On 8 September 2006, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘the CAT’) gave judgment in favour of London Metal Exchange (‘LME’) to recover costs in respect of its appeal against an interim measures direction (‘IMD’) issued (and then withdrawn) by the Office of Fair Trading (‘the OFT’). The OFT’s first IMD arose from a complaint against, inter alia, LME’s plan to extend its opening hours for its non-ferrous base metals trading platform, LME Select, to capture the Asian markets ...
In short, yes! The Companies Bill is due to come into force in 2007 and contains the most drastic changes that company law has seen in the last ten years. Once implemented it is intended to simplify and improve the existing regulations. The Bill is designed to try and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and in particular small enterprises ...
After nearly eight years in the offing, the Companies Bill looks likely to become law in November of this year, although it is likely that most of its provisions will not take effect until autumn 2007.Despite being a massive piece of legislation, for the most parts its provisions have not been controversial and have generally been welcomed ...
The article was first published in Invest Romania, November 2006 issue.The Bill for amending Company Law no. 31/1990 as subsequently modified,supplemented and republished (the “Company Law Bill”) was approved by the Senate on 30August 2006 and is currently at the Chamber of Deputies commissions undergoing a fast-trackapproval process ...
Under the Companies Act a company is prohibited (subject to certain exceptions) from making loans to its directors. A recent case highlighted the dangers to a director who is aware that his company has made loans in breach of that prohibition. The case involved a father and son who were the directors of a company. Over time, the father had become less involved in the day-to-day management of the company in question ...
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill was introduced to Parliament on 20 July 2006. Westminster and the Scottish Executive have agreed corporate liability for death is a health and safety matter reserved to Westminster and therefore a UK wide Act is required. The Bill makes provision for a new offence to be called corporate manslaughter in England and Wales and corporate homicide in Scotland ...
Long before the creation of limited liability companies, the best practice for companies or individuals that operated multiple distinct businesses or held multiple significant assets, such as real estate, was to segregate each distinct business or asset into a separate entity so that the liabilities of one of the businesses or assets would not affect the other businesses or assets ...
The Finance Committee at Holyrood published its long awaited Report into Accountability and Governance last month. Its conclusions, and especially its strong criticism of the current structure of independent bodies in Scotland, have raised a few eyebrows among those with an interest in public administration. The Report follows a lengthy inquiry which began in March this year, looking into the growth of independent regulatory and investigatory bodies in Scotland since devolution ...
Respondents to Dykema's 2006 M&A survey generally maintain a positive outlook on the future of the U.S. mergers and acquisitions market. Responses were received from both company executives and their outside advisors. Survey respondents are looking toward strategic buyers as an increased presence in the coming year, but also forecast significant involvement by financial and foreign buyers ...
In the workplace, youth is seen as a valuable asset. When the benefits of youth are emphasised in relation to personnel and staffing issues to the exclusion of other factors, employers may well find themselves discriminating on the basis of age. Employers may also be depriving themselves of the many benefits of an age-diverse workforce – higher retention rates; lower rates of absenteeism; greater flexibility; and a wider pool of available skills. This has a major economic impact ...
According to the independent charity, The Age and Employment Network, the cost of age discrimination in the UK now amounts to £5.5bn in lost government tax and paid unemployment benefits and a further £30bn in lost productivity annually. These are astounding figures. It seems that many employees are currently obliged or persuaded to leave the workplace before their normal retirement age and that early exit from work for people aged over 50 tends to be permanent ...
The funding of emerging oil & gas companies is less straightforward than other start-ups due to the inherent risks associated with drilling for oil and taking any successful drilling programmes from exploration stage through to the production of oil & gas. Debt finance, essentially borrowing from banks, is usually dependent upon a guaranteed revenue, so is normally only a funding option once production has commenced ...
