In a case of significance to property owners, contractors and real estate developers alike, a federal court in Florida recently rejected an insurer’s attempt to avoid coverage for $23 million of damage caused by defective work, finding that the policyholder’s claim raised several genuine issues of material fact. The case is Pavarani Construction Co. (SE) Inc. v. ACE American Insurance Company, Case No.14-cv-20524-KING (S.D.Fla., Feb. 25, 2015) ...
On December 17, 2014, New York Assembly Bill 9933, which amends the Uniform Commercial Code in effect in the state of New York (the “NYUCC”), was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and took effect immediately. This new law (the “UCC Revisions Law”) includes several changes to Article 9 of the NYUCC (“Article 9”), that governs the creation and perfection of security interests in personal property under New York law ...
When copyright has been infringed online, what court is competent to hear and decide the case? The EU top court’s recent ruling provides clarity and states that online infringement cases can be heard where the infringing content is accessible. The content right holders will be able to take legal action against the infringer in their home countries, but only regarding damage that occurred there ...
On 3 March 2015 IVASS published Regulation No.8 (the “Regulation”) on the simplification of procedures and requirements in the relationship between insurance companies, intermediaries and clients, implementing section 22, paragraph 15 bis, of Law Decree of 18 October 2012,No. 179, converted into Law No. 221 dated 17 December 2012 ...
Target, Home Depot, Sony, Anthem. All of these companies have been victims of very public cybersecurity breaches. Given what we know about those breaches, how can any other company know that it is safe from a cyber attack? No firewall appears to be unbreachable and no security system impenetrable. No company is big or small or traditional enough to avoid such exposure, as long as the business receives or transmits data or uses computer networks ...
This week, I caught up with patent attorneys Jonathan D’Silva and Bryan Walker of MacDonald Illig Jones & Britton, LLP to hear their perspectives on some key strategic intellectual property (IP) legal issues ...
Bank Indonesia issued Circular of Bank Indonesia No. 16/17/DSta, which came into force on 3 November 2014 (SEBI 16/17/DSta), which is a fourth amendment to Circular of Bank Indonesia No. 13/3/DPM on Commercial Bank Daily Report. SEBI 16/17/DSta amends the scope of information to be submitted to Bank Indonesia as well as, additional codes for exempted foreign loans, and additional codes for validation systems ...
The Texas Supreme Court has looked to the drilling contract between Transocean and BP to limit BP’s “additional insured” coverage for liability arising out of the Deepwater Horizon disaster ...
IFLR 1000's Michael Washburn interviewed O’Neal Webster’s new Partner, Christopher Simpsonin relation to capital markets trends for an articlepublished on 11February, 2015. Click here to read the article.He noted, among other things, that recent legislation in the BVI, such as the approved managers regime, which Simpson describes as a“lighter-touch” regulation for managers desiring to oversee an investment fund or funds through a BVI entity, is an encouraging trend ...
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) yesterday issued a Risk Alert reporting its findings from cybersecurity examinations of registered broker-dealers and investment advisers and stated that it will continue its focus on cybersecurity in 2015 through risk-based examinations. OCIE revealed that most of the examined firms had experienced some type of cyber-attack, primarily through malware and fraudulent emails ...
Australia has a complex system of taxation including a Federal income tax, capital gains tax and goods and services tax (GST) and eight separate State and Territory systems of duties and taxes. Tax planning is therefore important to maximise after-tax investor returns. The following guide sets out some high level issues to consider on a global M&A deal where the target is an Australian company or business or where downstream Australian subsidiaries are involved ...
IntroductionOn November 26, 2014, the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) retroactively reinstated data collection requirements to measure foreign direct investment into the United States. The BE-13 survey collects data on the acquisition or establishment of U.S. business enterprises by foreign investors and the expansion of existing United States affiliates of foreign companies that establish new facilities where business is conducted ...
On 8 April 2014, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued Regulation No. 2/POJK05/2014 of 2014 on Good Corporate Governance for Insurance Companies (Regulation 2). Loss and life insurance companies, as well as reinsurance companies must have at least 3 directors and 3 commissioners. Meanwhile, insurance and reinsurance brokerage firms are required to have 2 directors and 2 commissioners if their annual income exceeds IDR 10 billion ...
The Minister of Communications and Informatics issued Regulation No. 19 of 2014 on Controlling Internet Websites Containing Negative Content (Regulation 19). Regulation 19 has been in force since 17 July 2014. This regulation aims to implement “the safe and healthy use of the internet” by all social groups by blocking access to websites that contain pornographic or unlawful material (negative content) ...
The Banking Bill governs commercial (Bank Umum) and rural (Bank Perkreditan Rakyat) banks (Banks), and provides the procedure and requirements for establishing Banks, the restrictions on foreign ownership in Banks, the criteria for being appointed as senior executives or being controlling shareholders of Banks, and requirements regarding Bank soundness levels. The Banking Bill will replace the current Banking Law No. 7 of 1992 (as amended) ...
The Insurance Bill (Insurance Bill) was passed by the House of Representatives on 23 September 2014. The Insurance Bill repeals and replaces the current Law No. 2 of 1992 on The Insurance Business. In addition to the current insurance businesses such as general insurance, life insurance, and reinsurance businesses, the Insurance Bill regulates Sharia insurance. Under the Insurance Bill: 1 ...
On 24 July 2014, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued Circular Letter No. 12/SEOJK.07/2014 on The Presentation of Information for Marketing Financial Services or Products (Circular Letter 12). Circular Letter 12 has been in force since 6 August 2014. Circular Letter 12 provides marketing conduct guidelines for financial services providers on directly or indirectly offering their services/products (i.e. websites, commercial advertisments, brochures, telemarketing, etc) ...
As noted in our previous client update, judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See 11/17/2014 Client Update). On Friday December 5, 2014, however, the U.S ...
On November 12, 2014, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) published the ISDA Resolution Stay Protocol (“Protocol”). Eighteen of the world’s largest banks and their affiliates1 (“G-18”) have agreed to sign the Protocol, which is open for adherence and has an effective date of January 1, 2015 ...
On November 6, 2014, Law No. 20,789 was published in the Official Gazette, granting legal status to theConsejo de Estabilidad Financiera (Financial Stability Council or “CEF”). The CEF is part of the Ministry of Finance, and was originally created in 2011 by means of a ministerial decree.
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Every day seems to bring word of a new data breach, and given the stakes of these breaches, it would be easy to assume that dealing with the damage they cause would be a top government priority. Unfortunately, a myriad of conflicting state laws, as well as the lack of one over-arching federal law, creates legal and compliance nightmares for companies that these breaches affect. For example, in late February and early March 2014, hackers successfully targeted eBay’s corporate network ...
Nowadays, we live in an information age (also known as the computer age, digital age or new media age) and the advancement of technologies has facilitated information flow and communication through social media. On one hand, people have easy and quick access to others’ information, enabling interaction with one another. However, the free flow of information and wide participation in social media networks also exposes a person to various risks or dangers ...
On November 4, 2014, voters in Denton made that city the first in Texas to ban hydraulic fracturing within city limits. Within a day, lawsuits were filed by the Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association, and state lawmakers and regulators voiced strong opposition to the ballot measure ...
This article first appeared in the November 2014 issue of Hong Kong Lawyer, the official journal of The Law Society of Hong Kong. In January 2013, Alexa Lam, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), announced that the SFC and the China Securities and Regulatory Commission (CSRC) planned to implement mutual fund recognition between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese fund products ...
