By Daniel Hayek, Chantal Joris Switzerland’s GDP rose by 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017. Positive impulses on the production side came from various sectors, namely the manufacturing industry, the construction industry and most service industries, including financial services. GDP growth was hampered by foreign trade in goods and services, with exports in […]

This paper examines the legal qualification of Smart Contracts under Swiss law and gives an over-view over how Smart Contracts may interact with the fundamental rules of contract law. Furthermore, on the basis of this examination the need for legislative action with respect to Smart Contracts will be assessed. It is concluded that the potential applications of Smart Contracts on the […]

By Adheesh Nargolkar, Janaksinh Jhala Recently, the Delhi High Court, in the matter of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V (Plaintiff) v Rajesh Bansal and Ors (Defendants), after duly conducting and concluding a trial in the suit decreed the suit vide order dated 12 July 2018 in favour of the Plaintiff for infringement of its standard essential patent […]

By Ajay Bhargava, Arvind Kumar Ray, Karan Gupta Recently in the case of Standard Chartered Bank v. Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, the Appellate Tribunal, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, New Delhi has clarified the anomaly regarding the right of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to attach assets, which have previously been mortgaged to banks, by way […]

It has been a long-established principle of UK tax law that a Guernsey company, as any other non-UK company, will be treated as being UK tax resident for a particular financial year if the “central management and control” (CMC) of that company is exercised within the UK during that financial year. Whether CMC of a […]

In an effort to boost internal efficiency and operations, Clifford Chance has adopted a new transaction management platform to ensure deals are closed in a more organised and secure way. Workshare Transact allows lawyers to manage transactions in any kind of deal through an online platform hosting a controlled central checklist. It replaces processes such […]

Clifford Chance corporate finance partner Alex Erasmus is to join a blockchain software company later this year as its new chief legal officer. London-based Erasmus will join the executive committee of Block.one in Hong Kong. Block.one is the software publisher behind open-source blockchain protocol EOSIO, which was launched in June 2018 and provides secure and […]

Clifford Chance has appointed two new heads of its UK corporate practice to replace Mark Poulton. The corporate practice will now be co-headed by Melissa Fogarty, who specialises in corporate advisory and M&A matters, and Nigel Wellings, a private equity specialist. Wellings was previously head of corporate for two years in the Middle East, where he […]

Orrick’s City office has offered partnership to two private equity lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy to bolster the firm’s efforts in this area. James Connor and Daniel Wayte join from Simpson Thacher and Milbank respectively, and have been brought in to add bench-strength to Orrick’s London private equity practice and add […]

DWF has released its financial results for the 2017/18 financial year with the firm posting an 18 per cent increase in turnover taking it from £199m to £236m. The firm also said that average profit per equity partner at the firm had increased last year, though it declined to publish what that figure had reached. […]

The family-owned business suing Addleshaw Goddard‘s Scottish arm has accused the firm of a breach of duty by allowing itself to fall under the “informal control” of Barclays during an insolvency process, documents seen by The Lawyer reveal. When Arthur Holgate & Son (AH&S) entered into insolvency in 2012, Deloitte turned to Addleshaws’ Scottish arm HBJ Gateley for […]

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Linklaters have advised on the simplification of Unilever corporate structure, in which its Dutch and UK entities have been merged to create one listed holding company. As a result, Unilever’s UK business will join with the Dutch entity to create New Unilever NV. The company will be listed in three jurisdictions; […]

Clyde & Co has kept on 39 of its 46 qualifying trainees this autumn, equating to 85 per cent. The firm held on to 30 trainees in London, as well as three in Manchester, two in Guildford and one in Newcastle. Three further trainees will qualify into the firm’s San Francisco, Singapore and Hong Kong […]