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Hedman Partners attorney Urmas Kiik has been elected to the new management board of the Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, the largest international chamber of commerce in Estonia.

According to a Hedman Partners statement, the aim of the Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce is “to help entrepreneurs create contacts with FECC members and other chambers of commerce and influence developments in the Estonian society as a whole.”

According to Hedman Partners, “Kiik has long-term experience in defending the interests of clients in all court instances both in administrative and civil disputes. In addition to court cases [he] has considerable experience in representing clients in labour and rent disputes and public procurement disputes.” He graduated from the University of Tartu Faculty of Law in 1996, and is a member both of the Estonian Bar Association (since 1997) and the  Hunting Association of Karu (since 2000).

Asters has advised FIM Bank on Ukrainian law aspects of trade finance operations, including exportation of grain and metal, establishment of security, issuance of warehouse receipts, performance of FCRs, and storage arrangements at the sea terminal.

FIM Bank is a public limited company registered under the laws of Malta, and listed on the Malta Stock Exchange. The bank, through its joint ventures, has a strategic partnership with the International Finance Corporation and its principal activity is provision of short-term international trade finance to corporate traders and intermediary services to financial institutions for cross-border settlements, forfeiting, and loan syndications.

The Asters team included Partner Oleksiy Demyanenko, Associate Oleh Furmanchuk and Junior Associate Aida Karagezian.

Wolf Theiss has announced that Marcell Nemeth has left his position as Vice President Corporate & Investment Banking at UniCredit Bank Austria to join the Wolf Theiss Banking & Finance team in Vienna as Counsel.

Nemeth specializes in structured finance, including acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, and projects. He is a Hungarian-qualified lawyer as well as an admitted Solicitor in England and Wales. He began his career in London, eventually becoming partner at Allen & Overy in Budapest, before joining Pinsent Mason in London in May, 2009, to head that firm’s European banking practice. He joined UniCredit in 2013. 

Wolf Theiss Managing Partner Erik Steger expressed his pleasure at the firm’s new addition: “Marcell has worked as a global law firm partner and also in in-house-managing-roles and we will see his pragmatic legal advice as a true added value for the firm. We’re very happy to have im on board.” 

Kinstellar has announced a round of new appointments in the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia, including the news that Czech lawyer Kvetoslav Tomas Krejci joined the firm’s Prague office as a Partner in January 2015.

Krejci moved to Kinstellar after spending the last 16 years at White & Case, where he was an equity partner and head of the capital markets practice for the CEE region. According to Kinstellar, “Kvetoslav has been involved in primary issues of securities on both domestic and international debt and equity capital markets and has advised on a number of ground-breaking transactions in the Czech Republic acting for both issuers and managers. He has advised on numerous larger-scale syndicated loans and other types of bank financing, including cross-border acquisition financing and structured finance.” The firm also reports that Krejci has significant experience with the pharmaceutical industry, including advising on regulatory issues, pricing, and reimbursements. At White & Case he was also the head of the European Japanese desk, which provided legal and tax services to Japanese investors in their native language. In addition to his legal practice, Kvetoslav teaches at Charles University, where he earned his legal degree as well as a PhD. He is a member of the Czech Bar Association, the Law Society of England and Wales and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Kinstellar also announced that five of its lawyers in the region have been promoted to Counsel: Romanian Corporate/M&A lawyer Laura Estrade and Litigator Remus Codreanu, Prague-based Corporate/M&A lawyer Jan Juroska and Competition lawyer Tomas Cihula, and Bratislava-based M&A, Private Equity, Real Estate lawyer Viliam Mysicka.

Before joining Kinstellar as Senior Associate in 2011, Estrade was an Associate for six years with Gide Loyrette Nouel Leroy si Asociatii in Bucharest. Her most recent notable clients include E.ON Romania (in connection with restructuring, mergers and joint ventures), Sodexo Romania (on the successful acquisition of a Romanian competitor), and State Grid of China (on the attempted acquisition of Enel assets in Romania). She graduated from the law faculty of Nicolae Titulescu University and is a member of the Romanian Union of Lawyers and of the Bucharest Bar Association. 

