The Draft Report of the Competition Policy Review released yesterday aims to set the pathway for resuscitating productivity growth in Australia, shining a light on areas of the economy in need of reform. It focuses on what is needed to promote productivity enhancing choice, diversity and innovation and focussing on areas such as health, planning laws, power and road transport. The Draft Report recommends changes to key competition laws that apply to all Australian businesses ...
On August 26, 2014, Judge Robert D. Drain of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York issued a bench ruling in In re MPM Silicones, LLC, Case No. 14-22503 (RDD), on several aspects of the plan of reorganization filed by debtor Momentive Performance Materials, Inc., a specialty chemicals manufacturing company, and its affiliated debtors ...
The Ministry of Finance announced that an improvement in the online inquiry concerning the value of declared merchandises intends to reduce under-declaration in 20%. For the purpose of establishing better controls on imported merchandises, the National Service of Customs of the Ministry of Finance has intensified and integrated software tools to apply in a more efficient and effective manner instruments of control over the value declared for the entry and exit of goods ...
On September 19, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in the so called “banks’ cases”1, in the context of which consumers instituted class actions to recover the conversion fees charged on credit card transactions in foreign currencies by many institutions issuing such cards. The plaintiffs were maintaining that these charges were contravening the Consumer Protection Act (Quebec) (the “CPA”) ...
The Central Bank of Ireland has today issued its feedback statement on Consultation Paper 85 dealing with loan originating qualifying investor alternative investment funds (QIAIFs). In the feedback statement the Central Bank has announced that it will allow for the authorisation of QIAIFs that originate loans from 1 October 2014. The Central Bank's AIF Rulebook is being updated to reflect this change ...
Last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an important opinion for lenders in this state. The opinion reversed the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ decision in RL REGI N.C., LLC v. Lighthouse Cove, LLC, which found that a waiver of claims contained in a forbearance agreement could not waive a guarantor’s affirmative defense that a guaranty was obtained in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The Lighthouse Cove case involves a familiar story for many lenders ...
In the last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges in two separate investigations related to its “Broken Windows” initiative, signaling that the Commission’s focus on what some may characterize as “minor violations” will continue ...
Two top officials of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division have spoken publicly in the last week about corporate compliance programs. Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for criminal enforcement entitled his remarks to the International Chamber of Commerce in New York as “Compliance is a Culture, Not Just a Policy ...
On August 15, 2014, the Eleventh Circuit entered a Memorandum Opinion in the Wortley v. Chrispus Venture Capital, LLC case (In re Global Energies, LLC, “Global”)1 unwinding a section 363 sale order entered in 2010 by the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida based on a finding of bad faith in the filing of an involuntary bankruptcy case in 2010 ...
GST/QST Election: Get Ready for 2015 Carolyne Corbeil and Emmanuel SalaGenerally, certain corporations or partnerships within a same group who are engaged exclusively in commercial activities, may make intra-group supplies of taxable goods or services without having to collect or remit the GST/QST otherwise applicable to such supplies ...
On September 9, 2014, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) issued CFTC Letter No. 14-116 (the “CFTC Letter”) providing exemptive relief allowing commodity pools to use general solicitation in certain types of private offerings, including offerings of private fund interests. The CFTC Letter is available here ...
On 25 June 2014 the European Commission announced adoption of the Commission Communication “Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition under Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (De Minimis Notice).” The De Minimis Notice was published in the Official Journal on 30 August 2014 (OJ C 291/1). The De Minimis Notice follows the existing practice of the Commission and the case law of the European Court of Justice ...
On September 3, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered an opinion vacating various orders of the United States Bankruptcy Court and District Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court” and the “District Court”) in the bankruptcy cases of TMT Procurement Corporation and its affiliated debtors (the “Debtors”), including a final order approving the Debtors’ post-petition debtor in possession financing (the “DI
Vice Chancellor Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery recently applied the business judgment standard of review at the pleading stage to dismiss a complaint challenging a cash-out merger involving a controlling stockholder. This is one of the first decisions applying the Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kahn v. M&F Worldwide Corp ...
The Texas Supreme Court denied a petition for review stemming from the Houston Court of Appeals’Barzoukas v. Found. Design, Ltd. decision.1 The case is significant because of its application of the economic loss rule (under Texas law) in the context of an owner-subcontractor dispute ...
PLMJ has launched the new version of its Portugal Investment Guide, which reflects PLMJ’s experience in handling innumerable investment projects in Portugal in a range of sectors, throughout its 45-year history.This Investment Guide proves that Portugal has increasingly competitive conditions – in terms of technology, workforce, infrastructure, logistics, geography, law and tax – to continue to attract large-scale investment projects ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently published six new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (“C&DIs”) related to the verification process for accredited investors under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. The C&DIs indicate that the SEC is strictly construing the income and net worth safe harbors for verification of a purchaser’s status as an accredited investor ...
After signing the Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”) with Turkey on July 28 and with France on July 10, and ratifying the BIT with Japan on June 25, Colombia significantly moves forward on the protection of foreign investments. These agreements pursue the establishment of a fair, safe and transparent juridical framework in order to draw foreign investors to Colombia and bolster Colombian investments abroad ...
On 5 August 2014, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia enacted the Law on amendments and additions to the Insolvency Law (“New Law”). The New Law came into force on 13 August 2014. It has been specified that insolvency proceedings that have not been completed on the day the New Law comes into force will be completed in accordance with the previous rules ...
On 5 August 2014, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia enacted a new Privatisation Law (“New Law”), which came into force on 13 August 2014. The New Law prescribes for the privatisation process to be completed before 31 December 2015. The four models of privatisation that have been prescribed include sale of capital, sale of assets, transfer of capital without compensation and strategic partnership. It also allows for the possibility to combine these models ...
A recent report in Fin24 entitled ‘MTN named SA and Africa’s strongest brand’ listed South Africa’s top 50 brands in terms of brand value. It was based on research done by the brand valuation company, BrandFinance. As the title suggests, MTN came out on top, followed by Sasol, Vodacom, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank, FNB, Mediclinic, Investec and Woolworths. Of the top 50 brands, 16 are in the food and beverages sector, 13 in financial services, and five in telecoms ...
