It seems every week, there is a new story about a company being impacted by a major data breach and the consequences that follow from such breach, including the inevitable lawsuits, public relations nightmare, and governmental investigations. These breach stories are then followed by articles about the high costs to deal with these breach events, including costs to notify consumers, to identify the source of the breach, to pay for credit monitoring, among many other costs ...
Macau’s booming property market has prompted the government to issue a series of laws to provide further security to both buyers and sellers. The most important changes are to the laws on stamp duty and promissory and pre-sale agreements. Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, like most gems, is small and valuable. The attractiveness of this region also appears in the property market, where prices have been on the rise for the last few years (the annual increase in 2013 was of 43% per m2) ...
On 1 April 2014 amendments to the Contributions Act increasing the general rate for health insurance contributions from 13% to 15% came into force. The new contribution rate will be applied to salaries beginning in April 2014. Receipts related to previous periods will be grandfathered in at the previous applicable rate. Unused vacation for 2013 will be calculated at the 13% contribution rate and the new rate will apply to unused vacation in 2014 ...
An employer faces a difficult situation when a temporarily disabled employee who cannot perform his or her essential job functions requests an accommodation. This situation becomes significantly more complicated when the employee receives the “accommodation,” but never recovers enough to resume performing the essential job functions ...
On 2 July 2014, the new regulations regarding further building permit exemption measures will come into effect. Among the news is the opportunity to construct 25 m2 ancillary residential dwelling without requiring a building permit. However, the amendments are not entirely without controversy and have been met by strong criticism from several respondents ...
COOLING TOWERS AND ASBESTOS : NEW OBLIGATIONS FOR OWNERS, TENANTS, MANAGERS AND EMPLOYERS Over the last year and half, the legislator has addressed the building safety issues in order to ensure the safety of the occupants and visitors of these buildings, as well as the persons who may be exposed to hazards because of equipment attached to such buildings ...
In a win for policyholders relying on multiple coverage layers, the Fifth Circuit held on June 23, 2014 that an excess liability insurance policy could be triggered by exhaustion of a “retained limit” - equal to the limits of underlying insurance - even if the amounts paid to meet the “retained limit” were not covered by the excess policy. Indemnity Insurance Co. of N. Am., et. al. v. W & T Offshore Inc., -- F.3d --, No. 13-20512 (5th Cir. June 23, 2014) ...
Section 3(e)(i) of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (the Act) provides that agricultural land shall not be sold or advertised unless the Minister has consented to it in writing. There are currently conflicting judgements as to whether this provision applies to an option to purchase agricultural land ...
This past June marks nine years since the data breach at CardSystems Solutions, which involved the disclosure of names, account numbers and verification codes for some 40 million cardholders. Next month, we will pass the eight-year anniversary of the data breach at Monster.com, which involved the disclosure of contact information for some 1.3 million users ...
As noted in numerous recent publications, captives have been receiving an increased amount of regulatory attention, not just from the domicile states which regulate them, but, more significantly, from national or international bodies. The NAIC Captives and Special Purpose Vehicles Working Group completed its examination of captives and now two captive related proposals are being considered at the NAIC ...
This is a simplified guide to the process of buying a property in the Turks and Caicos Islands. While all reasonable endeavours are taken to ensure that it is correct at the time of print it does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis of the relevant laws as may be applicable to you ...
You are in charge of finances for a small business and are on vacation at the beach. Suddenly, you remember you have forgotten to pay a company bill. All is not lost, you think. You run to you room, grab a laptop, and bring it down to the Tiki Bar. There, you order a drink and connect to the hotel's wireless system. Then you call up your company's bank's Web page, click the "log-in" button, enter your password, and order a check issued to the creditor ...
Most commercial leases contain terms that require tenants to pay additional rent. Additional rent is usually a share of the costs and charges incurred to operate the property. These costs can include municipal taxes, insurance premiums, repair and maintenance costs and common area utility charges. In any given year, these charges change and fluctuate. Landlords often provide an annual estimate which tenants pay subject to a year-end reconciliation ...
