Terrorism insurance comes of age
TroyGould A difficult subject, to be sure, but the market for insurance against property damage and other losses arising from terrorism is rapidly growing. The recent remarks by London’s mayor suggesting that terrorism is part and parcel of living...
Sector Analysis
Biosimilars in the US: the next frontier for big pharma
Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck The market for biological drug products is forecast to reach a global value of $400bn per year by 2025. Major pharmaceutical companies are investing noteworthy amounts of resources into both research and development of biological drug...
Canada moves toward modernising the NEB – a solution in search of a problem?
Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, LLP As part of its election commitment, the Liberal Party of Canada pledged to review and revise Canada’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes in order to further Canada’s commitment to “environmentally responsible...
CONTRIBUTORS
ALFA Valuation & Advisory
American Express Global Business Travel
Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, LLP
CCG Legal
DLA Piper LLP
DWF LLP
Falcon Group
GST LLP
Holland & Knight
Huntsman Security
IMD
Intelenet Global Services
Jones Day
Kemp Little LLP
Microsoft
MinterEllison
Norton Rose Fulbright
Opus 2 Forum
Reed Smith Richards Butler
RepKnight
Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck
Sheridans
Siemens
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Tokio Marine HCC
TroyGould A
Venable LLP
ZoneFox