Two new bills, the Insurance Amendment Bill and the Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Bill have recently been gazetted making significant changes to the regulatory regime for insurance companies. Insurance Amendment Bill Special purpose insurer An amendment is made to allow registration of an insurance company which engages in special purpose business only ...
Key Points City council and planning commission recusals can have a significant impact on the outcome of hearings involving land use and environmental issues. Recusals can lead to tie votes or the loss of a quorum, which may make it impossible for local governments to approve development projects. In some circumstances, an elected or appointed official’s failure to recuse can be grounds for reversing local government decisions ...
Key Points City council and planning commission recusals can have a significant impact on the outcome of hearings involving land use and environmental issues. Recusals can lead to tie votes or the loss of a quorum, which may make it impossible for local governments to approve development projects. Failing to disclose conflicts of interests can be grounds for reversing local government approvals ...
As more workers begin to return to the workplace, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of lawsuits related to employee contraction of the virus in the workplace. While the general rule in most states is that the workers’ compensation system provides the exclusive remedy for work-related injuries and illnesses, claimants and their attorneys are eyeing exceptions to the workers’ compensation system in order to maximize their potential recovery ...
In 鄧錦祥 v 鄭鄧錦容 , CACV 370/2019, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal exercised its discretion to dismiss the Respondent’s late application for security for costs and reminded litigants and their legal representatives of their duty to proceed promptly with making interlocutory applications in an appeal, as delay in making such applications can be a ground for the court to dismiss them, especially where a hearing date for the appeal has already been fixed ...
In Da Shing Group Ltd v Rich Promise Limited [2020] HKCFI 588[1], the Hong Kong Court of First Instance provided guiding principles in the interpretation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and considered whether pre-contractual exchanges could be admitted as evidence. The MOU in Chinese related to the acquisition of about 50.46% of the shareholding (Shares) in a listed company, Crocodile Garments Limited (Crocodile) ...
Section 29 of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap. 6) (BO) allows a trustee in bankruptcy to apply to the Courts for orders compelling disclosure of material documents and/or information of the bankrupt in order for the trustee to carry out his/her duties under the bankruptcy. For the authors’ previous article on Section 29, please see here ...
HAS SUPREME COURT TAKEN A STEP BACK IN ITS RECENT JUDGMENT IN “NAFED VS. ALIMENTA S.A.”? The Supreme Court on April 22, 2020 declared a foreign award unenforceable on the ground that one of the provisions of the Agreement in question was hit by Section 32 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and thus violative of public policy of India. Brief Background: NAFED and Alimenta S.A ...
After the start of Phase 2 (which began on 4 May 2020) the Italian government adopted on 16 May Law Decree no. 33 concerning, inter alia, "Further urgent measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak" (the "DL 16 May 2020"). Moreover, on 17 May 2020, in implementation of the aforementioned DL 16 May 2020, the Prime Minister issued a new decree with specific implementing provisions (the "PMD 17 May 2020") ...
Can the shuttered events industry restructure to not just survive but thrive? While many organisations are facing an urgent need to restructure to survive the COVID-19 led financial crisis, those most acutely affected are in the major event, hospitality, tourism, festival and sporting businesses. Social isolation and the severe curtailment of most travel has effectively shut down many of these industries ...
As we continue our series on bankruptcy litigation, we want to discuss the use of receiverships as an important aspect of a fully developed creditors' rights practice. Creditors often face recalcitrant corporate debtors who continue to reap the rewards of their business while ignoring all attempts by creditors to collect amounts owed to them. Sometimes, those debtors' intricate corporate structure makes it harder for creditors to trace money and assets and easier for debtors to hide them ...
This seventh edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees a continuation of the trend we identified last week: shutdown challenges, workers' compensation claims, and wrongful death lawsuits have dominated the past week’s news cycle. We expect these latter two types of cases, which we consider more broadly as COVID-19 exposure cases, to pick up significantly as the country reopens over the next several weeks ...
In the recent case of 'Ixchel Pharma v. Biogen', the Ninth Circuit asked the California Supreme Court to resolve two questions “because of their significance for business torts in California.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit—which includes California—occasionally encounters questions of California law that it cannot resolve ...
An increasing number of captives have been looking at writing business interruption coverage for their owners. They should tread carefully, as doing so without following the correct procedures could have adverse tax implications. The outbreak of COVID-19 has caught many businesses off guard and in need of cash. Some hope their business interruption insurance policies will provide coverage for a loss of income suffered from a slowdown or suspension of operations ...
Thirteen years after the filing of the initial complaint, the First Circuit recently revived a False Claims Act (FCA) suit, reversing the district court and holding a relator can be an “original source” without participating in or having contemporaneous knowledge about the alleged fraud. See United States ex rel. Banigan v. PharMerica, Inc., 950 F.3d 134 (1st Cir. 2020) ...
Lawmakers and citizens across the country are engaged in disputes over the breadth and duration of shutdown orders intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Pennsylvania was the first state, however, to have a case reach the U.S. Supreme Court where, despite a setback for the petitioners when their application for stay was denied, it remains pending. And, Pennsylvania may have the distinction of the most contentious dispute, as well ...
Key Points Cafeteria plans may permit mid-year election changes prospectively, including health and dependent care FSA contributions, to address effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Grace period for health and dependent care FSAs may be extended through 2020, even for plans that allow carryovers. Employers must notify eligible employees of temporary plan changes, and adopt plan amendments by the end of 2021 ...
It is a common concern among commentators on international relations that the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to deglobalisation. Indeed, the havoc wrought by the pandemic in the global economy raises some unsettling questions about the fragility of global supply chains, especially in critical industries, and about the interdependency of national economies. It is nudging sentiment towards reshoring, promoting domestic production and protectionism ...
In March, the European Commission recommended that member states introduce temporary restrictions on travel to the European Union (through 15 May 2020). The vast majority of European countries coordinate border control measures at the EU level. States are again fencing their territories, suspending the free movement of persons also between regions ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is paralysing the global economy, but it is not the virus itself preventing businesses from operating. States seeking to protect their citizens against danger are introducing unprecedented limitations on civil rights and freedoms, rendering operations in some sectors of the economy impossible. In other sectors, business has become more burdensome, costly or risky ...
The law is one of the main instruments of social impact, which is particularly evident in the midst of aglobal health crisis, when the situation and applicable regulations are changing every day. New statutes and regulations are key to maintaining the delicate balance between order and chaos, public and private interests, and the common good and individual rights ...
On 5 May 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht or BVerfG) issued amuch-noted ruling in a case involving the Public Sector Asset Purchase Programme of the European Central Bank. The judgment has caused agreat stir, as the BVerfG expressly refused to comply with aruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union ...
Phase 1 of the ‘scaling-down’ process, third tranche of guarantees, extension of ERTE temporary layoffs, potential delay in the application of VAT directives and of DAC6, and measures to support the cultural sector For another week running, Garrigues summarizes the key issues that companies need to be aware of over the coming days ...
This is a briefing on the following issuances as of May 10, 2020 in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. Suspension of Periods to File Applications and Other Documents with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) B. Issuances Supplementing the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF) Omnibus Guidelines on Community Quarantine (Omnibus Guidelines) C ...
