The Week at Ropes & Gray: Altice Europe Sells Stake of Telecom Tower Business; Analysis of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions; Blockchain Patent Considerations; Turbulent Year for U.S. Sanctions; GDPR Challenges; Our Highest-Ever Ranking on AmLaw’s Pro Bono Scorecard; New Private Investment Funds Counsel in Hong Kong

Weekly highlights of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

• Altice Europe, a Netherlands-based multinational telecommunications company, announced that it will sell its tower businesses in France and Portugal for €2.5bn. Ropes & Gray advised Altice Europe on the financing aspects of the transaction.
• This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its two last decisions of the term. Our attorneys authored alerts examining recent decisions in two of the court’s closely-watched cases: Ohio v. American Express Co. and South Dakota v. Wayfair et al.
• Few superlatives could aptly describe the magnitude of changes to U.S. sanctions over the first six months of 2018. In this alert, our international risk attorneys examine the policy and regulatory developments in connection to Russia, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea, as well as recent enforcement actions.
• The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective May 25, 2018, poses compliance challenges for some longstanding admissions practices of U.S. universities that accept applications from students located in Europe. This article, co-authored by Ropes & Gray attorneys, discusses the potential consequences of the GDPR for the collection of information about applicants’ racial and ethnic background and criminal conviction history.
• In its annual “2018 Pro Bono Scorecard,” The American Lawyer ranked Ropes & Gray eighth, the firm’s highest-ever ranking. The recognition underscores Ropes & Gray’s dedication to public service, a hallmark of Ropes & Gray, rooted in the example set by our founders more than a century and a half ago.
• Ropes & Gray welcomes back Chune Loong Lum as counsel in the firm’s private investment funds practice in Hong Kong. Mr. Lum represents Asia- and China-focused fund sponsors in the formation, structuring and operation of private equity funds, as well as sovereign investors and institutional investors in their fund commitments and transactions.
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