MAGAZINE
January 2018 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
Given the scale and speed of technological advances in recent decades, companies are generating more sensitive business data than ever. Though they are storing that data in ways that are beneficial to their businesses, they are also becoming more attractive...
FEATURES
New UK defence sector merger controls proposed
In October 2017, the UK government took steps to heighten merger control in the country’s technology and defence sectors. Proposed new rules would allow the government to intervene on certain deals based on national security concerns...
Leveraging lean across the finance function
Lean is a business methodology focused on customer value and resource efficiency – essentially a tool for optimising processes and underpinning sustainable competitive advantage. One area of business in which the application of lean techniques...
Outlook for post-trade in financial markets
The Trump administration, the countdown to Brexit, escalating cyber threats and mounting regulatory pressures are heightening worldwide geopolitical and economic volatility, resulting in considerable uncertainty across the post-trade...
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful force in global business. The potential size and value of the AI industry is enormous, and while the market is still small, it is growing. According to Statista, the AI sector was worth around $2.42bn...
CRS to deliver new age of tax transparency
Tax evasion is a corrosive crime which affects the finances of virtually every country in the world. Massive in scope, it is believed to amount to around 5 percent of global GDP and cost the US economy an estimated $337bn each year in tax revenue...
ROUNDTABLE
MODERATOR: Sam Pfeifle, IAPP. THE PANELLISTS: David J. White, AlixPartners; Gazala Haq, Dropbox; Jochen Lehmann, GÖRG; Jessica Douglas, IBM UK and Ireland; Alan Calder, IT Governance Ltd; Jonathan C. Trull, Microsoft; Darron Gibbard, Qualys; and Steve Lamb, Rapid7.
A ‘game changer’ is how the EU’s forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been described by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Scheduled to take effect from May 2018, the regulation introduces new laws that will fundamentally...
SPECIAL REPORT
Intellectual property (IP) is among the most important assets a company possesses. These inventions, designs and symbols, names and images are used to establish a business and drive commercial activities. Given the importance of IP...
FORUM: Royalty management and enforcement
FW moderates a discussion on royalty management and enforcement between Laëtitia Bénard at Allen & Overy LLP, Sonja London at Nokia Technologies, and Brian W. Gray at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP.
American patent law continues to move in a defendant-friendly manner that may stifle innovation
Alston & Bird LLP Patent law in the US has always strived, but failed, to find the right balance between promoting innovation versus cultivating competition. Many practitioners, for example, believe that the 1990s and 2000s were largely pro-patent in the US...
Misuse of patent law to address misuse of patents
Ladas & Parry LLP There has long been a perceived tension between patent rights and antitrust or competition law, although when applied properly, the two should work in harmony. As noted in a footnote to the 1983 Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision...
Innovation capture – identifying and protecting IP
Maucher Jenkins Intellectual property (IP) is a valuable asset, and for high-tech companies, much of that value lies in registrable rights, such as patents and designs. Yet the right to register those rights can easily be lost if the rights owner fails to identify and protect its....
Robins Kaplan LLP Developments in US patent law over the last 10 years have increased the difficulty of patent enforcement. Accordingly, voluntary patent licensing has decreased in many market segments and ‘efficient infringement’ has increased. These changes...
Can you still get a registered trade mark for a 3D item?
Kempner & Partners LLP What if your business could protect its name or even its products indefinitely? A patent would protect you for 20 years, a registered design for 25 years and copyright for 70 years from the date of death of the author, but these are all trumped by a...
Martini Manna Avvocati Under Article 66 of the Italian Intellectual Property (IP) Code, the patent holder is granted the following exclusive rights: where the subject matter of the patent is a product, the right to forbid any third party to manufacture, use, market, sell or import...
Artificial intelligence and intellectual property considerations
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP Artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing innovation in new ways and accelerating with technological advancements in computing power, data and algorithms. As technology advances, so too does the ability to use AI tools in previously unachievable ways...
IPR strategy for industry 4.0: what can we learn from 3D printing?
time.lex The impact of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing on the efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness of the manufacturing industry is potentially vast. It pushes the boundaries of part design, makes it easier to produce different...
Managing intellectual property portfolios
Allen & Overy LLP The success of a company’s business strategy and the management of its intellectual property rights (IPR) portfolio (trade marks, patents, copyright, design rights, know-how, etc.) are closely interlinked. On the one hand, the potential of a...
