Earlier this year, I wrote an article entitled “Why you should choose the BVI for your next Fund.” Since then new regulations ushering in an “Approved Managers” regime have been published and as of December 10, 2012 are now in force. The effect of these new regulations is to make the BVI an attractive option for setting up as an investment manager ...
It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 active companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and that more than half of those companies are used in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. While, traditionally, many of these companies have been used as asset holding vehicles, the robust Chinese economy has led to the increased use of BVI companies in China and Hong Kong as hedge funds and other types of investment vehicles. This is no surprise ...
With regard to our In Fact and In Law Express newsletter of July 2012, entitled ‘‘AMF Investigations: The duty to answer an investigator and his jurisdiction to rule on objections’’, please be informed that, on December 20, 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed Fournier’s application for leave1 to appeal a Court of Appeal decision2, which convicted Fournier of an offence under section 195(4) SA because of his refusal to testify whereas lower courts acquitted him ...
End users will be relieved to know that compliance dates for business conduct and documentation rules related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), which had been driving the request by swap dealers and major swap participants for end users to enter into the ISDA August 2012 DF Protocol or otherwise amend their swap documents by the end of the year, have now been delayed until May 1, 2013 ...
On November 20 and 27, 2012, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) filed two letters with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) requesting an extension of compliance dates for certain new business conduct, portfolio reconciliation and swap trading relationship documentation requirements issued by the CFTC pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) ...
In a recent decision1, the Superior Court ruled in favour of GE, Commercial Distribution Finance Canada ("GE") in a dispute against the national Bank of Canada ("NBC"). Both institutions had a common client, New World Zanotti Transblock Inc. ("Zanotti"), which had granted each of them a hypothec specifically charging its receivables. NBC had agreed to grant GE's hypothec a prior rant to its own ...
Two recent decisions of the Court of Appeal Remind us of the duty on Investment Advisors and Financial Securities Advisors to know their client and the correlative duty of the information. In both cases, the Court of Appeal held that the Advisor has breached his duty to know his client, assess the Client's needs, and inform and advise the Client. Both cases also dealt with the Client's possible contributory negligence ...
On October 24, 2012, the Harper government announced its intentions to enact new regulations to protect consumers who use prepaid credit cards in order to broaden their options regarding the forms of payment that best suit their needs. Such prepaid payment products allow consumers to make purchases or cash withdrawals through a payment network like American Express, MasterCard or Visa, with funds that have been paid in advance to a financial institution ...
North Carolina’s banking laws have been comprehensively updated for the first time in 80 years and provide the state with one of one of the most modern banking systems in the country. Effective October 1, 2012, the bipartisan legislation is a product of compromise and joint effort on the part of legislators, banks and consumer advocates ...
In a time when foreclosures are all too common, many secured lenders end up taking title to the real properties securing their loans. One of the questions, then, is should a lender obtain an owner’s title insurance policy or is the loan title insurance policy sufficient?As we all know, title insurance reduces the risk of the insured owner or lender by insuring one or both against loss or damage arising out of defects to or liens on title ...
Is your community bank or holding company still a public company? Are you making periodic filings — 10-K's, 10-Q's, 8-K's, Proxy Statements — to the SEC or your primary federal bank regulator? Are you still subject to Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX)? Why? A large number of community bank holding companies have filed to deregister from reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ...
A federal court recently held that two investment funds are not jointly and severally liable for a bankrupt portfolio company’s withdrawal liability to a multiemployer pension plan disagreeing with a 2007 opinion by the Appeals Board of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”). The Massachusetts U.S. District Court ruled there was no liability because the investment funds are not “trades or businesses” for purposes of ERISA’s joint and several liability rules ...
If you a trader, financial analyst or other financial technocrat and are thinking of setting up a fund, then the British Virgins Islands is probably your best bet. In today’s financial environment, investor capital for a start up fund can be hard to come by ...
On May 14, 2012, the Honourable Normand Gosselin, J.S.C., ruled on an amended motion seeking the sanction of a plan of arrangement concerning a debtor, Norgate Metal Inc. ("Norgate").1 The judgment is special in that Norgate asked the court to annul some of the votes that had been cast against the plan of arrangement. Norgate submitted that the only reason why the creditors who cast those votes had voted against the plan was that they wished to eliminate a competitor from their industry ...
On August 30, 2011, Hart Stores Inc./Magasins Hart inc. ( hereinafter “Hart”), filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (hereinafter the “CCAA”). As part of the restructuring, Hart closed down 32 out of 92 points of sale and laid off 640 out of 1,600 employees. Included in the lay off are five executives, who are the subject of this bulletin.The executives were all laid off by means of a simple notice of termination ...
On October 17, 2012, there was published in the Federal Official Gazette an executive order issuing the Federal Act to Prevent and Identify Illegally-Funded Transactions. The purpose of the Act is to track and investigate activities and transactions involving resources illegally obtained ...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) recently fined an organisation £250,000 fter its outsourcing vendor carelessly dumped confidential financial data in ublic recycling bins. This incident provides a stark reminder to organisationsthat they remain legally responsible for personal data, even where they utsource data processing activities to third parties ...
Quebec Law has for a long time distinguished the personal guarantor from the real guarantor: a personal guanrantor is personally bound to repay a creditor should the principal debtor fail to perform its obligations; a real guarantor does no more than give some of its assets as collateral to a creditor, and unlike a personal guarantor, is not personally bound to repay the loan granted to the principal debtor ...
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act" or the "Act") attempts to sort through the energy trading and hedging market to protect "commercial end users" from new regulatory burdens intended for trading firms and financial institutions ...
Contents: The Application for Rectification by the Court Is Not a Cure for all Ills: Prevention is Better than (Attempting!) a CureRegister your Trade-marks!; The Importance of Having a Detailed Power of Attorney in the Event of a Person’s IncapacityEffect of a Unanimous Shareholders’ Agreement on CCPC Status THE APPLICATION FOR RECTIFICATION BY THE COURT IS NOT A CURE FOR ALL ILLS: PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN (ATTEMPTING!) A CURELast June 19, the Superio
Outsourcing has for years been gaining popularity. Together with an increase in the number of businesses, their branches, subsidiaries as well as capital groups, increasing attention is drawn to the costs of their operations. Such activities as personal, payroll, procurement, IT, or back office in the case of financial institutions are unnecessarily duplicated in the case of companies in a capital group or generate greater costs than if carried out by an external specialized firm ...
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) are currently consulting on changes to the definition of type 9 regulated activity that will affect all Hong Kong asset managers who use over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives in their portfolios. The consultation ends on 31 August. We encourage you to read the consultation paper ...
On April 20, 2012, Justice Mongeon of the Quebec Superior Court rendered an important decision in the restructuring of the White Birch Paper Company ("White Birch")1. The judgment could have a lasting effect on CCAA Jurisprudence in Quebec since it deals with issues relating to the pension plans of insolvent companies and the applicability of an important decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Quebec ...
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued its conclusions on its proposals in relation to the establishment of a financial dispute resolution centre and to amend the Code of Conduct (Code) on 21 May 2012 and the conclusions are available on the SFC website: http://www.sfc.hk/sfc/doc/EN/speeches/consult/Conclusions_Paper_FDRC_21May2012_EN.pdf On 19 June 2012 the SFC released the revised version of the Code which can be accessed here: http://www.sfc ...
On April 16, 2012 the Swedish government submitted the 2012 spring budget to parliament. On the same day, the Ministry of Finance released a memorandum with proposed changes to tax legislation, which was sent for consideration. It is proposed that most of the changes come into effect on January 1, 2013. Below you will find a short summary of the key changes in the memorandum ...