On July 17, 2006, the Court of Appeal rendered a judgement concerning the duty of financial institutions making loans to inform and advise their clients.(1) This decision, written by Judge Jacques Chamberland, sheds further light on the obligations of group loan insurance policyholders. The facts In early June 1994, the Respondent, 9000-7048 Québec inc ...
In order for an employee to be entitled to the statutory benefits endowed under the Employment Ordinance (the "EO"), in most of the situations, he has to be under a continuous employment with their employer for a certain minimum period. As a result, what constitutes a continuous employment and what breaks its continuity are important to both employers and employees. In a recent Court of Appeal case, Lui Lim Ka & others v ...
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made public China's draft law on "The PRC Labour Contract Law" on 20 March 2006, with a view to collecting opinions thereon from relevant departments and the public, for further amendments to be made to this draft law. The PRC Labour Contract Law is intended to be promulgated pursuant to the PRC Labour Law, and sets out to clarify certain ambiguities to give employees better protection ...
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced in June that it was considering launching an investigation into the UK airports market "with a view to establishing if the current market structure works well for consumers". This raised a number of eyebrows in the City, as the European Commission had only just cleared Ferrovial's bid for BAA, confirming that the market (at least for ground-handling services) "is broadly perceived as well-functioning by airlines" ...
There is an argument that in certain circumstances greater prudence is now required from members dividends following the Court of Appeal case It's a Wrap (UK) Ltd (In Liquidation) v (1) Barbara Gula and (2) Anthony Gula [2006] EWCA Civ 544, which reverses an earlier High Court decision. The case involved an insolvent company which had claimed repayment of dividends unlawfully paid to the defendants who were the only members and directors of the company ...
Patent Opinion Letters: Privilege Waivers after Knorr Knorr-Bremse: The Federal Circuit Changes the Role of Options of Counsel in Patent Cases In September 2004, the en banc opinion of the Federal Circuit Court in Knorr- Bremse System Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge Bmbh v. Dana Corp ...
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced in June that it was considering launching an investigation into the UK airports market "with a view to establishing if the current market structure works well for consumers". This raised a number of eyebrows in the City, as the European Commission had only just cleared Ferrovial's bid for BAA, confirming that the market (at least for ground-handling services) "is broadly perceived as well-functioning by airlines" ...
These questions arise periodically and always pose problems of conscience for the lawyers and employers concerned. A recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Caisse Populaire Desjardins de La Malbaie v. Tremblay, J.E. 2006-1218, 2006 QCCA 697, sets out the latest state of the law on the subject. The facts Tremblay sued the Caisse Populaire for unlawful dismissal and his lawyer communicated with employees of his former employer for the purpose of meeting with them ...
On May 12, 2006, the Court of Appeal rendered a decision in a case involving the concept of intentional fault.(1) This judgement, written by Judge Louis Rochette, once again further complicates the idea of an intentional fault committed by an insured. I. The facts Assurances générales des Caisses Desjardins Inc. (referred to herein as “Desjardins”) insured Mr. Fournier’s property. In May 1999, Mr. Fournier committed suicide by setting his home on fire ...
Last March 15th was published Decree Law nr. 52/2006 implementing Directive 2003/6/CE, of the European Parliament and the Council, dated January 28th, on insider dealing and market manipulation, and Directive 2003/71/CE, of the European Parliament and the Council, dated November 4th, on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading and amending Directive 2001/34/CE ...
Last November the expert group appointed by the Scottish Executive to consider a statutory offence of corporate culpable homicide issued its report. As expected, the group proposed a new statutory offence of corporate killing. It recommended that this should apply to incorporated companies and, as far as possible, to unincorporated and Crown bodies. The report recommended that two individual offences (applying to named persons) be introduced ...
In April last year, companies were given greater flexibility in protecting their directors against certain liabilities as a result of changes to the law. The changes recognised increasing concern over directors' exposure to liability arising from legal proceedings brought by third parties. The Companies Actprohibits a company from exempting directors in respect of liability if negligent, in default or in breach of duty or trust ...
