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Financial
We have represented a global multinational oil company taxpayer in three important income tax cases. We represented leading tax accountants in appellate litigation over the tax powers of local governments under the Constitution.
We have successfully defended one of Nigeria’s oldest manufacturing groups in a dispute about the impact of value added tax legislation on intra-group transactions, and a hotel in another dispute about taxes at local government level.
We have always been active in representing commercial banks with large portfolios of banker-customer litigation disputes. The cases here have been wide-ranging.
At one end of the range have been routine, traditional banker-customer disputes over credit transactions. At the other end are a recent, novel class action filed against credit card issuers and an attempt to unwind derivatives transactions.
We have advised on disputes over credit transactions with large blocks of tradeable securities as collateral for the credit. In these cases we have represented creditors (both commercial banks and other financial institutions), debtors, issuers, custodians, and security agents and trustees.
We have also worked extensively on business insolvencies. Our clients in these contexts have included both creditors and debtors in situations ranging from workouts negotiated amicably out-of-court to acrimonious court litigation.
We have also represented creditors, shareholders and corporate institutions in disputes over attempts to re-organize the share capital of such institutions by seeking the approval of the courts for schemes of arrangement.
We have advised on cases involving struggles for the control of business enterprises. We have represented sellers, buyers, targets and shareholders in these cases.
The cases have included attempts to unwind a privatization trade sale of an insurer as well as attempts to stop impending takeovers of a bank, an airline company and a telephone company.
On disputes involving from securities offerings, we have been involved in arbitral proceedings, in the courts and before arbitral tribunals. Some of the disputes have had only two parties. One of them has had forty three.
We have represented parties alleged to have violated securities regulations in disputes with the regulators. Our clients in these disputes have included issuers, underwriters, managers of offerings and directors and officers of issuers.
We have also advised a variety of parties to civil claims relating to securities offerings: issuers against subscribers; subscribers against issuers; issuers against managers and underwriters; and managers and underwriters against issuers.
Several of the most topical issues in Nigerian securities law today have arisen in these disputes: what amounts to "false trading" and "market manipulation"; the extent to which issuers can give "financial assistance" to subscribers or repurchase issued securities; and the standard of proficiency required of managers.