The recently enacted Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (“SIBA”) of the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) will come into effect on 17 May 2010 ...
Declarations must be filed at Land Department Directions on Strata Law seek to clarify regulation of jointly-owned developments used by owners or occupiers There has been much speculation in recent years about the introduction of the Strata Law, which aims to remove the legal ambiguity with respect to jointly-owned property that currently exists for both homeowners and developers alike ...
The People's Republic of China, a party to the Kyoto Protocol (2005), has been actively promulgating "greener" policies to improve China' environment and reduce carbon emissions. These green steps are creating potential new investment opportunities for foreign investors as China seeks to become more energy efficient ...
ALTIUS' Real Estate & Regulatory team and ICT team contribute to 2011 editions of 'Getting The Deal Through' series • 07/09/2010 Lieven Peeters , William Timmermans, Suzy Miller and Charlotte Boumal, lawyers in ALTIUS' Real Estate & Regulatory practice, wrote the Belgian Chapter of the "Getting the deal through - Construction" book published by Law Business Resear
Australia’s accession to the Hague Convention on Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters 1965 (Convention) will streamline administrative procedures involved in transnational litigation. This welcome step will reduce many risks associated with transnational litigation, giving confidence to Australians engaged in international transactions ...
Professional trade in securities under the case law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court… Under the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s prior case law, capital gains derived from the sale of assets – in particular real estate, securities, precious metals and foreign currencies – are subject to federal income tax if such activity, taken as a whole, qualifies as self-e
I once heard that Chinese architects have a curious, but effective, way of designing public squares. First, they will sow seeds over the surface of the square and wait till the grass grows. Then, they will let people walk around the square for a period of time. Finally, the stepped areas will help the architects decide which paths across the square to pave ...
CASE REVIEW The Federal High Court in the recent case of NOBLE DRILLING (NIGERIA) LIMITED V THE NIGERIAN MARITIME ADMINISTRATION AND SAFETY AGENCY (NIMASA) & THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORTATION, (Suit No. FHC/L/CS/78/2008) provides clarity on Sections 2, 5 and 22(5) of the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, Cap. C51, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (Cabotage Act) ...
A recent ruling should provide some comfort for non-U.S. companies involved in U.S. trademark oppositions or cancellations. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has clarified that companies with no U.S. operations cannot easily be forced to travel to the U.S. for oral depositions. In 2007, an appeals court ruled that a foreign corporation party to a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the USPTO can be subjected to oral deposition in the U.S ...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today given its decision on the question of whether or not Google AdWords are a trade mark infringement. This case had the potential to change dramatically the way we viewed the question of what constitutes ‘trade mark use’ and therefore ‘infringement’ ...
From 2010 until 2013, approximately $1.4 trillion1 of commercial real estate loans will mature. Notably, it has been estimated that nearly 50 percent2 of the loans are under water and that a wave of defaults and bankruptcies may occur. Because many of the commercial real estate loans are secured by a single parcel of real estate, it is critical that lenders and debtors be aware of the rules governing Single Asset Real Estate (SARE) Chapter 11 cases ...
Bigger fines predicted for organisations guilty of corporate manslaughter The long awaited definitive guidelines for sentencing organisations guilty of either corporate manslaughter or a health and safety breach which causes death have been published ...
● New General Merchant Marine Law No ...
FINANCING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY — MAXIMIZING FINANCING OPTIONS THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ASSETS Steve Boucratie [email protected] In recent years, lenders have demonstrated an increasing interest in intellectual property assets, which may be described as “intangible” assets. This is excellent news for businesses in the knowledge and technologies sector whose main assets are often their intellectual property rights ...
On October 7, 2009 the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the first reading the draft of the Federal law on amending legislation regarding land plots ...
I. Introductory Note The Republic of Mozambique is rich in mineral resources, including oil, gold, mineral water, coal, natural gas, and marble, and even though exploitation of these resources is far below desired levels, the mining sector still contributes to just under 2% of the country’s GDP ...
Introduction On 2 October the UK's Competition Commission re-iterated its recommendation to the Government and the devolved administrations that they should take the necessary steps to introduce a competition test in planning decisions involving large grocery developments ...
Over the last decade, Latin American nations have put considerable effort into demonstrating their willingness to overcome the increasing amount of counterfeit activity in the region These efforts were intensified particularly after the US Trade Representative (USTR) released a warning, by inserting Argentina and Brazil in its “priority watch list” and by applying even greater restrictions to Paraguay, as subject to Section 306 of the 2003 Special 30
Whether you are a sceptic, a convert or a believer, there is undoubtedly compelling scientific evidence of global warming, and that climate change is upon us. Legislation enacted by both Westminster and Holyrood sets challenging targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decades. The carbon footprint of buildings is responsible for around 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK ...
Introduction The term 'climate change' is now common parlance, but what role does green building play within the broader climate change picture? Well, emissions regulations post Kyoto are imminent and buildings are able to offer cost effective emissions cuts – there is therefore a possibility that the building sector may eventually be hit with emissions caps ...
AS HIGHLIGHTED BY QUÉBEC COURTS, SURETIES ARE KEY PLAYERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. IN 2002, THE QUÉBEC COURT OF APPEAL ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR IMPORTANCE IN A DISPUTE BETWEEN A CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND A SUPPLIER. THE COURT NOTED THAT THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY’S LOSSES HAD BEEN EXACERBATED BY THE WITHDRAWAL OF ITS SURETY FACILITY ...
More recently, the Québec Superior Court established that the active participation of a surety in the restructuring of a company under the Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”) was critical to determining whether a surety’s obligations could be reduced under the terms of an arrangement .2 accordingly, in Charles-Auguste Fortier inc ...
Auction sales can raise difficulties when determining whether the transaction is a transfer of a going concern (“TOGC”) as there are two possible situations at which the tax point occurs. If the deposit is being held as agent then the tax point is from the moment the auctioneer's hammer goes down ...
On 15 April 2009, the Law Society published an updated practice note on mortgage fraud ...
Service charges are going to be a major bone of contention between landlords and tenants during the recession, as landlords seek to maximise returns from property, and tenants seek to count every penny. This could lead to a mountain of litigation, all of it protracted, and all of it destined to sour landlord and tenant relations for many years to come ...
