MAGAZINE

March 2022 Issue

Financier Worldwide Magazine


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COVER STORY

Talent retention in the age of the Great Resignation

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant repercussions for many aspects of our working lives. While many have been forced to adapt to new ways of working, others have reframed the unique circumstances as a catalyst for change. Globally, people have used…

FEATURES

M&A integration: mergence amid maladies

Any corporate transformation – be it launching a major operational phase, executing a breakthrough business strategy or integrating a pivotal acquisition – is fraught with challenges. In an M&A context, such challenges are especially acute, given that the overriding aim is to integrate two…

FDI step change: UK unveils NSI Act

It is difficult to overstate the importance to a country of having oversight of all foreign direct investment (FDI) entering its domain – its origin and intent, as well as potential drawbacks for the host economy, both economic and non-economic. In a move designed to beef up…

Interagency roadmap: is 2022 the year of crypto regulation?

On 23 November 2021, federal bank regulatory agencies in the US – namely the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – issued a statement summarising their interagency ‘policy sprints’ focused on crypto-assets…

Evaluating ESG disclosure requirements for FIs

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are climbing the boardroom agenda on the strength of greater political, customer and investor awareness. A variety of stakeholders, including regulators, are placing greater importance on ESG. Businesses, including financial institutions…

Seat at the table: D&I across UK financial services

Although UK financial services (FS) are not historically known as trailblazers in terms of their promotion of diversity and inclusion (D&I), the sector’s lack of enlightenment in this regard has evolved substantially in recent years. Now considered a sector priority, discussions around D&I...

ROUNDTABLE

Sanctions compliance & enforcement

THE PANELLISTS: Maura Rezendes at Allen & Overy; Konstantinos Katsoulis at Cardinal Health; Judith Alison Lee at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Nicholas Bentley at Novartis Pharma Services AG; Adela Deaconu at Royal Philips; Stevenson Munro at Standard Chartered Bank; and Dave Johnson at Vinson & Elkins LLP.

Enforcing compliance with economic sanctions has been a top priority for regulators and law enforcement over the past 12 months. Extraordinarily difficult geopolitical issues, where the economic and human consequences are unpredictable and severe, have resulted in the imposition…

SPECIAL REPORT

Managing risk

Q&A: ESG and climate risk management

FW discusses ESG and climate risk management with Pierre Taillefer at BDO Canada, Silke Goldberg at Herbert Smith Freehills, Adrian Walker at Hogan Lovells and Paul A. Davies at Latham & Watkins LLP.

Keys to a sound and sustainable regulatory reporting programme

GRMA On a global basis, regulatory reporting requirements for asset managers not only continue to grow but are becoming ever more complex. Examples of major areas newly in scope for reporting are sustainability, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and liquidity risk under stressed…

Servant leaders, boards and resilience: the management issue of the 2020s

Argyle PR Unquestionably, Robert Greenleaf would be captivated by examining the leadership style that is generating the most prominence and progress for organisations since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic erupted. It has been over a half century since Greenleaf, who died in 1990, wrote…

Fraud risk lessons from the pandemic

International Compliance Association Crises rarely announce themselves in advance, and the abrupt, unanticipated arrival of coronavirus (COVID-19) was no exception. Taking every government by surprise, its impact on health, jobs and the global economy has been seismic, affecting the lives of hundreds of millions worldwide…

Managing corporate criminal liability risks arising out of the acts of ‘associated persons’

Stephenson Harwood LLP July 2021 marked the 10-year anniversary of the entry into force of the UK Bribery Act and the introduction of corporate criminal liability – which applies across sectors and borders – based on a company’s ‘failure to prevent’ the payment of a bribe or bribes by an ‘associated person’…

Managing cryptocurrency risk

Rahman Ravelli The risks associated with cryptocurrency have been known about for almost as long as such assets have been in existence. Yet there appears to have been only modest progress in the battle against the bad actors who view crypto as the latest convenient means of making illegal gains…

Cyber insurance and the need for standardisation

Baker Tilly Humans and dogs have co-existed for centuries despite speaking very different languages. Sure, a dog can be taught to sit or stay, and humans can learn when their furry friends need to go outside. But for the most part, the two species have learned to thrive despite their language…

Captive insurance grows in importance as a hard market continues

Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) There is growing concern among European companies about the continuing hard insurance market and diminishing risk transfer capacity for major risks, such as climate-related events and major cyber attacks. Captive reinsurance companies are one of the favoured risk management tools…

TALKINGpoint

Managing risk with effective IT technical due diligence

FW discusses IT technical due diligence with Jason Ewing and Matt Van Itallie at Sema.

