America’s fascination with zombies infiltrated the West Virginia Legislature during the 2014 Regular Session, resulting in the introduction of a “zombie debt” bill, House Bill 4360. The bill, as introduced, was designed to thwart all debt collection efforts after a debt’s statute of limitations has passed ...
In our previous articles (part one, part two and part three), we discussed ways in which trademarks are maintained and protected through filings that are mandatory and which filings would result in abandonment or cancellation if not timely submitted. There are also optional filings a trademark owner can take advantage of to optimize and secure its rights under a U.S. trademark registration. An Affidavit of Incontestability Under Section 15 is one such method ...
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE PLACEMENTS(“Regulation 45-106”)OBLIGATION TO KNOW YOUR INVESTOR WELLIssuer’s obligations:Ask questionsVerify the investor’s declared income and assetsConfirm the relationship between the investor and the issuerObtain proof of the investor’s statusKeep the documents on file
Thailand’s future is set to be more connected, technologically advanced and economically prosperous than ever. This being driven by one development in particular: the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) ...
You may already be aware of a new federal law called the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA), which became effective on January 1, 2024. The CTA was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and mandates that certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) report identifying information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ...
Recent changes to Ohio law have licensed health care professionals asking themselves when was the last time they confirmed or updated their email address, and other contact information, with agencies like the State Medical Board of Ohio, the Ohio Board of Nursing or the Board of Pharmacy? The impetus for such reflection is that Ohio licensing agencies may now serve significant legal documents exclusively through email, or a last-known fax number, as opposed to registered or certified mail thro
International infringers are notoriously difficult litigants to get in touch with; all too often the methods of service routinely available in the United States to serve defendants and bring them into court to halt infringement fail when exported overseas. The defendants in these cases often have little incentive to cooperate with either the court or whatever physical mechanism or service might be available in their jurisdiction ...
If your company has a cybersecurity incident, this guide is intended help you think through critical disclosure requirements and will direct you to sample disclosures from other companies that have endured cybersecurity issues. I. Introduction With the recent string of high profile cybersecurity attacks, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued further guidance regarding public companies’ disclosure of cybersecurity incidents ...
As of March 14, 2017, the recently enacted Consumer Review Fairness Act (the “Act”)1 will prohibit “gag clauses” – contract provisions that prohibit or restrict a consumer's ability to write negative reviews of products and services. While enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and state attorneys general is set to begin on December 14, 2017, businesses should act now to ensure compliance ...
After an extremely busy 2021 where the financial markets and the lending sector recovered rapidly from the COVID-hibernation, 2022 has been a turbulent year that did not live up to expectations in terms of activity. With geopolitical unrest, high inflation and rising interest rates as the backdrop, financial markets were volatile and funding costs increased substantially ...
General Since the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) was introduced in 2010, several legislative acts have been adopted in the EU without being incorporated into the EEA-agreement. This is mainly due to Norwegian constitutional issues. These constitutional issues were resolved in 2018, and as result, a huge backlog of EU legislative acts needs to be incorporated into the EEA-agreement and transposed into Norwegian law ...
After a hectic first quarter, the focus shifted dramatically after the lockdown in mid-March. Within a few days, we went from negotiating new financings within most industries to assisting our clients with urgent waivers and liquidity loans. After the initial chaotic period, we have, however, seen a more normalized period with considerable activity where strong companies and good projects have been able to obtain new financings on acceptable terms ...
Trends IT contracts An increasing number of clients have requested aid in purchasing either cloud service technology or offering cloud services to the market. We have seen a significant shift from on-premise solutions (i.e. local servers on customer premises) to public cloud and multi-tenant cloud solutions. Initially, customers pushed suppliers to offer cloud solutions. Now we see the opposite: suppliers pushing customers (who are not always ready for this) into the cloud ...
The Supreme Court ended the «Google Ads» case saga The Supreme Court’s recent ruling (14 December 2021) in a case brought by several competing banks against Bank Norwegian ends a many-year-long saga concerning the use of competitors’ trademarks in search engine advertising. The competitors’ brought the case against Bank Norwegian before the Oslo City Court in 2017 ...
Record number of fines in 2021 At European level, a record number of fines have been issued during 2021 for violating the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Since the GDPR entered into force in the EU on 25 May 2018, the supervisory authorities have imposed or notified fines in approx. 900 cases with an accumulated amount of approx. EUR 1.3 billion. As many as 500 of these cases are from 2021 with accumulated fines of as much as EUR 1 ...
We have in 2021 seen a remarkable (continued) recovery in the Norwegian financial market. This is also evident from the perspective of our banking and financing team. We have assisted our clients with a considerable number of new financings and refinancings, across most sectors. It has especially been hectic within the shipping, aviation and renewable energy sectors and we have seen a steep increase within acquisition financing ...
On June 19, 2013, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the Court” or “WVSCA”) issued an important decision that bolsters the ability of financial institutions and other defendants to enforce arbitration agreements. Credit Acceptance Corporation v. Front, Docket Nos. 11-1646, 12-0545 (W. Va. June 19, 2013), Slip Op. Spilman consumer finance attorneys were pleased to obtain this victory on the consolidated appeal of two orders denying arbitration ...
WSG Members Featured in Financial Times Innovative Lawyers 2022 Report for Europe WSG member firms Colbalt, Ellex, Garrigues, PLMJ and Shoosmiths were recently recognized as top firms for innovation in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers 2022 Report for Europe. The report explores key trends and transformations taking place in the legal sector with an index of firms and articles and is the most widely respected published assessments for innovation in the law ...
Ransomware Goes Corporate - A First-Hand Account An Interview With.... Sandra Elvin, National Security Office for Microsoft Sweden Jon Åsberg, Editor-in-Chief at Fokus, Sweden’s leading weekly news and current affairs magazine Faced with a range of obstacles, business leaders were already dealing with rising challenges to their risk and approach to cybersecurity; and then, along came Covid-19 ...
On 23 September 2021 we hosted our latest IHL webinar on working with AI: the key types, implementing AI and what the future might bring. Ian Blackwell represented Next Retail Ltd on the panel, alongside Simon McArdle and Sebastian Price, Commercial Partners at Shoosmiths. The background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is here now, and its power is taking off. Put simply, AI is a gamechanger ...
Long before eMortgages, electronic signatures, and mobile apps hit the secured lending scene, Lord Nottingham proposed that the English Parliament pass An Act for Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries in 1677 to prevent nonexistent agreements from being “proved” through false testimony. That statute and its progeny remain an important resource in today’s financial services industry ...
WiMax, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a new product developing in Chile that promises to revolutionise Internet access. WiMax allows high speed transmission of data and multimedia services (e.g., the Internet and videos) from laptops, cell phones and other portable devices from distances greater than was possible with previous technologies. According to some preliminary tests, WiMax equipment can reach up to 40 km in open spaces ...
Wills for Jersey residents What is a Will? Jersey law treats movable and immovable assets differently for succession purposes, therefore we need to consider them separately when looking at your estate planning needs. Movable assets include things such as bank accounts, jewellery, furniture, cars, life insurance proceeds and shares (including shares in a property holding company entitling the owner to occupy a share transfer apartment) ...
Litigation between the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) may be nearing an end (The Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. vs. United States Small Business Administration, et al.,United States District Court for the District of Columbia). AGC initially filed a lawsuit against SBA in December 2020, challenging the introductions of Form 3509 and Form 3510 (Loan Necessity Questionnaires) in October 2020 ...