How to conduct periodic audits and IP assessments
CN-KnowHow Managing intellectual property (IP) assets is a systematic exercise that should include an IP audit and assessment. An IP audit is a dynamic process which involves enterprises assessing the overall status of their IP, resulting in an audit report which allows...
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Broadcom bid rejected by Qualcomm
Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm Inc has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from rival Broadcom Ltd as, according to Qualcomm’s board of directors, the offer undervalued the company and any merger between the two would likely face regulatory scrutiny...
Brookfield Property Partners makes $14.8bn bid for GGP
In a deal that would create one of the world’s largest listed property companies, major commercial real estate owner Brookfield Property Partners L.P. has made a $14.8bn non-binding bid for real estate investment trust, GGP Inc. Brookfield’s proposal...
private equity & venture capital
Permira to buy Duff & Phelps for $1.75bn
European private equity group Permira is to acquire global valuation and corporate finance advisory firm Duff & Phelps in a deal worth $1.75bn. Under the terms of the deal, a company backed by Permira will acquire Duff & Phelps from...
$1.15bn deal sees Madison Dearborn Partners acquire stake in AmTrust units
Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm with significant insurance services expertise, has announced a definitive agreement under which multinational property and casualty insurer AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. will transfer a 51 percent...
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
Pacific Drilling files for Chapter 11 protection
Another victim of the offshore drilling slump, ultra-deepwater drilling company Pacific Drilling, along with certain of its domestic and international subsidiaries, has filed a voluntary petition for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the US...
GulfMark emerges from Chapter 11
US offshore marine services provider GulfMark Offshore Inc has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the company’s reorganisation plan was approved by a US bankruptcy court in October. GulfMark’s plan went into effect...
TALKINGpoint
Data remediation in M&A divestments
FW moderates a discussion on data remediation in M&A divestments between Darren Pauling and Paul Hough at KPMG.
PROFESSIONALinsight
Banking & Finance
JAG Shaw Baker Blockchain technology is the topic of the day. For the tech industry, it has been steadily growing for the past decade, becoming the technology which could transform virtually every industry. It has been touted as one of the most critical disrupters...
Covered bonds harmonisation: recent EBA recommendations and resolution by the European Parliament
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Covered bonds are ‘dual recourse’ instruments issued by banks. They establish an unlimited payment liability by the issuing bank, which is ‘covered’ by a pool of assets that is segregated from the bank’s insolvency estate and protected from enforcement...
Australia’s non-bank lending boom
Falcon Group Despite credit growth returning to Australia since the global financial crisis, long-term factors, such as the consolidation of banks and Basel III’s risk-weighted capital framework, continue to pose barriers for businesses looking to access funding. Certainly...
SPOTlight
Winston & Strawn Driven by the globalisation of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market and the emergence of Asia as a key player, global M&A activity reached nearly $5 trillion in 2015. The Asia market, and China in particular, is playing an increasingly important role...
How boards effectively govern culture
National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Culture creates a unique footprint in every organisation. It can be a strategic differentiator, enabling a company to achieve superior returns and be a ‘great place to work’. Conversely, the absence of a healthy culture can be a liability. The news is littered with...
Legal considerations regarding in-house whistleblowers
Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP In the last 18 months, a clear trend has emerged concerning whistleblower retaliation actions filed against companies by their own in-house counsel and compliance professionals. This is a troubling development because these individuals are not only the...
Scraping by: the developing legal landscape of data scraping
MinterEllison Data scraping (otherwise known as web or screen scraping) has become a common tool of the data-driven digital trade, and depending on where your business stands, it represents either an opportunity or a risk. The process involves the automated...
CONTRIBUTORS
AlixPartners
Allen & Overy LLP
Alston & Bird LLP
Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
CN-KnowHow
Dropbox
Falcon Group
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
GÖRG
IAPP
IBM UK and Ireland
IT Governance Ltd
JAG Shaw Baker
Kempner & Partners LLP
KPMG
Ladas & Parry LLP
Martini Manna Avvocati
Maucher Jenkins
Microsoft
MinterEllison
National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)
Nokia Technologies
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
Qualys
Rapid7
Robins Kaplan LLP
time.lex
Winston & Strawn