Our Financial Services sector practice is recognised as top tier in Ireland, with The Legal 500 awarding elite rankings to our Banking & Finance, Energy, Fintech, and Insurance practices in its 2024 edition. Reflecting our dominance in this area, we continue to advise on market-leading transactions including the following: A team led by Banking & Energy Partner Muireann Hernon advised Irish solar developer BNRG and asset manager Impax in achieving financial close on the development of a portfolio of solar farms, with a...

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By Jennifer Calvery, Group Head of Financial Crime Risk and Compliance, HSBC Financial crime doesn’t stand still, the tactics used by fraudsters are constantly changing, it’s a never-ending battle. At HSBC, we check about 1.2 billion transactions for signs of financial crime each month, across 40 million customer accounts – we’re using artificial intelligence (AI) to help us do this. As new financial crime tactics or trends emerge, we teach our AI what to look out for. As a result, we’re...

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Löfvingkliniken AB, founded in 2003, is one of Sweden’s first beauty clinics and has since its establishment been a pioneer in beauty care. The clinic is based in Gothenburg and has established itself as a reference and training clinic in both aesthetic and medical botox treatment. Löfvingkliniken offers a wide range of treatments, including fillers, volumizing and skin revitalizing injection treatments and medical skin therapy. The minority shareholders are now acquiring all shares from the majority shareholder to further develop the...

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In this week’s Roar: U.S. ports are lagging, congestion in China, Houthi attacks on the decline, details on the potential Canadian strike, and the need for better market intelligence. The latest Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) highlights the current dominance of East and Southeast Asian ports in the ranking of worldwide container ports — ranks are based on the amount of time ships spend in port. China’s Yangshan Port tops the ranking for the second consecutive year, while, in contrast, American...

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Welcome to the Stephenson Harwood Data Protection update, covering the key developments in data and AI laws from May 2024. This month the EU AI Act was adopted by the EU Council and the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (the "DPDI Bill") fell in the Parliament wash-up period ahead of the UK General Election. In AI news, Max Schrems' data privacy group noyb filed a complaint to the Austrian Data Protection Authority ("DPA") regarding ChatGPT's "hallucinations", the AI Seoul Summit...

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What to expect from the European Parliament election With the elections beginning this week, there are EU election projections surfacing. Below Vulcan’s team has analysed what is expected from the upcoming results.  Although there is an anticipated far-right surge, a centrist majority comprising of the centre-right, liberals, and socialists still prevails. The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) is expected to take first place with 182 seats, followed by the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) with 136 seats. Along with Renew Europe (81 seats),...

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Overview: The dollar is mostly softer today, ahead of tomorrow's employment report. The ECB meeting and President Lagarde's press conference are main events today. There is little doubt that it will cut rates today and do so ahead of the Federal Reserve for the first time. The ECB's forward guidance may be the key to the market's reaction. That said, the euro is in the upper end of its recent range, near $1.09. The Mexican peso, which was crushed at...

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Cilcare, a leading biotech company specializing in auditory sciences, is pleased to announce a landmark agreement with Shionogi, an impact-driven pharmaceutical company. This exclusive option agreement grants Shionogi the right to license global rights to CIL001 and/or CIL003, two promising drug candidates aimed at treating hearing disorders, with a particular focus on addressing the increasing prevalence of hidden hearing loss and tinnitus. Under the terms of the agreement: Shionogi will receive an exclusive option to license global rights to CIL001...

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Mannheimer Swartling has acquired the majority of the assets in Troublemaker AB. Troublemaker, founded in 2023 by William Wigström and Emil Wårdh, has developed the AI platform Trubl, which many analysts consider to be the absolute best AI tool for Swedish law and legal investigations. In connection with the acquisition, Mannheimer Swartling is also hiring Troublemaker’s co-founder, William Wigström, as AI Counsel in the firm’s Innovation Department. William will be responsible for the continued development of both Trubl and the...

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Eurozone inflation surged in May, exceeding expectations with a year-over-year rise of 2.6%. Core inflation also increased to 2.9%, driven by positive energy inflation and a service sector rebound. These inflation figures have cast doubt on the European Central Bank's (ECB) plans for a rate cut in June. While some ECB policymakers still favor the cut, they may need to reassess if inflationary pressures persist. Market reactions were mixed, with slight increases in bond yields and a modest rise in the euro...

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