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Sourcing

Offshore Outsourcing

Lawyers in our Global Sourcing Group have extensive experience in projects with an offshoring element.  In particular, our network of offices in China and elsewhere in Asia has enabled us to provide legal and strategic advice on outsourcing risks, issues and process in both the offshore and home jurisdictions.

We have been involved in a wide range of deals, including traditional offshoring operations (such as software development work) and IT outsourcings, through to extensive BPO arrangements of mid and back office activities.  We advise on all applicable issues including structuring, HR, intellectual property issues, regulatory and governance structures.  We also advise on the various models that exist for offshore outsourcing (e.g., captive entity either with or without capacity to on-provide services to other potential clients; joint venture or hybrid models; build-operate-transfer model; or arms-length third party offshore outsourcing).  In each case, the arbitrage of labour costs is a significant factor.  However, there is a range of risk issues to be taken into account (e.g., operational/transactional risks; compliance risks; strategic risks; credit risks) together with varying degrees to which one model or another will actually achieve quality of service and innovation benefits.

Our experience has included work carried out in a number of offshore jurisdictions, including Eastern Europe, India and China.  Lawyers from our Global Sourcing Group have advised clients on many offshore sourcing transactions, including:

  • AIG in the formation and on-going operation of two captive entities designed to facilitate the use by AIG affiliates world-wide of India-based software development and maintenance services and other IT-related consulting services.
  • Ambergris Solutions Philippines, Inc., a leading Philippine-based outsourcing call centre and provider of offshore quality customer care services for companies in the utilities, IT and telecommunications industries.
  • Coopercom in its transactions with Wipro and Infosys for the outsourced development in India of hardware and software designs for voice-over-DSL technology.
  • GlaxoSmithKline on its Finance and Admin. services offshore outsourcing to GECIS in India.
  • Marsh Limited, part of global insurance broker Marsh & McLennan, on its pilot outsourcing contract with WNS to construct, on a build-operate-transfer model, an India-based offshore outsourcing vehicle.
  • Pearl Group Limited, the closed life insurer, on the outsourcing of its life and pensions administration services to Indian-based Tata Consultancy Services.
    PMI, a large private mortgage insurer, in a transaction with Infosys in India to develop a technology platform for customer service, policy servicing, and claims.
  • Royal & SunAlliance in outsourcing its general insurance claims handling and ADM IT support to Accenture India.
  • Skandia UK, a leading independent provider of long-term savings solutions, on a $200 million, multiservice, five-year contract with HCL Technologies.  Under the terms of the arrangement, Skandia UK will outsource application optimization, including development, maintenance and support (across all platforms) and remote infrastructure management to HCL.
  • UPS Logistics in the preparation and negotiation of a number of Asia-wide supply chain outsourcing contracts with major multinational corporations.
  • a worldwide insurance company (client name confidential) in structuring and negotiating a complex, long-term software development and maintenance agreement with an Indian software vendor in connection with a complete overhaul of the client’s software-based consumer lending front and back office applications in India, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Mexico, Argentina, and Poland.
  • a worldwide insurance company (client name confidential) on a long-term AD/M sourcing project in relation to front and back office policy and claims handling applications designed to substantially overhaul the company's current software platform.  We structured and negotiated the transaction, which was entered into by both a parent Indian software vendor and its Chinese subsidiary (the latter of which will be the focus of development and maintenance activities).
  • a major credit card company (client name confidential) in a review of its existing India sourcing agreements.
  • a major health care provider (client name confidential) on legal issues arising in connection with its existing India sourcing agreements. 
  • one of the world's largest insurance firms (client name confidential) on an offshore sourcing deal to China involving software development and maintenance.
  • a Fortune 100 company (company name confidential) in a transaction involving the outsourcing of software development and maintenance to an Indian software developer's Chinese subsidiary.
  • A major entertainment company (client name confidential) in connection with a multi-year, application development and maintenance transaction involving an overseas provider.