Expect a wave of City bankers suing for bonuses September 9, 2009 AT FIRST glance the news that a group of City workers is suing a bank for refusing to pay out guaranteed bonuses seems to have few wider implications for the Square Mile’s financial institutions. According to a claim filed yesterday, 72 former Dresdner Kleinwort employees are seeking €33m (£29m) they say they were promised as [...]
The dragon that says the financial services industry is losing its fire September 8, 2009 THERE are over 20 photos of James Caan on the walls of his Mayfair office, excluding the three caricatures. One shows him alongside former President George W Bush and Colin Powell while there is also the obligatory snap of him accepting an honorary degree. Another has him pictured with his co-stars in BBC 2’s Dragons’ [...]
IMMIGRATION RULES WILL DAMAGE CITY September 1, 2009 SPEAKER’S CORNEREDWARD WANAMBWAPARTNER AT CM MURRAY LLP SINCE the UK Border Agency introduced its points-based immigration system in late 2008, employment and immigration lawyers have got used to absorbing the almost weekly changes and “fixes”. Last month, further changes were made that are likely to have a significant impact on City employers and affect City [...]
Big Brother in the Square Mile raises legal issues August 11, 2009 THERE is nothing so British as fear of Big Brother. And perhaps, not without reason – the UK has 20 per cent of the world’s CCTV cameras. But the latest fear is being spied on at work. City firms have begun to import state-of-the-art tactics to keep a close eye on employees, and it is [...]
Paulson faces ethics spat over Goldman August 9, 2009 FORMER US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson was in constant contact with former employer Goldman Sachs during the depths of the banking crisis, according to telephone records obtained under freedom of information law. Paulson, who spent 32 years at Goldman, spoke with his successor as chief executive Lloyds Blankfein on two dozen occasions last September, in [...]
The firm that has risen above the Magic Circle August 4, 2009 THE Magic Circle model is in need of a re-engineering.” In light of recent revelations about the impact of the economic downturn on City law firms, that statement might not qualify as controversial. However, it’s noteworthy because it is a view espoused by Nigel Knowles, co-chief executive of DLA Piper, the newly-anointed “biggest law firm [...]
Slowly but surely, signs that the law is opening up July 28, 2009 IQUALIFIED – against all odds – to become a lawyer,” recalled Constance Briscoe, barrister, part-time judge and author of the bestselling misery memoir Ugly. She was talking on Radio 4’s PM programme last week following the report by an all-party panel chaired by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn on social mobility and the professions. “I’ve [...]
Meet the deal-maker extraordinaire who hopes the crisis will end in 2010 July 26, 2009 It is hard to escape the feeling that Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman is ever so slightly bored. Given that he is London’s top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer, and that we are still in the midst of a bitter recession which has led to a dramatic reduction in deal-making, this is not exactly surprising. [...]
Select Committee launches probe into sexist City culture July 22, 2009 THE Treasury Select Committee plans to grill senior business figures over the treatment of women in the City as part of its ongoing investigation into the banking crisis, the government said yesterday. The committee’s new inquiry will look at the proportion of women occupying senior positions in financial services, as well as probing pay inequalities, [...]
The FSA’s enforcement Queen says she will not stop fighting big cases July 21, 2009 IT is never easy to focus on the task at hand when the future of your organisation is in doubt – so even the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) sternest critics should spare a thought for the beleaguered watchdog’s staff, who are all wondering what will happen to them over the next 12 months. But many [...]