Richard speaks with John O’Neil, the global head of the Investment Funds Group of Kirkland & Ellis. This conversation covers John’s first career as a software programmer, his route into law and his reflections on the growth of the Kirkland practice. The discussion also covers 'Funded', a new Kirkland platform designed to automate the subscription process for investors in private equity funds, and John’s thoughts on the potential for technology to change the way funds are raised in future.
Richard speaks with Sophie Smith and Mike James, who co-head the private funds practice at the London office of Cleary Gottlieb. Sophie joined the team in 2022, and in October was named among Europe’s 25 best up-and-coming private equity lawyers by Law.com International in its Rising Stars 2022 list. In the conversation, Sophie covers the firm’s plans to grow the practice out of London, as well as her thoughts on the London funds market more generally. Sophie and Mike also address the latest trends in the private funds market, including secondaries transactions, and longer-dated and 'evergreen' funds. They also take a look to the future including discussing 'Cleary X', the firm's legal technologies and services platform.
Richard speaks with Jason Glover, who is Managing Partner at the London office of international law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. The conversation covers Jason’s career and route into private equity, including his time in-house at Asian Infrastructure Fund and Duke Street Capital, as well as his reflections on the state of the funds market, the dynamics of negotiations between GPs and LPs, what makes a good funds lawyer, and what the future might hold for the industry and the lawyers who work in it.
Richard speaks with Kem Ihenacho, who is Co-Head of the Private Equity and Investment Funds practice at Latham & Watkins. The conversation covers Kem’s background and career story, his experiences doing deals in Africa, the interaction of the recent focus on ESG and African investment, the challenges that pandemic lockdowns presented for lawyer morale and work/life balance, and how technology might change M&A deal doing in the future.
Richard speaks with Marisa Beeney, who is General Counsel at Blackstone Credit. The conversation covers Marisa’s experiences through that time as the GSO business grew and developed, how her role and responsibilities have changed over time, how the Blackstone legal and compliance team is organized, the impact of regulatory change, Blackstone’s utilization of more retail-focused structures, dealing with conflicts of interests, and “BX TV”, a pandemic-inspired internal communication tool that became the subject of a holiday video starring Reese Witherspoon!
Richard speaks with Leonard Ng, who is the Co-Head of the UK/EU Financial Services Regulatory Group at Sidley Austin. Leonard has received numerous industry accolades, and most recently was selected as one Financial News Europe’s 50 most influential lawyers.
The conversation covers Leonard’s second life as a musician (including the moment he turned down the chance to go on tour with David Gray), a critical look back at the regulation of private markets in the EU and the US since the Global Financial Crisis, a look forward at the forthcoming changes to regulation in the EU, most notably AIFMD II, the impact of Brexit and the future direction of the UK, ESG regulation, and a number of other topics.
Richard speaks with Ranesh Ramanathan, a partner in the Boston office of Kirkland & Ellis and Co-Chair of its Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The conversation covers a range of topics, including remote working, distressed credit markets through the pandemic, how to define “special situations”, the dangers of over-specialization for lawyers, the outlook for ESG, and the ongoing challenges of diversity and inclusion.
With the roll out of COVID-19 booster jabs underway, the issue of vaccination continues to pose difficult questions in the workplace. In this podcast, Carla Benest and Laurie Child discuss the key challenges that employers are facing.
In light of the recent macro economy uncertainties and the impact of the global COVID pandemic, there is an increasing number of reorganisations and restructurings involving sale and purchase of assets by BVI companies.
In this podcast we have examined the things we need to know about the way asset disposals in BVI companies can be managed.
In this episode Mourant explores how an underlying willingness to embrace digital innovation meant that businesses in the offshore IFCs were able to continue servicing clients and work despite lockdown measures being implemented. Importantly, the experiences of 2020 have taught us more lessons than we could have imagined about how we can work and do business now, and in the future.
In our latest blog, Geoff Cook, Jonathan Rigby and Doug Twining explore how, in a post-COVID19 world, we can expect an evolutionary acceleration as technology becomes even more deeply embedded in the delivery of professional services. Mourant has differentiated itself here by fusing legal and technological expertise, accelerating innovation through an 'ideas hub' tool, improving efficiency and effectiveness in internal processes and creating better external engagement to continue to deliver the ultimate client experience. They set out how it's critical that businesses in the IFCs spot the demand for a multidisciplinary approach that brings together bespoke and specialist services, digital accessibility and a fresh and independent perspective in our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world.
We are pleased to share with you the latest in our bitesize Employment Law 'Let's Talk About' podcast series.
As businesses in Jersey return to a semblance of normality, many employers will be forced to confront the impact of the global pandemic on the structure and capacity of their workforce. In this episode, our team takes a fresh look at an employer's duty to collectively consult with employees in Jersey when redundancies are potentially on the cards. Carla Benest leads the discussion with Laurie Child and Katie Phillips.
The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on – and sparked uncertainty in – the global economy. With containment measures, including quarantine and travel restrictions increasingly prevalent, clients with Cayman Islands or British Virgin Islands (BVI) companies have been asking us how to overcome barriers to closing corporate transactions during these disrupted times. The concerns we have faced on closing transactions are largely practical and there are some simple measures which can be taken to address these.
Carla Benest, Laurie Child and Katie Phillips discuss recent Parental Leave and Pay reforms in Jersey in the first episode of our new bitesize 'Let's Talk About' Employment Law podcast series, focusing on enhanced pay options, potential problem areas and emerging trends for employers.
In this short podcast, Geoff Cook and Stephen Alexander from law firm Mourant reflect on the economic shock COVID-19 has prompted, exacerbating the potential for a surge in corporate insolvencies. They ask: how can offshore International Finance Centres (IFCs) play a decisive role in mitigating the COVID-19 insolvency challenge, making a genuinely positive contribution to one of the most significant challenges of modern times.
Our latest podcast in our 'Let's Talk About' series is for Cayman Fund Managers and advisers navigating the new Private Funds Law, 2020 and the Mutual Funds (Amendment) Law, 2020 which came into force in the Cayman Islands on 7 February 2020. These laws introduce new regulation for Cayman Islands private funds and previously unregulated mutual funds respectively. Under the new law, existing funds must register by 7 August 2020.
In this short podcast, Mourant partners, Paul Christopher and Alex Last, discuss what this law covers, the amended definition of a Private Fund and what this means, the registration requirements for new funds, and the position on audit for Private Funds.
In this short recording, Geoff Cook and Ben Robins from law firm Mourant discuss how Real Estate focused Private Equity firms are reacting to the current economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
In this short podcast, Geoff Cook and Ben Robins from Mourant share their expert views about how the Private Equity industry can successfully emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown. They discuss what this means for the global market, and describe how PE firms are reacting to the current economic uncertainty.
The Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI), Richard Smith, sets out how CAACI has successfully ensured business continuity during COVID-19. And Mourant Senior Associate in Hong Kong, Tracey Forbes, and Banking & Finance Partner, Danielle Roman, discuss how CAACI's ability to seamlessly transition to remote working, has also exceeded client expectations.