Clifford Chance senior partner Stuart Popham is the law firm representative on British prime minister David Cameron's India delegation this week, representing the UK legal and financial professional services community as head of a new trade body.
Popham (pictured) will accompany Cameron, chancellor George Osborne and a delegation including more than 50 UK chief executives and 40 other representatives from various sectors on the mission that aims to strengthen ties and broker deals between the UK and India.
The delegation is expected to land in India tomorrow (Tuesday, 27 July) and will visit Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.
Popham, who was also the sole legal industry representative on previous Labour prime minister Gordon Brown's 2008 visit to India and China, is joining the mission in his capacity as senior partner of Clifford Chance and as chair of TheCityUK, according to a source familiar with the visit.
TheCityUK is a newly formed and "politically neutral" body to promote the "financial and professional services sectors" in overseas markets, according to the body's website.
It partly exists to support the sectors in "regulation and market access negotiations" by "providing a voice […] and working to improve access to overseas markets for UK firms", its website stated.
Popham is the chair of TheCityUK's board of directors, which also includes a large number of directors and representatives of various banks, insurers and other financial institutions. Linklaters senior partner David Cheyne is on the body's advisory council.
Popham declined to comment.
The mission also includes KPMG chairman John Griffith Jones, according to the UK newspaper Daily Telegraph.
The main thrust of the visit will focus on selling 57 Hawk Jet trainers to India in a £500m deal, said the Economic Times.
Clifford Chance's Popham heads UK govt India mission for lawyers and 'market access negotiations'
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[Correction, it appears there was a typo in the original Economic Times story that cited the value of that deal as £1m, when another figure cited up to £500m -Ed]
No doubt the SILF members condemning the "British lobby" in the liberalisation debate will be the first to beg ministers and officials to appoint them as legal advisers in this big defence deal.
www.hindustantimes.com/Govt-interest-in-foreign-law-firms-upsets-lawyers/Article1-577249.aspx
SILF please tell us what exactly your problem is.
At this very point, the place will be inundated with laughter from the sycophants from both contingents. And it will be at this point that Mr. [...] will wet himself laughing, much to the delight of the CEO of Pampers.
I would like to warn the owner of this website that we will contemplate legal action if defamatory remarks against our organisation are not censored.
India's economy on track to grow 8.5% this year. Great. More demand for legal services. Lot more work for Indian firms.
But Mr Popham, alas, you are not invited for the feast.
The last time we let you in, on the pretext of trade and markets, the East India Company ruled and ravaged us for 300 years. Never again.
That's it. 57 aircraft for a nominal price. So this is the bribe the UK govt is willing to pay so that we let their law firms enter our market.
This is a bloody disgrace. Shame on Cameron and Co.
Opposition should bring a motion in Parliament - this is how the sovereignty and economic interests of India are being bartered away for a song.
@14: You really are a dolt!! They are not selling the aircrafts for 1 mn. That's a bloody typo. The real price is 1 billion.
And FYI although LI and Kian are anti-liberalisation many articles in the Indian press have supported liberalisation. see today's express
www.financialexpress.com/news/Why-foreign-legal-firms-should-set-up-shop-in-India/652002/
Also all of our so called home grown billionaires have used foreign technology to grow their business, be it telecom or generic pharma. So why should the legal industry not be able to use the extensive knowledge and skills developed over 100 years in UK and grow their own businesses? Do you really think foreign lawyers can live in India and practice (or do they really want to?). I am sorry to say that but having worked in India and overseas law firms, there is a huge difference in the way this sector is organised. I dont mean to look down or anything like that but as an Indian lawyer, it would be the happiest day in my professional life when I would feel that Indian law firms are equal in merit to the best in the world. Believe me I feel immensly proud when Bharti is considered an equal to Vodafone or Sprint today.
Lastly a word to those gloating on the growth figures of 8.5% etc. These things really do not have a connection to real world of law firms. Simply compare the total GDP of UK and see what 1.5% means in comparison to 8.5% of India's GDP. Also then divide these numbers by the population and then add risks of doing business (naxalism, terrorist strikes, corruption etc) and then see which economy is really the stronger and safer bet for global businesses. Of course India is on the right track but sadly far away from the day when it becomes a developed economy with health and education and safe lifestyles and a responsive government for all. Please dont confuse an expanding middle class market as a sure sign of having trumped all other developed economies.
Remember what happened to the prominent accountancy firms like SB Billimoria, AF Ferguson, Bharat S Raut etc? Swallowed by the Big 4. Also, remember Arthur Andersen was an illustrious fifth member of this coterie – till it was caught perverting the course of justice. And who cooked Raju’s books? You guessed it: PwC turned a convenient blind eye to the shenanigans going on at Satyam.
And the amount of fees these big four extort for their dubious services (many a time instructed by a helpless govt. departments) have to be seen to be believed.
Pray, let not this misfortune fall on our home-grown law firms – many of whom are desperately paying big bucks to attract and retain talented lawyers. And are rapidly modernising too.
With the economic pie growing ever rapidly, and the number of new, modern law schools being set-up, graduating bright, ambitious lawyers, it’s only a question of time before the family oligarchs are ousted.
"Legal profession is too sacrosanct to be polluted by deep pockets of foreign governments or foreign lawyers. Unlike our foreign counterparts we are not into the business of law."
www.indlawnews.com/newsdisplay.aspx?9336c946-1fbd-401a-8831-97f9a5e75792
Mr Bhasin since SILF members do not see law as a business let them give advice for free?
It is also sad to see that you have not reported on the all-important issue of foreign universities.
You reporting [...] bhasin's statements is like hindu reporting narendra modi's rants !!!
[Thank you - glad that you appreciate what we are trying to do... @25 - literally 5 minutes after you posted your comment we posted up a story on what the delegation did on the legal side, which turned out to be not very much, as expected. -Kian]
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