Skip to main content

Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

News and awards

Clifford Chance holds its sixth annual CEE/SEE finance conference in Vienna

11 September 2014

Clifford Chance holds its sixth annual CEE/SEE finance conference in Vienna

For the sixth year running, Clifford Chance welcomed representatives from banks, financial institutions, investors and corporate clients to its annual CEE/SEE finance conference in Vienna.

The event, which took place at the Palais Hansen Kempinski hotel, was attended by about 100 professionals and featured two panel discussions from a pan-regional delegation of senior specialists drawn from eight Clifford Chance offices. The panels covered on topics of business importance for invited guests; an evening reception followed.

As well as providing market updates on several jurisdictions within the region and highlighting the industry sectors that currently present the best opportunity for investment, panellists provided a unique insight into the current status and perception of the Russian and Ukrainian markets following the imposition of further sanctions in the region.

Loren Richards (Frankfurt) opened the evening and chaired the first panel, which focused on selected developments in or affecting the region, ranging from the Single Supervisory Mechanism, developments in restructuring and legal regimes, privatisations and capital markets. It and included Grzegorz Abram (Warsaw), Erkan Ayaz (Istanbul), Marc Benzler (Frankfurt), Jindřich Arabasz (Prague), Miroslava Obdržálková (Prague, Slovak desk) and Andreea Sisman (Bucharest).

The second panel, chaired by Alistair McGillivray (London), focused on the latest sanctions targeting Russia and the impact those sanctions are having on the loan and derivate market specifically and on investor and market confidence generally. It included Vladimir Barbolin (Moscow), Adam Fadian (Moscow), Matthew Grigg (London) and Jared Grubb (Kyiv).

George Hacket (Frankfurt) wrapped up the panel sessions, reiterating the Firm's commitment to the region and our clients that are active there.

The lively reception following the conference allowed our guests, panellists and other Clifford Chance attendees the opportunity to network and engage on topics of interest across the whole region. Client feedback particularly praised the combined impact of the high quality of the panels and the depth of coverage we brought together.

The format clearly demonstrates the Firm's ability and commitment to work across offices and practice areas, deploying the global expertise of the Firm where this furthers the interests of our clients. The event is firmly established within the calendars of clients operating in the region and has become an important regional gathering.