On 23 September, the new U.K. Government conducted the emergency fiscal event it had scheduled when taking power at the beginning of the month. Many of the tax measures had been trailed in the interim, largely cancellations of previously announced rate increases. There were additional surprise announcements made during the speech by Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, including the abolition of the top 45% rate of personal income tax. The package, implementing the sharpest U.K. tax cuts in 50 years, was presented as a growth plan to target a trend rate of 2.5% medium term growth.

It has been quite a bracing time since then, as noted below.

Shearman & Sterling advised the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the $225 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of San Diego to support its Stormwater Capital Improvement Program.

Partners Katherine Stoller (New York -Litigation) and Thomas Donegan (London - FIA & FR), associates Jacob Fields (Austin -Litigation)  and Alicia Rose (New York -Litigation) and Professional Support Lawyer Chloe Barrowman (London - FIA & FR)  authored the article “Navigating the regulatory web of Russia sanctions” for The Banker.

Shearman & Sterling received 117 recognitions in the 2023 edition of Legalease’s The Legal 500 United Kingdom, including 20 practice rankings and 62 individuals earned a total of 97 individual recognitions.

Shearman & Sterling advised Bpifrance, alongside Tikehau Capital and Tikehau Ace Capital, on its investment in ChapsVision, a French data platform provider. This fundraising of more than €100 million will enable to finance the acquisition by ChapsVision of Deveryware, a leader in investigative technologies and services for global security. 

Global law firm Shearman & Sterling today announces the appointment of Patrick Hein as a partner in its Litigation practice, based in San Francisco.

Alexander Wood has been featured in GRR’s article, “Strong US dollar could lead to increase in restructurings, lawyers say after pound hits record low.” The article presents the opinions of a number of leading individuals in the restructuring market as they consider the impacts of the UK government’s adoption of a tax cutting budget.

In January 2022, the Law Commission of England & Wales launched a review of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) as part of its 14th programme of law reform. We shared our initial thoughts on the Commission’s review earlier this year. On 22 September 2022, the Commission published a detailed consultation paper and a shorter summary of that paper, inviting comments from the public. In this post, we look at the key highlights and proposals in the consultation paper.

On September 17, 2022, both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs, Inc. (with its Executive Chairman and CEO) filed motions for summary judgment in the SEC’s suit alleging that Defendants sold billions of units of a virtual currency called XRP, which in the SEC’s view should be considered a “digital asset security.” According to the SEC’s Complaint, the sale of XRP would constitute an unregistered sale of securities in violation of the registration and disclosure requirements of federal securities laws.

This isn’t the first time—and it certainly won’t be the last—that private equity firms are bracing for an economic downturn. Although private equity firms usually earn their best returns after a recession, only the most strategic private equity firms get through a downturn successfully. While the U.S. is not quite in a recession (technically), private equity investors and their portfolio companies are dealing with persistent inflation, interest rate hikes, talent shortages, supply chain issues and continued geopolitical tensions. It’s safe to say the U.S. is teetering on the edge of a recession and experiencing softer market conditions, at the very least.