This is the third article in our series about sponsor licences. This article focuses on the effect of insolvency on a sponsor licence. Businesses are facing challenging times in the current economic downturn and insolvency is a real possibility for many, with 5,595 company insolvencies in the third quarter of 2022[1] alone. If a business is on the brink of insolvency this will potentially have an impact on any sponsorship licences held within the company group ...
Charities face challenges on many fronts right now, but one silver lining to the cost-of-living crisis is the popularity of charity shops, especially among younger people. Today sees the launch of Charity Super.Mkt at the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in North London, a great illustration of necessity being the mother of invention, meeting the demand for sustainable fashion and bringing life back to vacant retail space. Charity Super ...
The end of the first month in 2023 also marks the end of the next quarter in our case law update series. Here we highlight the most significant employment law cases since November 2022 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Redundancy pool Deciding on which employees to include in a redundancy pool is usually straightforward. However, problems can arise, particularly where the pool includes just one person, as the case of Teixeira v Zaika Restaurant Ltd and another demonstrated ...
The UAE commercial agency regime has been a central pillar of commerce since the issuance of UAE Federal Law 18 of 1981 (the 1981 Law). While piecemeal amendments to the 1981 Law have been introduced from time to time, the UAE government has now issued UAE Federal Law 3 of 2022 concerning commercial agencies (the New Agencies Law) which repeals and replaces the 1981 Law in its entirety ...
Dr Nicholas Valenzia, head of the Shipping and Aviation Practice Area at the firm, was invited to speak at the National Aviation Conference which was organised by the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects on the 18th of January 2023 at the Phoenicia Hotel in Floriana. Dr Valenzia discussed the aircraft financing and leasing market in Malta and the challenges to enhancing sectorial capacity and improving socio-economic benefits ...
Contents Risk analysis in an evolving market Complex fund structures Typical structures in our jurisdictions Legal perspective Waiver of commitments Market risk Competition in the market Concentration risk Liquidity risk ESG risks Conclusion Risk analysis in an evolving market Despite being a relatively long-standing lending product, there have been limited public payment defaults by funds in the fund finance space ...
We are pleased to issue our third edition of the Regulatory Compliance Quarterly Updates. These updates are intended to keep Maltese regulated entities informed of regulatory changes and developments taking place in the local financial services space ...
This inBrief highlights the different aspects of venture capital, animportant source of raising money for start-up companies which donot have access to capital markets. We discuss the different types ofventure financing through which start-ups can raise money andwhich are taken into account when assessing valuations ...
This is the second article in our series about sponsor licences. This article focuses on the effect of an acquisition on a sponsor licence. When selling or acquiring a company that already holds a sponsor licence, certain reporting duties will arise in relation to that transaction ...
In a landmark decision delivered on the 11th January 2023, in the names ‘Av. Jonathan Abela Fiorentino noe vs Eolia Limited’ (case no. 68/2022 ISB), the Civil Court (Commercial Section) rejected the application filed by defendant company demanding the Court to order a retrial of the liquidation proceedings that led to the company being placed into liquidation ...
By choice or regulation, the future of the maritime industry bends toward decarbonization. The industry contributes (by one estimate) almost 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and depends on one of the dirtiest energy sources, bunker fuel. But cleaner alternatives are on the horizon for everyone. Companies that commit to decarbonization early have an opportunity to drive change instead of reacting to it ...
Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Apple, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-2275 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 20, 2023) Our Case of the Week focuses on the doctrine of prosecution laches. Following a bench trial on the issue held shortly after the Federal Circuit’s decision in Hyatt v. Hirshfeld, 998 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2021), the district court found Personalized Media Communications’ patent unenforceable under the doctrine ...
This is the first of three articles in our series on sponsor licences. This article focuses on how to obtain a sponsor licence as a Start-up business. In the eyes of the Home Office, a Start-up is a company that has been operating or trading in the UK for less than 18 months on the date that they make a sponsor licence application ...
On 2 January 2023, three pieces of federal legislation came into effect which, if implemented as envisaged, will arguably make the most significant changes to litigation in the on-shore Dubai Courts since the UAE was established ...
Introduction On 22 December 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (‘MFSA’ or ‘the Authority’) issued a stakeholder consultation on the proposed establishment of a new framework for Notified Professional Investor Funds (‘NPIFs’). The NPIF framework proposal seeks to introduce a new fund structure, complementing the existing fund frameworks in Malta ...
On January 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here. The deadline for comments on the proposed rule is March 20, 2023. Comments can be submitted online at Regulations.gov or in writing to Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex C), Washington, DC 20580 ...
On January 10, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a long-awaited opinion which will allow the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to determine the means by which it will repay inappropriate cuts it levied against 340B participating hospitals’ Medicare reimbursement.[i] The District Court’s decision comes on the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in American Hospital Association v. Becerra, 142 S. Ct ...
On January 5, 2023 the SEC announced a settled Administrative Proceeding with Randy Robertson. Mr. Robertson previously served as the co-portfolio manager for the BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust (“BIT”). While serving as the co-portfolio manager for BIT, Mr. Robertson explored the possibility of a BlackRock investment opportunity regarding a potential secured lending investment relating to print and advertising expenses associated with film distribution. Mr ...
The Supreme Court has upheld a summary judgment against a tenant in respect of payment of service charge where the demand was referred to in the lease as being “conclusive" once certified by the landlord - but also held that this does not prevent the tenant from then bringing a counterclaim in relation to its underlying liability. The tenant is therefore required to pay immediately, and then challenge disputed elements of the costs ...
Following the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "CJEU") ruling which invalidated the "public access" feature of the Luxembourg Register of Beneficial Owners (the "RBE"), the Ministry of Justice required Luxembourg Business Registers (the "LBR") to immediately suspend all public access to the RBE pending the introduction of access rights more in line with the conclusions of the CJEU’s ruling ...
In response to the pandemic, the Canadian government launched in the spring of 2020 the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the ?CEWS?), a program that provides employers with a subsidy based on the remuneration paid to their employees and income they lost during the pandemic. Section 125.7 of the Income Tax Act (the ?ITA?) sets out how the subsidy is to be calculated, and likely caused problems for those who had to interpret this ambiguous provision without supporting doctrine or jurisprudence ...
On January 16, 2023, the Commission for the Financial Market (“CMF”) announced the beginning of the implementation of Law No. 21,521, known as the “Fintech Law”, which will come into force on February 3, 2023. The entry into force of the Fintech Law is an extremely relevant milestone for the financial industry since, among other things, it establishes a regulatory framework for services based on Fintech technologies that were not regulated by our legislation ...
It has been some time since there has been talk about bonfires in Parliament but the continued debate (albeit largely outside of the Chamber thus far) as to when we should finally say 'farewell' to 'retained' EU legislation is one that many of us are watching with interest. When originally introduced, the suggestion that some 4,000 pieces of legislation would essentially evaporate by the end of this year caused something veering between confusion, concern and, let's be honest, disbelief ...
The Online Safety Bill is to be amended to include an offence for officers or senior managers of key tech companies who fail to comply with duties to protect children online. As currently drafted, the offence will apply to senior managers and officers (or those purporting to fulfil such functions) of "user-to-user services" (better known as social media sites, but they could include many online businesses, including forums, online gaming sites and cloud storage providers) ...
