Asset Servicing Times’ Post

What are the financial challenges for local states amidst geopolitical and economic crises? Read this #OpenAccess paper by Callum Ward, Frances Brill, Laura Deruytter and Andy Pike with insights on urban austerity, state restructuring and fiscal geographies: https://lnkd.in/eiTQV5cn #austerity #localstate #municipalfinance #financialisation

Votes of Norfolk Southern shareholders were tallied yesterday morning, rejecting in large part the putsch by Ancora Holdings Group to replace NS management and seat a majority of the NS board. Three board members advanced by Ancora were elected, all with strong railroad backgrounds, displacing the Board's current independent chair. I also want to highlight two very good pieces in the rail press about yesterday's results. William C. Vantuono's excellent reporting in Railway Age has lots of juicy deets, along with this trenchant observation by Yale University's Jeff Sonnenfeld that the three board seats could have been achieved by accepting an earlier NS settlement offer. Further he notes, "The proxy fight cost tens of millions on Ancora’s side alone, not to mention tens of millions on Norfolk Southern’s side—funds that could have better gone toward the East Palestine community, the railroad’s workforce, or improving Norfolk Southern’s efficiency.” Bill Stephens has a typically excellent report in Trains Magazine, including some short-sidedly petulant comments by Ancora's James Chadwick at yesterday's meeting, criticizing "passive" institutional investors not on board with the Ancora moves. “For the passive investors: If anything should go wrong here and there’s another derailment and people die, this is on you,” he said.  “You ignored the recommendation of the proxy advisors, the unions, the largest customer of the company. You gave us literally no support and we still won three board seats without you. What happens to Norfolk Southern now is on your firms and your conscience.” I'm waiting for the final report this summer from the National Transportation Safety Board on the East Palestine incident to learn how much of the crash and its aftermath is linked to NS decisions, even as NS has paid a substantial price already for actions of others (private car owners and incident response command). In the meantime, all Class I railroads face the same inhospitable near-term economic environment as the freight industry as a whole even while burdened with a rail-specific regulatory regime that increases costs, decreases high revenue commodities, and advantages trucking competition. #freight #railroads #investors #governance

What’s special about the Trust industry in the Cayman Islands?   Peter Goddard shares his thoughts on the sophistication of the professional support network, and why it’s vital to the industry.   #TrustCompanyCayman #CaymanIslands #IndustryInsights

On the eve of the biggest M&A event in the North (NW Dealmakers Awards). It feels like a great time to be talking about M&A in 2025 and to hear the market's predictions. This and much much more will be featured within the December issue of NWBI. 📌 M&A in 2025 📌 Budget - What It Means For Business 📌 Scale Up 100 Report 📌 NW Family Business 100 Report 📌 Annual Housing Report 📌 Property Deals Reviews Simon Keegan Robyn Hewson Miri Thomas Remy Greasley Andy Rogers Adrian Simcox Avril Walsh

MNP is pleased to announce that it will join forces with the Vancouver, British Columbia-based professional services firm, Farmanara & Rezai CPA LLP (“Farmanara & Rezai”), effective February 1, 2025. https://shr.link/e7mdr

#SPBRestructuring set out key considerations when dealing with an extension of an administration at the end of the first-year anniversary, including whether any/all of the secured creditors have been paid in full since the start of the administration.

WP or Not WP- that is the question! Last week judgement was handed down in West v Churchill & Anor [2024] EWHC 940 (Ch) (26 April 2024)- a dispute arising on the death of a relative concerning the ownership of land. The parties entered negotiations and proposals relating to the dispute, but no binding agreement was reached. The claimant issued proceedings seeking a declaration as to ownership. The defendant put in a defence and counterclaim which referred to without prejudice discussions that had taken place between the parties. The claimant applied, successfully, to strike out the defence and counterclaim on the grounds that it was an abuse of process to refer to without prejudice communications. As expected, there was a detailed examination of the without prejudice rule which considered the following cases: Rush & Tomkins Ltd v Greater London Council [1989] 1 AC 1280 (which cited the earlier Cutts v Head [1984] Ch 290) Muller v Linsley & Mortimer [1996] PNLR 74 Hodgkinson & Corby Ltd v Wards Mobility Services Ltd [1997] F.S.R. 178, 191 Unilever Plc v The Proctor & Gamble Co [2000] 1 WLR 2436 Ofulue v Bossert [2009] UKHL 16, [2010] 1 FLR 475 Oceanbulk Shipping and Trading SA v TMT Asia Ltd [2010] UKSC 44, [2011] 1 AC 662 also worth reading Ocean on Land Technology (UK) Ltd v Land [2024] EWHC 396 (IPEC). https://lnkd.in/e6DwSpD4 #litigation #tolata #estates #land #property #disputes #adr

Brooks Macdonald lose UK distribution head to Ascot Lloyd. Ascot Lloyd has poached Brooks Macdonald’s Gary Stirrup to become its chief commercial officer. Check out Linus Uhlig's latest article 👇 https://incm.pub/3VkznaE #investing #assetmanagement #wealthmanagement #finance

Association leaders should be aware of related party transactions, where individuals or entities closely connected with the organization engage in financial dealings. Transparency in such transactions is key to maintain trust. How does your association ensure transparency in related party transactions? 🤝 #AssociationTransparency #FinancialDealings #RelatedPartyTransactions #AssociationLeadership #VoiceOfGSF #GlobalSpeakers #globalspeakersfederation #gsf #associationleaders #speakersassociation #speakersassociation #speakersunite