Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has launched its global regulation and investigations practice to assist businesses around the world in navigating regulatory issues.

The regulatory issues were cited by global companies as their number one business challenge in 2013, according to new survey data from Acritas, a legal market research specialist.

The practice, led by Martin Coleman and Lista M Cannon, will bring together over 600 lawyers from around the world.

The practice areas will include antitrust and competition, led by Coleman; financial services regulation, led by Jonathan Herbst; investigations (including anti-bribery and corruption, and international trade and sanctions), led by Cannon; and tax, led by Andrius Kontrimas.

As part of the launch, experienced lawyers will engage with businesses globally throughout this year to debate key issues in the identification and management of regulatory risk and related enforcement.

A programme of events, including seminars with key decision makers, client meetings, and internal briefings to share knowledge on regulation and investigation issues, will take place in key financial centres in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Coleman, global co-head of regulation and investigations, said: “The global financial crisis led to a fundamental readjustment in the relationship between governments and businesses around the world.”

“On the one hand, the crisis legitimised unprecedented levels of intervention. On the other hand, budgetary pressures have led to increased public-private engagement, particularly in areas such as infrastructure and public service delivery,” he said.

“The overall impact is that there is simply much greater government interest in business activity and higher risk of intervention. It is therefore crucial for businesses to have a structured and well considered approach.”

The Acritas findings confirmed that several years of data from Norton Rose Fulbright’s own annual Litigation Trends Survey showed that year-on-year since 2008, companies have increasingly required external counsel for assistance on regulatory investigations and that regulatory disputes have consistently been a major concern. - TradeArabia News Service