When purchasing liability insurance coverage, it is naturally important to assess the scope of the coverage offered in the various proposed policy forms. In evaluating the scope of coverage, policyholders and their counsel often focus on the scope of liability policies’ insuring agreements and any potentially applicable exclusions. However, this should not be the end of the analysis ...
Because American courts have interpreted insurance policies in some unexpected ways over the past several decades, many insurance carriers and policyholders have shied away from U.S.-based insurance coverage and have flocked to Bermuda to use what are commonly referred to as “Bermuda Form” policies. The idea is that the use of these foreign policies can mitigate some of the perceived risks posed by the American court system ...
While the worst of the housing crisis may be over, a significant number of existing foreclosures remain, and new foreclosures continue apace. According to RealtyTrac, there were 122,060 new foreclosure filings in March 2015,and there are 842,773 properties in the U.S. in some stage of foreclosure.For those properties that are subject to judicial foreclosure, many will involve borrowers, who have asserted a variety of counterclaims against the mortgagee ...
In employees’ compensation or personal injuries claims, it is not uncommon for the employer or its insurers to directly settle a claim with the injured person before any legal proceedings are commenced. The recent case of Chan Kwok Man v New World First Bus Services Limited DCEC No.186 of 2013 highlights the importance of ensuring that the wording used in discharge forms is clear, unambiguous and consistent and that the discharge form is properly executed ...
Prolonged and torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. It is important that policyholders remain mindful of the substantial benefits that may be available to them for resulting economic and physical losses under ordinary business insurance policies ...
Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash, and a $10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates. The indictment contains charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering arising out of alleged kickbacks and bribes that the defendants gave or received ...
FIFA Kickback and Bribery Allegations & Insurance For Related Third-Party Investigations Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash and a$10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates ...
On July 22, 2015, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) providing that in certain circumstances a service provider’s allocations of a partnership’s income may be treated as compensatory payments for services under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) ...
Nonprofit hospital executives and lawyers throughout the country are taking notice of a recent tax court case out of New Jersey involving the Morristown Medical Center, in which Judge Vito Bianco agreed with the local town and denied the New Jersey hospital of its tax exemption for the majority of its properties. Estimates put the annual dollar cost of this loss of property tax exemption for the hospital at between $2.5 million to $3 million ...
This is the age of government regulation. Businesses pay millions of dollars each year to comply with ever-increasing regulatory requirements intended to avoid catastrophic loss to persons and property. While corporate America underwrites the lion’s share of the cost associated with enhanced safety, the benefits are realized primarily by consumers, politicians and insurers. Yes, insurers. A dollar spent on preventing loss is a dollar saved by insurance companies ...
A Texas federal court recently ordered an insurer to reimburse an oil and gas company for costs and expenses incurred while defending against environmental claims. The court found that a duty to defend existed even though the insured failed to immediately notify the insurer of the occurrence, giving rise to the claim as required by the insurance policy, and despite alleged willful miscon- duct that was excluded from coverage under the policy ...
The financial pressures resulting from the “narrow network” phenomenon are well-known to healthcare providers and payers. Many providers have been eliminated from existing networks in order to allow participating providers access to a greater volume of patients. Those remaining providers have seen lower reimbursement rates and other cost containment measures ...
What has happened?On 16 September 2015, the Federal Government introduced the Tax Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill 2015. The Bill contains two significant proposals, both of which were signalled in the 2015-16 Federal Budget in May 2015 (see 2015-16 Federal Budget - key tax announcements for business) ...
With effect from 1 April 2015, the business of a hedge fund has been declared to be a collective investment scheme (“CIS”) in terms of section 63 of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act 45 of 2000 (“CISCA”). Accordingly, hedge funds are now subject to and regulated by certain prescribed provisions of CISCA ...
Empezaron las eliminatorias al próximo Mundial pero las investigaciones por sobornos de la FIFA continúan – tendrán cobertura bajo pólizas de seguros las compañías y altos ejecutivos siendo investigados?El Comité de Ética de la FIFA anunció el 8 de octubre la suspensión provisional por 90 días de Joseph Blatter, presidente de la FIFA, y de Michel Platini, presidente de UEFA y vicepresidente de FIFA, entre otras suspensiones que fueron anunciadas en ese mismo momento ...
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE PLACEMENTS(“Regulation 45-106”) OBLIGATION TO KNOW YOUR INVESTOR WELL Issuer’s obligations: Ask questions Verify the investor’s declared income and assets Confirm the relationship between the investor and the issuer Obtain proof of the investor’s status Keep the documents on file Last May, the Canadian Securities Administrators amended Regulation 45-106 respecting Prospectus Exemptions(“Regulation 45-106”)as we
Corporations that are in need of liquidities can, simply put, not afford to wait until the end of the fiscal year to receive payment of refundable tax credits. For this reason, some lenders offer to advance funds to eligible taxpaying corporations (hereinafter “Taxpayers”) in the form of a loan, while taking security on their future tax credits as collateral (“Advance Tax Credit Financing”) ...
The court of appeal of Quebec recently ruled on a leave to appeal from an interlocutory judgment dismissing a wellington type motion seeking to order an insurer to take up the defence of its insured.The decision of the Court inTechnologies CII inc.v.Société d’assurances générales Northbridge1follows the one issued on April 21, 2015 by the Honourable Michel A ...
I. The Liechtenstein Tax ReformThe former Liechtenstein Tax Act dated back to 1961. It was completely revised and the new Tax Act entered into force on 1 January 2011 (hereafter referred to as "Tax Reform"). The ratio for the year 2008 between the overall tax revenues in Liechtenstein and its GDP was 16.9%. In comparison, the equivalent figure in the USA was 20.3% and 23.1% in Germany.Liechtenstein has AAA rating and is totally debt free ...
On 2 November 2015, the South African National Treasury published a Draft Carbon Tax Bill (the “Bill”) for public comment, with the comment period commencing immediately and continuing until 15 December 2015. Measurement, reporting and verification (“MRV”) of emissions data arising from greenhouse gas related activities underpin the effective functioning of the proposed carbon tax ...
In a situation where a taxpayer could choose between two transactions, the law does not require the taxpayer to choose a transaction which would bring along the largest amount of payable taxes. Taxpayers have the right to organise their activities in a manner which would entail the smallest possible tax burden and the state cannot reproach them for it. The only issue can be about distinguishing the permitted solutions of tax optimisation from obtaining dishonest tax concessions ...
On December 18, 2015, Congress passed the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015” (the “Act”), which provides significant reforms to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (“FIRPTA”) and to the rules applicable to real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). To read the full alert, click here ...
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed H.R. 22, Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, into law. The new law reauthorizes federal highway and transit programs for five years. While most of the attention on the legislation has focused on the new funding for transportation infrastructure, the measure also includes significant policy changes related to motor vehicle safety and enforcement actions by the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) ...
Over the past weekend, a series of tornadoes and severe storms caused significant injuries and property damage across seven states, including Texas. In Garland and Rowlett, northeast of Dallas, wreckage from businesses and homes, trees, power lines, cars and other debris litter the streets for miles ...