On 12/3/13, the Tax Court decided Crescent Holdings LLC,1 which involved a $1.6 billion transaction. The Tax Court's opinion (1) underlines the fact that the exact language in an operating agreement does matter and (2) clearly demonstrates that compensatory partnership/LLC interests are technically complicated and require the active role of tax counsel. FACTS Duke Energy Corp ...
The Brazilian Securities Exchange Commission (“CVM”) has made public its Board of Directors’ decision issued on August 12, 2014, with respect to CVM Proceeding No. 2014/6342 (“Proceeding”). The Proceeding was initiated by SPE STX 25 Desenvolvimento Imobiliário S.A. (“STX”) concerning the development of the “Rio Business Soft Inn”,because STX intended to sell 151 hotel units (“condo hotel units”) during the construction period, at an average price of R$400,000.00 in accordance with Law No. 4 ...
On 1 August 2014, the Queensland government released consultation drafts of the Planning and Development Bill 2014 (P&D Bill) and the Planning and Environment Court Bill 2014 (PEC Bill). The draft Planning Bills are proposed to replace the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (Qld) (SPA) and seek to implement a new land-use planning and development assessment system that promotes prosperity through balancing economic growth, environmental protection and community wellbeing ...
More and more “shops in a shop” are appearing on the retail landscape. They can be organised as a truly separate shop or just a display of specific brand products amongst the other products, be it in shopping centres, department stores or just regular shops allocating some square meters to another (complimentary) brand. Regularly, parties to the contractual documentation for such a “shop in a shop” do not always expressly apply the provisions of the Law on Commercial Leases ...
More and more “shops in a shop” are appearing on the retail landscape. They can be organised as a truly separate shop or just a display of specific brand products amongst the other products, be it in shopping centres, department stores or just regular shops allocating some square meters to another (complimentary) brand. Regularly, parties to the contractual documentation for such a “shop in a shop” do not always expressly apply the provisions of the Law on Commercial Leases ...
I. Intact, compagnie d’assurances v. Théberge & Belley (1985) inc. and l’Union canadienne compagnie d’assurance and EBC inc.1In this case, the Court of Appeal held that an insurer who indemnified its insured pursuant to “contractors’ equipment” coverage cannot exercise its subrogation rights against the subcontractor who committed a fault.FACTSEBC was the general contractor for the construction of a deep water wharf ...
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a contractor’s breach of an express warranty to repair does not constitute an “assumption of liability in a contract or agreement” for purposes of the “contractual liability” exclusion found in most general liability policies ...
On November 4, 2014, voters in Denton made that city the first in Texas to ban hydraulic fracturing within city limits. Within a day, lawsuits were filed by the Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association, and state lawmakers and regulators voiced strong opposition to the ballot measure ...
On 8 December 2014, the Serbian Parliament passed the law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Planning and Construction (“the Law”). Here are some of the most important novelties: Conversion - The concept of conversion continues to exist under the term “transformation of right of use into the right of ownership of construction land” ...
On 6 May 2014, the Governor of the Jakarta Special Capital Region (Governor) issued Regulation No. 68 of 2014 on Guidelines for Granting Construction Services Licenses (Regulation 68). Regulation 68 repeals and replaces Regulation No. 47 of 2008 and this has been in force since 12 May 2014. Regulation 68 provides a new procedure for obtaining a Construction Services License (Ijin Usaha Jasa Konstruksi or IUJK) from the Governor or Mayors in DKI Jakarta ...
On 8 April 2014, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued Regulation No. 2/POJK05/2014 of 2014 on Good Corporate Governance for Insurance Companies (Regulation 2). Loss and life insurance companies, as well as reinsurance companies must have at least 3 directors and 3 commissioners. Meanwhile, insurance and reinsurance brokerage firms are required to have 2 directors and 2 commissioners if their annual income exceeds IDR 10 billion ...
