Sky Blog
The UK Government published its highly-anticipated technical guidance on merger review and anti-competitive activity on 13 September 2018 which will apply in the case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit (the ‘Guidance’). Although brief, it provides market players with some form of …
At 11 pm on March 29, 2019, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. In the absence of a material change of trajectory in the Brexit negotiations, it is likely that the investment management industry will find itself grappling …
For the last year, a heated ownership battle has been unfolding between Comcast and 20th Century Fox in their contest to acquire Sky PLC. Sky is Europe’s leading media company and the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK, with …
As the March 29, 2019 deadline approaches, the United Kingdom prepares its withdrawal from the European Union amidst political turbulence that would suit a television drama.[1] Center stage is what to do about the financial services industry. For the …
By adopting a systematic cross-national comparative approach, my recent study provides an overview of corporate governance (CG) around the world. It takes stock of what we know about the two main CG models, the variations within and across these models, …
The Financial Reporting Council on July 16 issued a revised corporate governance code and announced that a revised investor stewardship code will be issued before year-end. The code and related materials are available at www.frc.org.uk.
The revised code contains …
In large part as a response to China’s national industrial goals and subsequent Chinese acquisitions of U.S. and European companies that are technology leaders in key industries, the U.S. government and a number of European governments are seeking to expand …
On May 22, 2018, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing to mark up its draft proposed amendment to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (“FIRRMA”). Initially introduced on November 6, 2017, with strong …
Electronically stored data play a vital role in criminal investigations. The framework for the transfer of such data across national borders continues to be difficult to navigate. Recent legislative developments in the United States and the European Union signal a …
It’s not every day that Italian capitalism can be heralded as a bastion of transparency. But the showdown on May 4 at Telecom Italia’s board meeting between U.S. activist fund Elliott Management and French conglomerate Groupe Bolloré proved to be …
Evidence about the relative importance of private and public enforcement of securities laws for financial markets is inconclusive. The recently introduced Market Abuse Directive (MAD) (2003/6/EC) sets a European Union (EU) standard for regulation of insider dealing and market manipulation. …
Consistent with predictions made in the late 1980s, the buyout market has grown tremendously and, together with the private equity (PE) model, has become a global phenomenon. One consequence of the maturity of the market is substantial secondary management buyout …
The winds of change will shortly sweep across the data privacy landscape in the European Union (“E.U.”) and the gale will be felt worldwide. The European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) will come into force on …
On March 19, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order “Taking Additional Steps to Address the Situation in Venezuela” (“Executive Order”) that prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in dealings in any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token issued by, …
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced proposals to tighten its jurisdiction over mergers in the military, quantum technology and computing hardware industries. The changes, which are subject to a consultation period through April 12, 2018, would lower …
On February 21, 2018, Transparency International (“TI”) released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (“CPI”) for 2017, surveying and ranking perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very …
We investigate Chinese firms’ use of variable interest entities (VIEs) to evade Chinese regulation on foreign ownership and list in the U.S. We find that the use of VIEs for such ends is widespread, growing, and associated with valuation discounts …
Antitrust merger enforcement historically has focused on horizontal mergers — consolidation of two firms that compete directly in the same space. This is especially true in the U.S., where antitrust authorities have challenged few vertical mergers — those of a …