Codreanu has experience in advising and representing Romanian and international companies on litigation, arbitration, insolvency, CRSI, media law, employment, public procurement and IP related matters. He has advised and represented local and international clients before all levels of national courts and other jurisdictional bodies in Romania, including in domestic and international arbitration cases and with Romanian prosecution offices and administrative bodies. Before joining Kinstellar as an Associate in 2010, he worked as an independent litigation lawyer and as the Head of the Legal Department of the Romanian Public Television. Remus graduated from the Faculty of Law Bucharest University and completed a PhD with a thesis on IP infringement. He is a member of the Romanian Union of Lawyers and of the Bucharest Bar Association

Juroska in Prague, specializes in corporate work, in particular M&A, private equity, joint ventures and corporate finance. Jan’s experience includes participation in the acquisition of a leading chemical company; advising international financial institutions on a contemplated acquisition of a Czech insurance company and of a key player on the gas energy market (including advice in connection with the refinancing of acquisition debt by a mixture of debt instruments – loans and bonds); advising private equity funds relating to acquisitions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and participation in the acquisition of a leading laboratory diagnostics provider in Slovakia and the Czech Republic with presence in Poland. He graduated from Palacky University and completed his LLM in Chicago. 

Cihula is Head both of Kinstellar’s Prague Competition practice and of the firm’s Life Sciences and Healthcare practice. He studied at Charles University in Prague and at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. Before joining Kinstellar, he worked for Haarmann Hemmelrath in Prague and Munich, spent three years at the Van Bael & Bellis law firm in Brussels, and worked at the European Commission‘s Directorate-General for Competition in Brussels. At Kinstellar, Cihula focuses mainly on competition, state aid, public procurement, European law and life sciences and healthcare regulatory matters. He has advised a large number of multinational clients, including Fujitsu Technology Solutions, Net4Gas, Mid Europa Partners, Dow, Bayer, Siemens, Nexen Tire, Tesco and PPF on a wide range of issues including antitrust legislation, merger control proceedings, and the regulatory aspects of doing business in Emerging Europe. He is a member of the Czech Bar Association. 

Mysicka joined the firm in 2007 after practicing with CMS Cameron and Procter & Gamble. He has experience in M&A, PE/VC, and Real Estate transactions as well as Restructuring & Insolvency and Litigation/Arbitration. He managed and lead the Slovak team in several complex and high profile transactions, including Ballymore Properties on the sale of their riverfront retail, office, Sheraton hotel and residential property Eurovea in Bratislava to one of the partners of J&T group. Clients he has provided M&A advice to include AXA Real Estate on several real estate and corporate projects; Bancroft on several projects including their recent acquisition of TIP Group; Erste Bank (SLSP) on the sale of Danube/Park-Inn Hotel in Bratislava; RWE on the sale of RWE IT Slovakia to FPT Group; SUMITOMO on the disposal of their captive finance business in Slovakia (Summit Finance), and PKP Cargo on their acquisition projects in Slovakia. He continues to advise clients such as Chevrolet & Opel, Inteva Products, P3, ProLogis, S&T, PC Revue, Wood & Company and Washington Penn / Audia Group. Mysicka is a co-founder of pro bono clearing house Advokati Pro Bono in Slovakia established with the Pontis Foundation and supported by the regional start-up incubator RubixLab. He passed the English Solicitor’s exams (QLTT) in 2011. He is also a bankruptcy and restructuring trustee in Slovakia. Currently he studies for a management accountants’ degree with Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).  

Jason Mogg, firm Managing Partner, said of the appointments that: ‘‘All newly appointed individuals each have excellent experience and are well respected professionals in their markets. These developments represent another very positive step in the expansion of our capabilities. We are confident that they will each make a major contribution to the success and development of their offices and to the whole firm’s expansion and growth in the region.” 

Gleiss Lutz and Dvorak Hager & Partners have advised the US-based TRW Automotive, a global supplier for the automotive industry, on the sale of its engine components division (headquartered in Germany) to the Federal Mogul Group. Gleiss Lutz managed the USD 385 million transaction on a global basis, with Dvorak Hager & Partners providing transaction support on the part of the deal involving the Czech Republic — that involving TRW-DAS in Dacice. DLA Piper advised Federal Mogul. The transaction successfully closed in the first week of February this year.

