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The Italian government has sold 44.7% of its stake in Telecom Italia. The US$13 billion deal included a private offering of US$3.1 billion to stable shareholders and an offering of $US10 million in the international and Italian markets, including an SEC registered public offering in the US. Davis, Polk & Wardwell advised Telecom Italia. Partner Patrick Kenadjian led the team from the Frankfurt office. Of counsel Jeffrey Oakes advised on securities and capital markets matters from London.

US firm Covington & Burling and French firm August & Debousy have entered into an exclusive cooperation agreement. The announcement, made in Paris this month, followed the approval of the exclusive referral relationship licence by the French Bar earlier in the year. The arrangement is part of a growing international strategy for the firms. "It was a joint initiative," says Jonathan Blake, partner at Covington & Burling in Washington. "We knew each other previously through working for the same clients. It was the natural outgrowth of personal and professional relationships." Covington & Burling has already had US lawyers working in August & Debousy's Paris office. Covington also has foreign offices in London and Brussels.

Despite confusion created by a speech made to the IBA by a leading Japanese lawyer, it is clear that reforms to the Japanese legal market will not enable international firms to hire Japanese lawyers (bengoshi). Foreign firms in Japan have been lobbying the ministry of justice commission to fully liberalize the legal system, and the decision to continue restrictions on foreign firms in Tokyo has been greeted with disappointment. Toshiro Nishimura, name partner of Nishimura & Partners and member of the ministry of justice commission, caused the confusion when speaking of the advancement of partnerships between Japanese and international firms. However, he has since clarified that he was referring to the decision to relax the rules on joint enterprises. The few firms which work in a joint enterprise will now be able to work on all areas of international law, including litigation. Work on any domestic law is still forbidden. Nishimura claims the reforms will be beneficial to foreign firms. He says: "I expect the number of firms with cooperation pacts to rise, this should be an incentive for firms."

With the globalization of financial services, New York law firms are adapting their approach for a global market. But traditional relationships remain strong. Richard Forster reports

UK firm Lovell White Durrant has hired capital markets specialist Philip Boys from rival UK firm Slaughter and May. Boys will be a partner in Lovell's Paris office. "We have been doing a lot of capital markets work out of Paris for Indosuez and a number of French banks," says David Hudd, partner in the London capital markets group. "Philip will be involved there, where he has a dual qualification [as a solicitor and avocat]." Boys has wide experience of debt and equity work after 12 years as a partner with Slaughter and May. Reaction to Boys's defection reflects Slaughter and May's receding profile in international capital markets work (see IFLRev survey, February 1997 page 19).

Although still often thought of as accounting firms, the big six are increasingly eager to call themselves professional service providers and offer a full range of services. Legal services are the latest part of that trend. Phillippa Cannon reports

In the first of a series of articles drawn from the 1998 edition of the International Financial Law Review 1000 Directory, Paul Lee examines the IFLRev50, the world largest law firms, and their international strategies

BAT Industries is undergoing a £30 billion reconstruction involving the merger of its financial services arm with Zurich Insurance Group. BAT's tobacco business British American Tobacco plc will be listed separately in London and the merged financial services group will be held by a Swiss-registered operating company. BAT shareholders will own 45% of this company through a UK-listed holding company, Allied Zurich, and Zurich shareholders will own 55% through a Swiss-listed holding company.

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.

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."