October 23, 2020
In this podcast, Dominic von Wulffen, partner in our Funds & Asset Management Group, speaks with Steve Pringle, Director of EMEA at GRESB. They discuss how GRESB validates the quality and accuracy of ESG data that managers and investors report as well as other issues including:
- The key elements of measuring ESG performance;
- GRESB’s approach to reporting and benchmarking against the EU's action plan for sustainable growth and the forthcoming EU regulations; and
- ESG assessments and benchmarking to create change in the "real world".
October 21, 2020
In the latest installment of Billy Jacobson’s podcast series, Anti-corruption conversations, Billy and Bruce Yannett take an inside look at the landmark Siemens FCPA case. Billy worked on the case while at the DOJ and Bruce led the Siemens internal investigation into the corruption scandal that resulted in the first case brought concurrently by the U.S. and another country’s regulator. The discussion reveals how German and U.S. prosecutors eventually came to trust and rely on the findings of Siemens’s own internal investigation, which was extremely rare at the time, in reaching their own conclusions about Siemens.
October 19, 2020
This is the first episode of what will be a regular podcast – In Credit – where the A&O team cover recent trends and updates in Consumer Credit and Retail.
In this podcast financial services regulatory lawyers Jo Owens, Victoria Ferres and Sophie Skeet will discuss the FCA’s finalised guidance published on 14 September relating to branch and ATM closures or conversions. In particular:
- an overview of the finalised guidance and key points for consideration
- expectations on and actions required by firms
- where the guidance does and does not apply.
For more information on this or any related topics, please get in touch with the speakers, or your usual A&O contact.
October 13, 2020
In this podcast our team of A&O experts cover the key issues company secretaries and their teams need to think about when preparing for their next AGM and Annual Report including:
- best practice for AGMs in 2021;
- virtual and hybrid meetings;
- updates to articles of association;
- reporting on the year of the pandemic;
- diversity, including the Parker Review;
- executive remuneration and remuneration reports; and
- environmental reporting and climate change.
To find out more about the support we can provide for AGMs and Annual Reports and details of some of our key value-added services please download our brochure.
September 30, 2020
In the first installment of a new podcast series about self-driving vehicle, New York partner Paul Keller is joined by Sharad Agarwal, Senior VP at EasyMile, to discuss how that company is tackling the under 30 mph market, a market it believes provides one of the best growth opportunities in this revolutionary space. They also cover the impact the pandemic is having on EasyMile specifically and the industry generally, and conclude with thoughts that the questions over the autonomous vehicle world should focus on when, not if.
September 11, 2020
Episode Two
The second episode of Trust Us, a podcast hosted by Allen & Overy’s APAC Corporate Trust and Agency team, focuses on our virtual world. Tim Beech along with Holly Hart and Regina Lui discuss the following:
- Virtual bondholders’ meetings. Is this possible under the terms of a Trust Deed and, if so, what does it entail?
- E-signatures. Are e-signatures valid and what are some best practice considerations for Trustees and Agents?
The Trust Us series presents succinct overviews of hot topics for Trustees in the APAC market and these podcasts are based on webinars hosted for clients.
September 1, 2020
Episode One
This is the first in a series of podcasts hosted by Allen & Overy’s Corporate Trust and Agency team and based on webinars organised for our clients. The Trust Us series provides succinct overviews of hot topics for trustees in the APAC market. In this episode, Holly Hart is joined by Katherine Signy and Tim Beech, head of our APAC Corporate Trust and Agency team, who discuss the following:
- Defaults in APAC: an overview of current trends in bond defaults, including key takeaways for trustees; and
- Stand By Letters of Credit: the increasing role of these products as credit enhancement in the market, and the sticking points for trustees in negotiating and enforcing such instruments.
![Administrator for PUFG rejects keepwell arrangement claims: What does this mean for offshore creditors with keepwell deeds?]()
August 31, 2020
The bankruptcy administrator of Peking University Founder Group Company Limited (PUFG) has decided (the Decision) to reject claims submitted by the Trustee under the keepwell deeds and deeds of equity interest purchase undertaking provided by PUFG in support of five series of bonds issued by its subsidiaries. This is the first time a bankruptcy administrator in the mainland of the People's Republic of China (the Mainland) has decided on issues relating to the validity and enforceability of keepwell arrangements.
In this podcast, banking partner Cindy Lo, speaks with Agnes Tsang, who has extensive experience in advising issuers and underwriters on debt capital markets transactions, along with Tim Beech, head of our APAC Corporate Trust & Agency team, and Viola Jing from our APAC restructuring & recovery group. They discuss the implications of this significant decision and enforcement options for offshore creditors who find themselves in similar situations. The podcast covers the following issues:
- The emergence of keepwell structures and their use by Chinese companies
- A closer look at the PUFG matter based on publicly available information
- Implications for offshore investors in bonds that benefit from keepwell deeds provided by onshore Chinese parent companies
- Possible enforcement options available to offshore creditors
- A closer look at the CEFC Shanghai International Group Limited (CEFC) case and how the decision currently being considered by the Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court could affect the enforcement of keepwell structures. arlier this year, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance issued a decision on recognition of appointment of administrators of CEFC in the Mainland. This is the first application in Hong Kong made by Mainland administrators for recognition of their appointment and judicial assistance at common law.
![Good faith – what does this mean for me?]()
August 24, 2020
The issue of good faith in commercial contracts is an area in which the English courts have been very active recently. The concept of relational contracts is now part of English law and what we have seen is the English courts further defining this concept. Additionally, we are seeing judges seeking both to expand the application of this doctrine and implying duties of good faith into commercial contracts but also other judges pushing back to limit the application of implied duties of good faith into such contracts. This is a dynamic concept and is not going to go away.
In this episode, litigation counsel Helen Biggin, litigation consultant Peter Watson and structured asset finance senior associate Chris Mitchell discuss why businesses should be concerned to know whether or not their contractual rights are inhibited by concepts of good faith. What is a relational contract? Is the duty of good faith now automatically applied to carefully negotiated contracts? And if it is, how does the good faith duty impact the relationship between contract parties?
August 24, 2020
Billy Jacobson speaks with Hong Kong partner Eugene Chen and Sydney partner Jason Gray about how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted anti-bribery and corruption ( "ABC") compliance and enforcement activities in Asia and Australia. Billy, Eugene and Jason discuss the increased risks of corruption, how compliance efforts have been impacted by travel restrictions and the improvements made in ABC legislation in recent years in a number of countries.
