Search results for

Hanover Re, the German reinsurance company, has bought the international reinsurance operations of Skandia, the Swedish insurance and financial services group. The US$490 million deal will be effective from January 1 1998.

The former UK Association of Compliance Officers has been re-launched in London as the Compliance Institute six days before the new super-regulator is unveiled by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. The Institute has been set up to provide a formal qualification and training package for compliance staff. "Although new legislation and the work of regulatory bodies have helped, financial misconduct and the breach of financial regulations remain rife," says Clive Warburton, president of the Institute. "The Compliance Institute's main purpose is to advance the standards of competence among compliance staff and ultimately to elevate the compliance ethos within regulated businesses."

Japanese restrictions on foreign law firms will remain despite determined international pressure for liberalization. A source within the Ministry of Justice commission has confirmed that the report, to be published next month, will conclude that foreign firms will not be allowed to employ Japanese lawyers (bengoshi). It will be a huge disappointment for international firms in Tokyo at the time Japan is planning its economic liberalization programme, or 'big bang' (see IFLRev September1997, page 27). Reform will be limited to relaxing the rules on the joint venture system, which allows for limited associations between Japanese and foreign law firms. But this is not expected to increase the small number of international firms which have so far developed joint ventures.

White & Case's London office has lost its senior partner to Latham & Watkins's London office. Latham & Watkins has lured Bernard Nelson, a corporate finance specialist, from its US rival. Latham & Watkins moved to London in 1990 and has since concentrated on project finance work. But the development of a capital markets capacity is a natural one. "Latham & Watkins is one of the premier capital markets firms worldwide, but traditionally it has not been so strong in Europe," says Nelson. "Now I hope we will become one of the premier departments in Europe."

A survey of pay rewards for US in-house lawyers reveals an end to the rise and rise of corporate legal salaries. The study was conducted by the management consulting firm Altman Weil Pensa and jointly published with the American Corporate Counsel Association. According to the survey, chief legal officers, the most senior corporate legal executives, suffered a drop of almost 5% in their compensation (salary plus bonus), and recent law school graduates, traditionally the lowest-paid corporates, saw a 10% fall. On average chief legal officers were paid US$286,621 and new graduates US$46,981.

Sixth ECLA conference: in-house counsel steps up campaign on privilege

Nomura International, the Japanese investment bank, has bought 4,000 pubs in a £1.2 billion (US$1.9 billion) purchase from Intreprenneur. Nomura bought the pubs, owned by Grand Metropolitan and Fosters Brewing Group, through the Grand Pub Company.

Travelers Group, the US financial services group, is to pay US$9 billion for Salomon, the holding company for Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers. Salomon is believed to have sought the merger after heavy third-quarter losses. Travelers will merge Salomon into its own domestic brokerage business, Smith Barney.

Decree 2,338 of October 7 1997, published in the official gazette on October 8 1997, implements Law 9,472 of July 16 1997, which created a regulatory agency for the telecoms sector, the National Agency of Telecommunications (ANATEL) and paved the way for the privatization of the operating subsidiaries of the state-owned utility Telebrás.

With the enactment of the Pension Law (No. 1,732) of November 29 1996, the pension and social security systems in Bolivia have been reformed and a Pensions Superintendency created to oversee their implementation.