Court decisions regarding company names are rare. So the recent decision of the Western Cape High Court in the case of Bloomberg’s Posterity Investments (Pty) Ltd v The Registrar of Companies and Bloomberg LLP is worth discussing. What makes company name cases interesting from an intellectual property (IP) law point of view is that they deal with issues that are very similar to the issues that are dealt with in trade mark infringement and passing-off cases ...
On July 10, 2013, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to Rule 506 of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, that will lift the ban on general solicitation for certain private offerings, including offerings of private fund interests (“New Rule 506(c)”). New Rule 506(c) will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register ...
On July 10, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the new, much-anticipated rules that lift the ban on general solicitation and advertising in connection with certain private offerings of securities ...
After the recent downturn, examiners have been placing more emphasis on reputation risk. This emphasis, however, is being applied paternalistically, in a way that is limiting legitimate transactions. I have heard of examiners advising bankers to terminate relationships with payday lenders because of reputation risk. The examiners are implicitly saying the risk of such association will so damage an institution's reputation as to jeopardize safety and soundness ...
On June 19, 2013, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the Court” or “WVSCA”) issued an important decision that bolsters the ability of financial institutions and other defendants to enforce arbitration agreements. Credit Acceptance Corporation v. Front, Docket Nos. 11-1646, 12-0545 (W. Va. June 19, 2013), Slip Op. Spilman consumer finance attorneys were pleased to obtain this victory on the consolidated appeal of two orders denying arbitration ...
Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, a third opinion in what is now a trilogy of cases upholding the validity of class action waiver clauses in contracts containing arbitration agreements ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized amendments to formally adopt a framework regarding the voluntary withdrawal of Hart Scott Rodino (HSR) premerger notification filings and submission without an additional filing fee to allow additional time for enforcement agency review of transactions during the initial HSR waiting period ...
Frequently asked questions on new foreign exchange rules: What currency should be used to pay the salaries of employees in Angola?The salaries of employees who are foreign exchange residents in Angola, irrespective of the sector of activity, must be paid in Kwanzas, the national currency. When Will i start to receive my salary in Kwanzas? As of 1 July 2013, in accordance with the implementation calendar of Law 2/12 of 13 January, defined by Order no ...
Decree-Law 2/2005 of 27 December, which approved the Mozambican commercial Code, makes it possible for Mozambican or foreign individuals or clients to set up business in Mozambique in one of six different ways: (i) general partnership (Sociedade em Nome Colectivo); (ii) limited partnership (Sociedade em Comandita); (iii) capital and industry partnership (Sociedade de Capital e Indústria); (iv) quota company (Sociedade por Quotas); (v)
IntroductionOn 6 June 2013 the Council of Ministers approved the bill to finalise the transposition of Directive 2003/49/ EC of the Council of 3 June into the IRC (corporate income tax) Code. The Directive, which establishes a common system of taxation applicable to interest and royalty payments made between associated companies of different Member States, is commonly known as the ‘Interest & Royalties Directive’ ...
Chambers & Partners has published its Legal Practice Guide on Corporate M&A 2013. The publication, which may be read for free online, includes two Philippine sections contributed by SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw): - The section on Philippine Trends and Developments was contributed by Managing Partner Rafael A. Morales and Partner Philbert E. Varona, and contains an overview of the practice, including typical structuring issues and recent developments on foreign ownership ...
In a recent bench ruling, the Delaware Court of Chancery refused to dismiss a stockholder’s complaint alleging, among other things, that a company’s board of directors had amended a stock incentive plan without obtaining stockholder approval as required by the listing rules of the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). The court did so even though the company had received email confirmation from the NYSE staff agreeing that stockholder approval was not required ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the "Second Circuit") recently affirmed a broad reading of the safe harbor of United States Bankruptcy Code (the "Bankruptcy Code") section 546(e), which protects from avoidance both "margin payments" and "settlement payments" as well as transfers made in connection with a "securities contract ...
1 Patent Enforcement 1.1 How and before what tribunals can a patent be enforced against an infringer? Patents are enforced against an infringer either through a civil action before the Regional Trial Court (“RTC”) or an administrative action before the Bureau of Legal Affairs (“BLA”) of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (“IPP”) ...
1 Relevant Authorities and Legislation 1.1 What is the relevant Philippine trade mark authority? The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) is the relevant trade mark authority. 1.2 What is the relevant Philippine trade mark legislation? Republic Act 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IP Code), is the relevant trade mark legislation. 2 Application for a Trade Mark 2 ...
On June 25, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued CFPB Bulletin 2013-06 to announce its "Responsible Business Conduct" policies. The bulletin lays out, in very general terms, suggestions for how companies might curry favor with the Bureau’s Office of Enforcement by engaging in voluntary self-policing, self-reporting, remediation, and cooperation activities. The bulletin is available at [link to http://files.consumerfinance ...
On June 14, 2013, the Act respecting insurance (Quebec) (the "Act") was amended by sections 1 to 5 of An Act to amend various legislative provisions mainly concerning the financial sector. The new sections, 66.1.1 to 66.1 ...
After a prolonged internal debate, the Securities and Exchange Commission has unanimously proposed new rules for the regulation of money market mutual funds, also known as money market funds or money funds. If adopted, these rules would fundamentally change the basic characteristics of most money funds ...
The Commission has adopted, on 11 June 2013, a proposal for a Directive on damages actions for the infringement of EU and national competition laws. If adopted by the EU legislator, the Directive would require the EU Member States to enact implementing legislation within a two year period. Although the groundbreaking features of the proposal make its final adoption uncertain, such adoption would have enormous implications for private competition damages actions within the EU ...
Law 55-A/2012 of 29 October – published last year as part of the package of measures to combat the financial crisis – made ownership, use or surface rights of residential urban properties with an official taxable value (valor patrimonial tributário) equal to or greater than EUR 1 million subject to Stamp Duty, calculated at the rate of 1% ...
It is known that the effects of better infrastructures on a country’s economy are enormous and this fact has been widely recognised in the ambitious Strategic Development Plan laid down by the Government of East Timor, which highlights that the “policy framework to 2020 will ensure that Timor has quality national infrastructures in place by the end of this decade ...
Nearly everybody talks about it. The Integrity in Public Contracts Act, also referred to as Bill 1, has been assented to on December 7, 2012 after an expedited review process of barely three months. Everybody is talking about it because the Act imposes on tenderers new requirements aiming at curbing fraud and corruption which, according to investigations of public authorities, undermine the construction industry ...
In January 2012, the Electronic Commerce Committee of the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR)1 released an issue paper entitled “Electronic Commerce in Insurance Products”, through which it invited insurers and intermediaries to provide feedback on certain targeted issues respecting online insurance distribution.Many stakeholders responded; 25 submissions were sent to the CCIR ...
On June 13, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought a settled administrative proceeding against Revlon, Inc., for disclosure violations relating to a 2009 exchange offer subject to the going-private rules under Rule 13e-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.1 As described below, the SEC alleges that Revlon engaged in various acts described as "ring fencing" in an effort to conceal negative information about the transaction from minority stockholders ...
