The Firm Analyst

By Adnan Shafi

This Firm Analyst is a podcast hosted by Adnan Shafi, an incoming Trainee Solicitor at Foot Anstey LLP. The goal of the podcast is to demystify the world of commercial law and help aspiring and curren... more

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FAQs about The Firm Analyst:

How many episodes does The Firm Analyst have?

The podcast currently has 63 episodes available.

The Firm Analyst episodes:

February 05, 2024 S5EP4: An Introduction to International Loan Finance
Welcome everyone to this deep dive episode of The Firm Analyst! In this episode, alongside taking stock of major stories to do with Meta's earnings, Tesla shareholder disputes and central bank ambivalence on interest rates, we took a closer look at syndicated lending. As these are one of the most systemically important markets in the world, we decided to look at the history of syndicated loans as a whole and how they are structured today.

I hope you find this episode useful! All the best with your ACs and other applications.
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55min
January 28, 2024S5EP3: It's the CMA...Again, BlackRock Bets on Infrastructure and What's the 'Beef' Stalling UK-Canada Trade Talks?
Hello everyone! Welcome back to The Firm Analyst. This week, we bring you in-depth analysis on a range of important stories including:
the CMA opening a formal investigation into the Three x Vodafone merger, the fourth 'mega transaction' it has put under the microscope recently;

BlackRock bets on the infrastructure sector by purchasing Global Infrastructure Partners in the hopes of a boom in government projects; and

UK-Canada post-Brexit trade talks stall as Canada presses for UK-access for its hormone-treated beef and pork.
Probably some of the most fun I've had recording a podcast in a while so I hope you enjoy it!
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49min
January 22, 2024S5EP2: Labour–UK Is Open for Business, Consumer Spending Takes A Worrying Decline & Will Incoming Legislation Save Litigation Funding?
Welcome back to this week's episode, I hope all of your applications are going well! Today we discussed:
Labour's plans to take the UK's business offering to a new level as the elections approach;

the government's intention to reverse the effects of the recent Supreme Court judgment in the case of PACCAR, which rendered many litigation funding agreements unenforceable; and

how consumer spending declines are bound to affect different sectors of the UK economy.
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34min
January 14, 2024S5EP1: Linklaters Swipes Shearman's Global Head, Post Office Compensation and Corporation Tax Questions and How International Businesses Manage Unforeseen Risk
It's already been a very busy start to the year across the globe and The Firm Analyst is no exception. This week we delved into the following topics:
Linklaters' raid on Shearman &.
Sterling's M&A team in New York, including the lateral hire of one of their Global Heads;
how the Post Office's computation of compensation paid to wrongfully accused postmasters may lead to tax challenges; and
how businesses allocate contractual risk amidst events such as the Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19 and more.
I hope you find this podcast useful and all the best with your applications and assessment centres!
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43min
December 31, 2023S4EP4:A Year in Review–The Future of Law Firms in The UK
This episode aimed to address some of the main shifts we have seen in the legal market over the course of the year. Some of the biggest stories covered included:
the A&O Shearman merger;

major US firm Paul Weiss' entry into the UK market; and

how firms have coped with the recent transactional downturn.
This marks the last episode of this year! I hope that you have found all of our episodes useful and I look forward to seeing you in the next few weeks God willing.
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39min
December 31, 2023S4EP4: A Year in Review–ESG & Regulation Edition
2023 was indeed a mixed bag for ESG. Some reports indicated a reduced return on ESG investments while there have also been significant strides in integrating ESG within a regulatory framework. This was the main focus of this podcast, where we discussed:
incoming FCA regulations targeting greenwashing and CMA action regarding the same;

COP28 and the UAE setting up a specialised $30 billion ESG fund ; and

how this increased interest in ESG is affecting the lateral hire market.
I hope you enjoy this penultimate episode of the year.
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19min
December 31, 2023S4EP4: A Year in Review–Competition & Corporate Edition
This year has seen some of the most significant M&A transactions, from the merger between Vodafone and Three, to the massive combination of Microsoft and Activision. In that light, we decided to discuss a range of stories spanning across competition, M&A and PE, including:
how PE funds are coping with a higher interest rate environment;

the CMA investigations into the Microsoft x Activision and Adobe x Figma mergers; and

the CMA raising questions about Microsoft's increasingly close relationship with OpenAI.
Enjoy the podcast!
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30min
December 24, 2023S4EP4: A Year in Review–Banking & Finance Edition
As crazy as it sounds, this is the final episode of The Firm Analyst this year. I was joined by Waheed Kalungi, a contracts paralegal at UserTesting Inc. and aspiring Trainee Solicitor. Together, we discussed a range of business stories and how they featured throughout the year.
As a lot has happened in 2023, we decided to split this massive two-hour long episode into a few parts, releasing one every few days. In this part, we discussed some of the biggest banking & finance stories of the year, which included:
the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other major regional US banks;

UBS' merger with Credit Suisse; and

the rise of the mysterious 'private credit' sector.
I hope you enjoy the podcast and have a good winter break!
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48min
December 18, 2023S4EP3: UK Stock Market Revival; London Metal Exchange Faces The Court of Appeal and Whether Safer Banks Means A Weaker Climate
Welcome to the second last episode of this year! I hope you've enjoyed the podcast this far and thank you immensely for helping us reach more than 1,000 views across all episodes.
In this episode, we discussed:
how a possible listing of Boots and SHEIN on the LSE could revive hopes in the UK stock markets;

the London Metal Exchange facing off with major hedge funds in the Court of Appeal in relation to the $3.9 billion in trades it cancelled during a surge in Nickel prices that took place on the exchange last year; and

how a potential increase in capital requirements for US banks may pose a threat to green finance.

I hope you enjoy the episode, see you next week!
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36min
December 10, 2023S4EP2: KPMG UK Swiss Merger, Microsoft v CMA – Round Two & Private Credit Catches BoE's Eye
In this episode of The Firm Analyst, we will be covering a range of exciting new stories including:
discussions of a possible merger between KPMG's UK and Swiss arms;

the CMA asking market participants to comment on the increasingly close partnership between Open AI and Microsoft; and

the Bank of England raising concerns about the vulnerability of the private credit market to an economic downturn.
Be sure to share this episode and I hope that you enjoy it.
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42min

FAQs about The Firm Analyst:

How many episodes does The Firm Analyst have?

The podcast currently has 63 episodes available.