Managing shareholder activism directed at SPACs

FW discusses how to manage shareholder activism directed at SPACs with Keith Billotti and Edward S. Horton at Seward & Kissel LLP.

ESG and corporate reporting

FW discusses environmental, social and governance impacts on corporate reporting with Donal Boyle, Fiona Gaskin, Eugene Nel, Deirdre Timmons and Sinead Phelan at PwC Ireland.

Evolution of the automotive sector – disruption

FW discusses the disruption and evolution of the automotive sector with Julian Dirksen, Eric Wallenbrock and Miriam Ballhausen at Bird & Bird.

Workplace activism

FW discusses workplace activism with Nicola Rabson and Laurie Ollivent at Linklaters LLP.

DEALfront

mergers & acquisitions

Microsoft agrees $69bn Activision acquisition

Microsoft Corp has announced a $68.7bn all-cash deal to acquire Activision Blizzard in the biggest gaming industry deal in history. The transaction will see Microsoft become the world’s third-biggest gaming company by revenue behind China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony. Under the terms…

Citigroup sells its Southeast Asia retail business for $3.7bn

As part of its goal to exit retail markets in 13 jurisdictions, US multinational investment bank Citigroup is to sell its consumer banking franchises in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to Singaporean multinational banking organisation UOB Group (UOB) in a deal valued at $3.7bn…

private equity & venture capital

R1 RCM agrees $4.1bn all-stock deal for Cloudmed

Healthcare revenue management firm R1 RCM Inc has agreed to acquire rival Cloudmed in an all-stock deal worth about $4.1bn, including debt of around $857m. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2022, subject to shareholder and certain regulatory approvals and has been unanimously…

Enterprise Products to buy PE-backed Navitas in $3.25bn deal

In a $3.25bn deal which boosts its natural gas pipeline network, energy services provider Enterprise Products Partners LP is to acquire producer-focused midstream company Navitas Midstream Partners, LLC from private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC. Under the terms of the…

bankruptcy & corporate restructuring

Seadrill unit files for and emerges from bankruptcy

A unit of offshore driller Seadrill Ltd – Seadrill New Finance – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. The unit also submitted a fast-tracked reorganisation plan in Houston bankruptcy court and has subsequently emerged from bankruptcy protection. The plan was confirmed by the…

Eagle Senior Living files for Chapter 11

Amid a pandemic that has drastically increased labour costs, Michigan-based nursing home chain Eagle Senior Living has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection so that it may complete a comprehensive financial reorganisation to achieve a more balanced and sustainable capital…

SPOTlight

Time to steward the trust and reign in compliance

Henley Business School ‘EU sues AstraZeneca over vaccine delivery delays’ ran a recent BBC News headline, after the company allegedly failed to fulfil its contractual obligations to Europe. Yet comment from within the Brussels bubble was of a blameless AstraZeneca. The firm was simply in the firing line of…

Creating the right conditions for sustainable shareholder and stakeholder value

SuperOrg, Inc. Research and practice show that under the right conditions, many issues and concerns business leaders focus on cease to exist, leading to increases in sustainable shareholder and stakeholder value. The purpose of this article is to share some insights into how businesses can create…



CONTRIBUTORS

Allen & Overy

Argyle PR

Baker Tilly

BDO Canada

Bird & Bird

Cardinal Health

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA)

GRMA

Henley Business School

Herbert Smith Freehills

Hogan Lovells

International Compliance Association

Latham & Watkins LLP

Linklaters LLP

Novartis Pharma Services AG

PwC Ireland

Rahman Ravelli

Royal Philips

Sema

Seward & Kissel LLP

Standard Chartered Bank

Stephenson Harwood LLP

SuperOrg, Inc.

Vinson & Elkins LLP


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