In the recent English case of Lamesa Investments v Cynergy Bank [2020] EWCA Civ 821, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) affirmed the High Court (“HC”)’s ruling that non-US financial institution borrower Cynergy’s (a) refusal to pay Lamesa did not constitute a default where the ultimate beneficial owner of Lamesa remained a blocked person under US sanctions law based on a clause in the facility agreement that Cynergy would not be at fault if a sum was not paid
In John Innes Foundation and Others v. Vertiv Infrastructure Limited [2020] EWHC 19 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court had to decide whether a sub-contractor to a managing agent maintaining standby power equipment was liable to the owners of premises for failure to make site visits and therefore identify that batteries (said to have caused a fire on the premises) needed replacing ...
The recent case of Bond Tak (Holdings) Ltd v King Fame Trading Ltd, HCA 2129/2018, concerned an application by the Defendant to dismiss or permanently stay the High Court action on the grounds that the dispute was subject to an arbitration agreement and should be submitted to arbitration or, alternatively, the action should be stayed on the grounds of forum non conveniens and in favour of the Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou City in Mainland China (Guangzhou Court) ...
In the recent case of 1955 Capital Fund I GP LLC & ANOR v Global Industrial Investment Ltd, HCCT 61/2019, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance set aside an Enforcement Order, whereby the Applicants had been given leave to enforce in Hong Kong an arbitration award (Award) made in California. The Court found that there had been material non-disclosure by the Applicants in their affidavit in support of the application for the Enforcement Order ...
This 18th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees us return to what, even in these early days of the pandemic, must be considered as some of the hottest topics. Thus, we discuss new insurance coverage disputes from the owners of Cheers in Boston and the internationally known restaurateur Jose Andres in Washington, D.C ...
Key Points The California Supreme Court clarified the so-called California Rule on public employee’s "vested rights" to pension benefits, holding that detrimental financial changes to employee pension benefits do not invariably require that offsetting comparable new advantages be provided. And it set a legal framework for analyzing that issue ...
Retired Navy SEALs apparently have a persistence that other taxpayers may not have. Case in point (literally)—Noell Industries, Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Commission, decided on May 22, 2020, by the Idaho Supreme Court ...
Tax and Revenue Income tax The following technical guidelines have recently been published on the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia’s official website: Garis Panduan Mengenai Duti Setem ke atas Suratcara Pindah Milik Saham bagi Saham dalam Syarikat yang Tidak Tersenarai di Bursa Malaysia Berhad (available in Malay language only) — issued on 23 June 2020 to replace Technical Guideline dated 6 November 2019;Garis Panduan Permohonan untuk Kelulusan Ketua Pengarah Hasil Dal
Early on the morning of June 13, 2017, over one hundred federal agents raided facilities across southern California belonging to behavioral health provider Sovereign Heath. The agents provided search warrants indicating that they were seeking evidence of fraudulent billing and kickbacks ...
In the recent case of Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1084), Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance allowed a novel mode of ordinary service of court documents, using an online data room, to which the persons so served were given access by being sent a previously Court-approved letter providing a link to the data room with clear pictorial instructions, and by separate communication an access code to the data room ...
Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201) (POBO) criminalizes corrupt transactions with agents in both public and private sectors. The first question which would come to one’s mind is, who is an “agent”? Under section 2 of the POBO, an “agent” includes “a public servant and any person employed by or acting for another” ...
In Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1233), the Court made an order requiring various banks to supply documents by way of disclosure to the Plaintiffs and permitting (indeed, encouraging) the banks to do so by use of electronic or digital versions of those documents being uploaded to a data room ...
Cyber frauds, in particular email scams, have become a common trend of crime in Hong Kong in recent years. Fraudsters use various means to deceive the victims into transferring money to unauthorised bank accounts. Upon discovery of the fraud and based on information obtained from the bank, the victim may apply for an injunction from the court to freeze the recipients’ bank accounts and if the victim is lucky enough, there will be some credit balance left to recover ...
This 17th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, discusses everything from insurance coverage disputes to statewide shutdown orders. Despite an uphill climb towards liability, businesses continue to challenge their insurers' denials of COVID-19-related claims. At the same time, they are looking to Congress for help against potentially ruinous liability claims while also trying to shift current COVID-19-related litigation to the federal courts ...
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of the disease. California, after having permitted much of the state to reopen businesses, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and on July 13th implemented a new statewide order to curb the increase, reimposing certain business closures ...
Companies subject to product liability lawsuits – and their counsel – know the importance of promptly examining whether the company is subject to general personal jurisdiction or specific personal jurisdiction of the forum court. A court with general personal jurisdiction over a defendant can hear any and all claims against that defendant. After the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S. Ct 746 (2014) and BSNF Railway Co. v ...
Key Points Participants in defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k), 401(a), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) plans, can skip their required minimum distribution (RMD) payments for 2020. If RMDs for 2020 have already been received, participants have until August 31, 2020 to rollover the RMD into an eligible retirement plan ...
In an effort to attract more foreign talent to work in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation jointly issued a Notice on 14 March 2019, granting Individual Income Tax (IIT) subsidy to overseas (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) high-end talent and talent in short supply working in the GBA (Circular 31) ...
This is a briefing on the issuances as of July 22, 2020 on the following matters in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) Suspends Services at its Main Office from July 20 to 27, and Extends Deadlines B. BIR Amends Reportorial Requirements of Banks and Other Lenders that Granted a Grace Period on Loans that were due during the Enhanced Community Quarantine C. New Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Form for Related Party Transactions A ...
This 16th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, discusses claims ranging from insurance coverage disputes to prisoners’ rights. The top story this week, however, is undoubtedly a Michigan ruling that dismissed business interruption claims on the merits—a major early victory for insurers. Even so, it seems doubtful that this one ruling will slow down the flood of coverage disputes ...
When I became a judicial law clerk right out of law school, my boss, a federal judge in Houston, Texas, explained to me that the goal of his job (and therefore mine) was to find the right answer and do the right thing. That was, in a sense, easy enough. Research the law, and figure out how it applies to the particular facts of each case — because following the law is the right thing to do. Of course, judges will disagree about how the law should apply ...
In a landmark victory for Federally-qualified health centers, a California Court of Appeal confirmed last October that federal and state law requires the State of California to pay FQHCs “100 percent” of their costs of furnishing core and other ambulatory services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. (Tulare Pediatric Health Care Center v. State Department of Health Care Services (2nd Dist. 2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 163 ...
In what appears to be the first substantive dispositive ruling on a COVID-19 related business interruption insurance claim, a Michigan court has dismissed an insured’s business interruption claim, finding that the insured did not suffer a direct physical loss and no insurance coverage exists for the insured’s claim ...
“Shield 4.0” extends the deadlines for all obligated entities to file transfer pricing information (TPR), declarations on preparation of local transfer pricing documentation, and enclosures of group transfer pricing documentation. The earlier regulations extended the deadlines only for selected taxpayers ...
Resolution No. 61/202 of Chilean Tax Authority amends instructions on Certificate No. 66 on donations and expenses associated with the global outbreak of Covid-19 July 6, 2020 On June 17, the Internal Revenue Service issued the Resolution No. 61 through which it modified the Resolution No. 49, which creates the certificate that recipients must issue for the donations they receive in the context of the health crisis produced by Covid-19. According to Resolution No ...
