News

To GDR Or Not To GDR

Dubai, October 29, 2009... Latham & Watkins' Dubai office hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic of Global Depository Receipt (GDR) programs in the Middle East.  The illustrious panel comprised Peter Gotke, Vice President, Bank of New York Mellon; Gretchen Haynes, General Manager, Middle East Investor Relations Society; Richard Webster-Smith, Business Development Manager, India, Pakistan, Middle East and Africa, London Stock Exchange; Oliver Schutzmann, Chief Communications Officer, SHUAA Capital PSC; and Sara Kamal, Senior Manager – New Listings, Business Development, NASDAQ Dubai.  Moderated by Latham & Watkins' corporate partner Andrew Tarbuck, the panelists debated the degree to which GDRs will feature in the next wave of Middle East IPOs and addressed a number of related topics, including: 

• The impact on an issuer's liquidity and valuation through establishing a DR program
• The importance of investor relations in maximizing liquidity and valuation
• How a DR program encourages disclosure, greater transparency and superior governance
• The roles that senior management can and should play in investor relations

“The high level of interest in the event is an indication that the capital markets are returning to the agenda,” said Tarbuck.  “Our distinguished panelists represented all of the stakeholders involved in GDR programs and their insights were very well received, especially when considering the hot topic of transparency and disclosure.”

For information on upcoming Latham & Watkins Middle East seminars please contact Kathryn Tschumper at +971.4.704.6357 or kathryn.tschumper@lw.com.

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys in 27 offices, including Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Brussels, Chicago, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.  For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the Web site at www.lw.com.

Notes to Editors

Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United Kingdom, France and Italy and affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan.

Contact

Andrew Tarbuck, Corporate Partner, +971.4.704.6353