This article looks at trends, including the response to COVID-19, which we expect to impact the mid-market in 2021. Last year we gave COVID-19 a quick mention in our ‘look at the year ahead’. Nobody foresaw the impact it would have. As the market enters a new year, there remains the uncertainty that we’ve grown familiar with ...
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement has effectively brought an end to state aid and a new regime of subsidy control has come into effect ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. The Covid pandemic has clearly had a significant impact on our society, the economy and everyday life, with numerous sectors having found life in lockdown incredibly challenging ...
There were big changes in 2020 in the world of restructuring and insolvency legislation with the introduction of two new restructuring tools: the Moratorium and the Restructuring Plan, as well as the reintroduction of Crown preference. However, due to the government-imposed moratorium while the pandemic runs its course, we have seen hardly any real effects of those reforms ...
This is the first in our series of articles in which we will look at how Brexit and the EU-UK trade deal impacts research and development. In July 2020, the Government published its Research and Development Roadmap, which sets out the UK’s ambitious long-term objectives for investment in science and research to deliver economic growth and societal benefits across the UK ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global shock to businesses everywhere. Uncertainty about its path, duration and magnitude has wreaked havoc on many of our commercial clients. The associated government-mandated shutdown orders have drastically impacted businesses’ ability to make timely rental payments. The Bankruptcy Code does not generally allow debtors to unilaterally abate or modify the terms of their property leases ...
Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Programs (ACPs) have been adopted in many states to protect domestic violence victims’ addresses and other personal information from collection and disclosure. Financial services institutions are taking strides to protect the data of participants in ACPs, but the financial services industry also faces some of the most complex issues with ACP compliance ...
As from 1 January 2021 EU law will no longer apply in the UK. In response to questions from our cross-border commercial real estate investor and financier client base, this blog briefly summarises main relevant changes to be taken into account for a Dutch CREF loan agreement, whereby the lender is located in the UK or the loan could be sold or syndicated to lenders located in the UK ...
On January 13, the Illinois legislature unanimously passed the Predatory Loan Prevention Act (SB 1792) (“PLPA”), which would prohibit lenders from charging more than 36% APR on consumer loans. Specifically, the PLPA would apply to any non-commercial loan made to a consumer in Illinois, including closed-end and open-end credit, retail installment sales contracts, and motor vehicle retail installment sales contracts ...
The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision relating to the coverage of business interruption insurance claims made following the COVID-19 pandemic. A key question was whether the Supreme Court ruling would finally provide the clarity that the expedited test case sought to achieve for both policyholders and insurers. The good news for all is that the Supreme Court has indeed provided much more clarity in relation to most issues ...
Funding legal fees can be a worry and add to the pressure at an already stressful time. Accessing funds for legal fees may be difficult if assets are tied up, or income streams are for whatever reason inaccessible. We know that this can often lead to people going it alone and losing out on much needed expert advice; a decision that can have long lasting and costly implications. We recommend you consider the following options before deciding to go it alone ...
We would like to inform you about recent updates concerning regulation of digital currency in Russia. Background At the end of July 2020, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Federal Law No. 259-FZ “On Digital Financial Assets, Digital Currency and on Amendments to the Certain Legal Acts of the Russian Federation” (“DFA Law”). This introduced the first large-scale regulations on (i) digital financial assets and (ii) digital currency ...
Key issues The EU Insolvency Regulation has ceased to apply to the UK The English court acquires new grounds for jurisdiction under the EU EXIT Regulations Insolvency proceedings opened in an EU Member State may be recognised by the UK courts based on the UNCITRAL Model Law Cross-border insolvencies between the EU and the UK will likely become more time consuming, complex and expensive Recognition of UK scheme of arrangements is subject to the Hague Choice of Court Convention or t
The outlook for the year ahead is uncertain with the effects of post-Brexit rules to contend with and COVID-19 continuing to restrict the way we live and work. We look at what the year may have in store for the construction industry. COVID-19 There is no doubt that the pandemic has caused challenges for the construction industry and is likely to have a significant impact into 2021 ...
The year 2020 will have been difficult for the vast majority of industries, and in particular for the arts, entertainment and recreation industry. The video game industry, however, is growing in leaps and bounds. For example, Nintendo and PlayStation have each set record sales for their games released in 2020, including Animal Crossing:New Horizons and The Last of UsPart II. Over the past few decades, the number of video game players has never stopped increasing ...
Although the start of 2020 also shook up the M&A world, the market recovered especially in the second half of the year. At Van Doorne, the M&A specialists experienced this in the number of transactions: 32 of them. This puts the firm in 8th place in the Mergermarket Benelux League Table, based on the number of deals. In 2020, in Europe almost $850 billion was spent on a total of 6,658 transactions. This is an increase of 5.6% compared to 2019 ...
As promised, the CFPB released the second part of its FDCPA rulemaking covering debt validation notices, collection of time-barred debts, and certain credit reporting restrictions. As with the first rulemaking, these changes could require significant changes to a company’s policies and procedures as well as significant technology upgrades ...
This is a summary of the Annual Report. Click here to access the full guide. The 2020 proxy season shareholder proposals were already submitted before the COVID-19 shadow loomed large over the season; however, such shadow likely impacted how shareholders voted on the proposals themselves, impacted business throughout 2020, and continues to jolt 2021 and the forthcoming 2021 proxy season ...
How does one resolve a dispute involving thousands of individual items where it is impractical to deal separately with each one? A recent decision in the Technology and Construction Court provides some guidance - but raises further questions. The case is Standard Life Assurance Limited v Gleeds (UK)(a firm) and Others (December 2020, TCC). Standard Life had engaged Costain as its main contractor for the development of a large residential and retail development in Berkshire ...
On Dec. 9, Congressional Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), proposed sweeping legislation that would overhaul consumer bankruptcy law. The proposed changes, if adopted, generally would make it easier for consumers to access the bankruptcy system and discharge their debts. Below is a discussion of ten critical changes proposed in the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020 (CBRA). 1 ...
On December 28, 2020, New York passed a new law entitled the “COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020.” The act places a moratorium on COVID-19-related residential real property mortgage foreclosure actions and residential eviction proceedings until May 1, 2021, where a tenant or homeowner has submitted a “hardship declaration” to the foreclosing party, landlord, and/or the court ...
The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) contains a number of provisions that help borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans. Among these are forbearance protections for borrowers with single-family loans and multifamily loans. However, only one of the forbearance provisions has a clearly defined period when the rights are available ...
The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, recently passed as part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” has significantly extended the tax exclusions for employer-paid student loan repayment assistance introduced under the CARES Act. With this extension, employers can provide employees with student loan repayment assistance of up to $5,250 per year for 2021 through 2025 (up to $26,250 total) ...