TRW engine components, which is headquartered in Germany, has a global workforce of 65,000 and generated sales of approximately USD 17.5 billion in 2014. Federal Mogul will integrate the new business into its powertrain division.

The Gleiss Lutz team advising TRW was led by Partner Detlef Bauer and lawyers Maximilian von Mangoldt and Felicia Raub, and also included Partners Thomas Winzer and Michael Marquardt, Counsels Philipp Naab and Roland Hartmannsberger, and lawyers Tobias Abend and Michael Betzinger. The DH&P team was led by Partner Veronika Odrobinova, who was supported by Jana Kolarova.

Thomas Starlinger and Christian Mayer have left Fiebinger Polak Leon in Vienna to found their new firm, Starlinger Mayer, where they are joined by Partners Valentina Spatz and Moritz Am Ende.

Starlinger is a well-known Energy law expert in Austria. Following a career as in-house counsel — he was Head of the legal department at OMV Gas and CEO of AGGM Austrian Gas Grid Management, among other positions — he joined FBK in 2007 to lead the firm’s Energy law team. He advises and represents domestic and international clients in matters of Energy law and regulation, and his most recent activities include disputes relating to price revisions and contract adaptions.

Mayer specializes in European and Austrian competition and antitrust law. Returning to Austria after his time as a research associate at the University of St. Gallen’s Institute for European and International Business Law, he first joined Dorda, in 2010, as an associate. He moved to FBK in 2013 to head the firm’s antitrust team. In addition to his practice, he also lectures at the University of St. Gallen.

According to a statement released by the new firm, Starlinger and Mayer “are convinced that a small, committed team can serve the individual needs of our clients best. With our combined experiences from advocacy, judiciary and business life and our strong international focus we want to continue to provide outstanding services to our existing clients, and convince new ones of our expertise.”

Valentina Spatz will be in charge of the real estate and construction law practice at Starlinger Mayer, while also handling private clients and acting as Starlinger Mayer’s general trial lawyer. Prior to joining Starlinger Mayer, Spatz worked as an attorney at a well-known Austrian business law firm, before becoming an independent attorney and director of the Spatz Immobilien real estate company.

Moritz Am Ende is a German attorney. Before his admission to the bar, he headed the cabinet of the President of the EFTA Court in Luxembourg from 2007 to 2012. According to a statement released by the new firm, Am Ende’s ” particular experience in European law and procedure will strengthen the firm’s competence in the areas of EU and EEA law as well as Competition and State aid law.”

The Moscow office of Baker & McKenzie has acted as Russian counsel for Siemens Aktiengesellschaft on the corporate and commercial aspects of its global joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). The announcement from Baker’s Moscow office follows the December announcement by the firm’s Kyiv office that it had acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to Siemens Ukraine on on the deal.

As explained at the time, with the joint venture both partners are forming a globally operating complete provider for plants, products and services for the iron, steel and aluminum industry.

According to the agreement signed in May 2014, MHI will hold a 51-percent and Siemens a 49-percent stake in the joint venture. The joint venture started operations in January 2015. Both partners are contributing their metallurgical industry activities to the joint venture. The new joint venture integrates Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc. — an MHI consolidated group company with equity participation by Hitachi, Ltd. and IHI Corporation. The new joint venture with approximately 9,000 employees will focus fully on business with iron, steel and aluminum-producing industry.

The Moscow Baker & McKenzie team was led by Partner Sergey Krokhalev with key input from Associates Denis Ezhov and Dana Sabayte.

Image source: servickuz / Shutterstock.com

Schoenherr is assisting Heta Asset Resolution (HETA) in its preparation of the first European resolution pursuant to the European framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions on the basis of Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014. This Directive established a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions (BRRD). The BRRD was implemented in Austria by the Austrian Banking Restructuring and Resolution Act (BaSAG), which became effective on January 1, 2015.  

