Breaking the News: Disclosing Data Breaches and Withstanding Regulatory Scrutiny Breached companies are often crime victims, but they are also potential targets for regulatory actions (and, as we will discuss in future installments, potential parties to a wide range of litigation) ...
Your company’s compliance programme may not be the easiest topic to bring up at an executive management meeting, but it probably is one of the most important. What makes for a good compliance programme? This topic was raised at a Krogerus Compliance Officer Roundtable that gathered a cross-section of business executives in Finland. Here is a summary of some ideas you may wish to keep in mind ...
In a landmark case in Australia that is a first of its kind (but undoubtedly will not be the last), damages have been awarded to New South Wales school teacher, Mrs Christine Mickle, for offensive and defamatory tweets and Facebook posts made by an ex-student of the school where she taught. The student, Andrew Farley, apparently held a grudge against Mrs Mickle for playing what he perceived as a role in the removal of his father from the position of head music teacher at the school ...
The Clock is Ticking: Investigating and Responding to a Breach Once your company becomes aware of a suspected data breach, time is of the essence. Losses from the breach are likely mounting, the clock is running on your organization’s legal rights and obligations, and the potential liability to claims by regulators and plaintiffs begins to expand ...
On February 20, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the motion for leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Québec rendered in the case of Theratechnologies inc. v. 121851 Canada Inc.1. In this unanimous judgment, the Court of Appeal decided that a judgment authorizing a class action based on section 225 ...
The Fourth Circuit recently held that selling contaminated drugs in violation of FDA regulations does not give rise to False Claims Act liability where compliance with the regulations is not a condition of federal reimbursement. See United States ex rel. Barry Rostholder v. Omnicare, Inc., No. 12-2431 (4th Cir. Feb. 21, 2014) ...
Insurance Coverage for Cyber Attacks: What Do You Need in a Cyber Liability Policy?With more and more businesses suffering costly data breaches and cyber attacks, companies should utilize every tool they have to shift the potentially enormous expenses associated with those breaches and attacks. That’s where insurance comes in ...
Although trust has always been regarded as one of the best succession vehicles, it has never been attractive for the succession of shares in companies because of a rule of English trust law, the “prudent man of business rule”. It was established in the case of Bartlett v Barclays Bank Trust Co Ltd [1980] 1 Ch 515 that it is the duty of a trustee to conduct the business of the trust with the same care as an ordinary prudent man of business would extend towards his own affairs ...
The world of networked devices controlling our heating and household energy supplies, monitoring our health, and ensuring our cars do not collide, is now more reality than science fiction. This interconnected world — this ‘Internet of Things’ — promises to transform our lives, probably more than we can presently imagine ...
Tailor-Made: Designing and Implementing a Bespoke Data Security Plan When you hear the term “bespoke,” you may think suits or dresses, but you should be thinking data security plans. Savvy organizations realize that there is no “one size fits all” approach to data security ...
Investors analysing the possibility to acquire a Chilean corporation should carefully consider the specific structure of corporate control governing most of the legal entities in Chile, since it strongly determines the way mergers and acquisitions are carried out in this country ...
We are seeing a definite upswing in the number of entrepreneurs and start-ups for myriad reasons (including, as one example, the recent enactment of Law 14/2013, of September 27, 2013, to support entrepreneurs and their internationalization). As a result, we have decided to launch a series of posts on the subject of start-ups and the world of the entrepreneur. This first post discusses the shareholders’ agreement because from a legal angle it is one of the cornerstones of any start-up ...
The news has been filled with stories of high-profile data breaches, exposing breached companies to intense and negative scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, media, customers, and plaintiffs’ attorneys. Other companies that handle personal information have been asking us how they can avoid a similar fate. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring that issue through our special series, "A Desk Guide to Data Protection and Breach Response ...
On January 27, 2014, the parliamentary secretary of the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs tabled five treaties in the House of Commons dealing with intellectual property, of which three relate to trademarks ...
Administrative fines and increased fees for exploitation of the environment are increasingly included in environmental regulations as sanctions. Lawmakers in Poland more and more often provide for administrative financial sanctions for environmental violations because they are more convenient to enforce than criminal sanctions, which require proof of fault on the part of a specific perpetrator. Moreover, criminal liability may be imposed solely on individuals ...
Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the Indonesian Government is planning to revise the current Negative List (Presidential Regulation No. 36 of 2010) to create more business opportunities for foreign investors and to improve the nation’s competitiveness. The Investment Coordinating Board (“BKPM”) is currently drafting the New Negative List in coordination with several other relevant government authorities ...
The moniker "spam" for unsolicited and often indiscriminate electronic communications to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups derives from a famous sketch in the British television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. However, these days spam is no joke. It is a scourge on modern communications ...
On January 17, 2014 the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued a ruling in Fisker Automotive Holdings, Inc., et. al., Case No. 13-13087 (KG), which highlights potential risks to both secured creditors and purchasers of claims in bankruptcy section 363 sales. The facts in Fisker are straightforward ...
On January 17, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced increased jurisdictional thresholds for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act). The FTC adjusts the thresholds annually to reflect changes in the gross national product. The revised thresholds will apply to any transaction closing on or after the effective date, which is 30 days after formal notice is published in the Federal Register ...
On January 9, the US District Court for the Northern District of California found that Bazaarvoice Inc. violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act by acquiring its primary rival, PowerReviews Inc. — launching the new year with a significant merger trial win for the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ). But, this case also is important for businesses analyzing antitrust risks associated with potential competitor acquisitions ...
Sierra Club v. Bostick (W.D. Oklahoma) In June 2012, environmental groups filed suit in the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma challenging the US Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 for utility line projects, and use of NWP 12 for the Keystone Pipeline Gulf Coast Project.Sierra Club v. Bostick, 5:12-cv-00742-R (W.D. Oklahoma) ...
In the United States, new rules will soon be taking effect making consideration of vapour intrusion risk a mandatory step in the Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) process. Companies should review their real estate portfolios and consider whether properties may be at risk. In Canada, mortgage financing and asset sales are expected to be affected by the new diligence standard (that includes checking for vapour intrusion risks) in the near future ...
Traditionally, the estate administrator’s main duty has been to liquidate the machinery of the estate as quickly as possible. But there are alternative possibilities. Instead of seeing the bankruptcy estate as a pile of assets left behind by a company that has gone through financial hardship, smart thinking says you should see this as an opportunity to start a new business. At its best, bankruptcy means a fresh start for a successor company without burdens of the bankrupt one ...
Why Proportionality Should Be Considered As Part of the Preservation Parties have a general duty to preserve and produce relevant electronically stored information (ESI). This duty, however, is bounded by a proportionality requirement because e-discovery should not be allowed to be the tail that wags the dog. Courts and parties have been adept at applying proportionality requirements to the production of ESI, but they have struggled to apply proportionality to the preservation of ESI ...
