The British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) is a British overseas territory situated to the east of Puerto Rico between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The country consists of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke and over fifty other smaller islands and cays clustered around the aquamarine waters of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.Interestingly the country’s official name is simply the “Virgin Islands ...
The Quebec Court of Appeal rendered an important decision on the legality of termination of employment for some 190 employees of the Wal-Mart store in Jonquière. In the context of several proceedings which were filed to obtain compensation for those job losses, the United Food and Commercial Workers, local 503 (hereinafter the "Union") argued that the store's closure in April 2005 was contrary to section 59 of the Labour Code (hereinafter the "L.C.") ...
In late October 2012, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris began sending letters to approximately 100 mobile app operators, informing them that they are not in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”) ...
On November 13-15, 2012, delegates at the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress in Brussels were given insight into how discussions with key policymakers are progressing. As European Parliament rapporteur and Member of the European Parliament Jan Philipp Albrecht aims to finalize the reform of the EU Data Protection Directive by the end of the current European Parliament’s mandate in 2014, this ambitious goal faces numerous hurdles ...
Since the adoption of Bill C-451 amending certain provisions of the Criminal Code in march of 2004,2 employers have had to take on increased responsibility in the area of occupational health and safety. Indeed, the effect of sections 22.1 and 217.1 of the Criminal Code is to facilitate the laying of criminal negligence charges in cases involving the health and safety of workers. Section 217 ...
On November 20, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published “Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice” (the “Code”). The purpose of the Code is to provide organizations with a framework for assessing the risks of anonymization ...
On November 9, 2012, a federal District Court in Washington certified a national class and a Washington state sub-class in an action alleging that Papa John’s International, Inc. (“Papa John’s”) violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by sending unsolicited text messages advertising its pizza products. The court determined that plaintiffs had standing and satisfied all other requirements for class certification ...
On November 14, 2012, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission released the much-anticipated Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “Guide”) ...
Issues surrounding the election of Directors of Public Companies gained the attention of Canadian Securities Regulators in the last years due to concerns expressed be large institutional directors that current Canadian Rules regarding the election of Directors were not Democratic nor aligned with current practices in other countries ...
Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia interviewed Lisa J. Sotto, partner and head of the Global Privacy and Data Security practice at Hunton & Williams LLP, to discuss the recent data security incident involving Barnes & Noble stores. Sotto discussed life in the modern world of technology where there is an increased risk of data security incidents, and many companies only reach out to counsel after a data breach occurs ...
Reporting from Washington, D.C., Hunton & Williams partner Frederick Eames writes: Elections have consequences. What are the consequences of the 2012 election on U.S. federal privacy, data security and breach notice legislation? We outline some key developments in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and explain how these developments might affect legislative priorities and prospects for the 113th Congress beginning in 2013.U.S. House of RepresentativesThree committees in the U ...
Federal statutes and regulations impacting the banking industry run the gamut from a basic forgery to fraud and insider trading. Financial institutions need to be informed and know where to turn if illegal activity is discovered by bank management or if the bank is the focus of a federal investigation ...
On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had settled charges against payday lending and check cashing companies alleged to have improperly disposed of consumers’ personal information. In its complaint, the FTC maintained that PLS Financial Services, Inc ...
On October 29, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) served private sector financial services company The Prudential Assurance Company Limited (“Prudential”) with a monetary penalty of £50,000 in connection with a serious violation of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”). The violation concerned a mix-up involving Prudential customer details ...
What is an illegal contract and is it enforceable? If an illegal contract is unenforceable, does the party who received its benefit get to keep that windfall? The short answer to the first question is that a contract is illegal when it is either contrary to a statute or is contrary to public policy. Generally, illegal contracts are not enforceable. The answer to the second questions is “it depends” ...
A new Regulation on Corporations has recently entered into force in Chile (the “New Regulation”). It aims essentially to complement the provisions of the Law on Corporations, updating the rules established in the prior Regulation on Corporations, clarifying or specifying certain articles that raised questions, adjusting the applicable provisions to the latest legal amendments and making certain practical aspects easier ...
On 18 October the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) released a set of draft regulations designed to reduce the complexity involved in narrative reporting for large British companies and increase transparency. Changes will take effect from October next year, meaning quoted companies with reporting years ending on or after 1 November 2013 will need to change the form and content of their reports ...
The Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Cole, 2012 SCC 53 may have a significant impact on how employers manage the use of digital devices in the workplace. While a constitutional and criminal decision at its core, the case nevertheless recognizes the importance of employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy when using work computers and other digital devices. In Cole, the accused was a high school teacher who was issued a laptop computer by his employer ...
On 1 August 2012, the Indonesian Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Board (“Bapepam-LK”) issued a new regulation on Annual Reports of Public or Listed Companies, Bapepam-LK Regulation Number X.K.6. The regulation requires information on the primary and directly or indirectly controlling shareholders of listed companies, up to individuals, to be provided in the form of a scheme or diagram in their annual reports ...
As part of the new Flex BV Act that came into force in the Netherlands as per 1 October 2012, also a revised statutory dispute settlement procedure (wettelijke geschillenregeling) was introduced. This procedure can be used in two ways. Firstly, the procedure offers shareholders, under certain circumstances, the opportunity to force a shareholder to sell its shares (‘squeeze-out’ or uitstoting) ...
Meteorologists dubbed Hurricane Sandy a “perfect storm” or “superstorm” long before it even made landfall on the East Coast, and it lived up to those terms. Sandy brought gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain, and snow to much of the Eastern Seaboard and the Northeast, including densely populated areas such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City, and Boston ...
UK Bribery Act: Serious Fraud Office publishes revised policies for facilitation payments, business expenditure and corporate self-reporting An important announcement for multinational organisations with business links in the United Kingdom. The Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom has published revised policies for facilitation payments, business expenditure and corporate self-reporting that take immediate effect ...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently adopted a new EDGAR Filer Manual,1which provides that effective October 15, 2012, emerging growth companies under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”) must now use EDGAR to submit confidential draft registration statements ...
On October 26, 2012, three resolutions were adopted by the closed session of the 34th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners and have been published on the conference website. Below we provide an overview of these resolutions ...
The use of social media is now a fact of life, but many employers are struggling to keep up with the consequences of rapid technological change.Technology develops fast: it is hard to believe that Twitter has only been with us since 2006. The law moves more slowly and regulating new employee behaviours within the existing legal framework can be a challenge ...