The firm issued a statement providing useful background: On March 1, 2015, “the Austrian Minister of Finance notified the Austrian Financial Market Authority that no further measures in accordance with the Austrian Act on Financial Market Stability (FinStaG) would be taken. Consequently, the resolution authority pursuant to the BaSAG issued a decree on resolution measures with respect to HETA. The decree, which also set out the adopted resolution measures, was published on the website of the resolution authority (http://www.fma.gv.at). The implementation of resolution measures pursuant to the BaSAG enables HETA to realize a structured wind-down of its assets in accordance with the Austrian Act for creation of a wind-down unit (GSA).   

HETA is the successor of former Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International AG and a wind-down entity pursuant to the GSA since October 30, 2014. Schoenherr already advised HETA in the consolidation of the Hypo SEE banking and leasing network in an SEE Holding (now: Hypo Group Alpe Adria AG), which also holds a banking license, as well as in the sale of this SEE network to US-based fund Advent International and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The Schoenherr team advising HETA is led by Partners Wolfgang Holler and Sascha Hodl, and also includes Partners Thomas Kulnigg, Peter Feyl, and Robert Bachner. 

According to Holler, “we have prepared this important step for HETA and assisted, as the first law firm in Europe, a structured resolution pursuant to the European framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions.” 

“After the sale of the South-Eastern European banking and leasing network, HETA can continue to realize the remaining assets on a structured legal basis,” added Hodl.

Voicu & Filipescu has announced that Raluca Mihai will join its partnership ranks as part of its promotions round.

Mihai joined the firm in 2006 as an Associate. In 2011, she was promoted to Senior Associate, and became a Managing Associate in 2012. Her practice focuses on corporate and commercial, public procurement, mergers and acquisitions, employment and litigation, but she also covers competition, energy, customs, and environment related matters.

As part of the same V&F promotions round, Gabriela Badescu was promoted to Managing Associate and Cristina Enaga was promoted to Senior Associate. 

Hogan Lovells has won a judgment in the English Court of Appeal today requiring Sergei Pugachev to disclose further information about a number of discretionary trusts he has been fighting to withhold since their existence was revealed in Court last year.

According to a statement released by Hogan Lovells, “Pugachev has been ordered to disclose information in relation to the discretionary trusts established in New Zealand, in which he disclosed an interest as a discretionary beneficiary as part of his asset disclosure pursuant to a worldwide freezing order granted in July 2014. The required information includes details of the assets held within the trusts as well as copies of the trust deeds. Up until this point, he has refused to provide any further information as regards either the terms of the trusts or the assets held within the trusts.  This is despite the fact that Mr Pugachev is known to live in houses in London owned by the trusts and appears to be dependent on income from the trusts in order to meet every aspect of his day-to-day expenditure.”

Hogan Lovells is acting on behalf of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), the liquidator of Mr Pugachev’s former bank Mezhprombank, which collapsed in 2010 with a deficit of over USD 2 billion. Mezhprombank was formerly one of the largest privately owned commercial banks in Russia.

In the leading judgment, Lord Justice Lewison said that the DIA had “raised issues which call for fuller explanation.” Rejecting Pugachev’s arguments that he should not be required to give further disclosure in relation to the trusts, the Court of Appeal expressed concern that “sophisticated and wily operators should not be able to make themselves immune to the courts’ orders.” Hogan Lovells described the Court’s judgment as, “an important precedent which is likely to have widespread application in other freezing injunction cases.”

The DIA originally commenced proceedings against Pugachev in Russia in December 2013 after he was accused of embezzling over USD 2 billion from Mezhprombank, while allegedly controlling and beneficially owning it.  

Civil proceedings were subsequently initiated against Pugachev in England in July 2014. At the same time, an injunction freezing Mr Pugachev’s worldwide assets up to the value of GBP 1.17 billion, and requiring him to disclose all his assets worth GBP 10,000 or more, was granted by the High Court of Justice on July 11, 2014, in support of the proceedings in Russia.

Separate criminal proceedings are pending against Pugachev in relation to the Bank’s insolvency in Russia, and he is currently the subject of an Interpol “red notice.”  

The Hogan Lovells team includes Partners Michael Roberts and Alexei Dudko and Of Counsel Rebecca Wales.

Image source: rupaper.com