Regulation 2015/760 of 29 April 2015 on European Long-Term Investment Funds was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 May 2015 (the “ELTIF Regulation”). The ELTIF Regulation will be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States from 9 December 2015. Therefore the EU Member States do not need to make any implementation legislation (as would be the case with an EU Directive) ...
A few years ago, Rick Rein got a call from a Chicago-area bank that had lost $1 million to a con artist who cashed a fake check that looked so authentic it easily passed through the bank's computer system. The fraudster wired the money to an obscure bank in Florida, then out of the country before the bank realized a month later the check was phony. Mr ...
Captains of private and commercial yachts (and owners) have civil and criminal law duties most of which are concerned with the safe operation of the vessel. As the captain is regarded in law as being the owner’s agent, he is the person unfortunately on the spot. It is the captain who becomes personally liable in the first instance for any fine imposed on the vessel. Owners or charterers have no legal obligation to compensate him even though the offence may have occurred due to their fault ...
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the food industry, just as it has many others. The good news is that food-to-person transmission of the disease does not seem to be a risk. The challenge remains keeping workers safe from airborne and surface transmission. However, the FDA and the USDA have provided guidance and recommendations to food producers to deal with COVID-19, links to which have been provided below. The guidance focuses on stopping the person-to-person spread of the disease ...
The establishment by the Scottish Government of a food security task force is a necessary and timely response to the war in Ukraine. In addition to the harrowing humanitarian crisis, the conflict has prompted significant concern among food producers. The UK food sector and consumers are currently facing a perfect storm just as we begin to emerge from the pandemic ...
You are the general counsel of a public company and your CEO calls to tell you that the board is thinking about putting the company up for sale. He wants to talk. There are many important considerations for the board and management team when selling a company, and one of those is whether to sell to a financial buyer or a strategic buyer ...
The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic is upending regular commercial activity across the United States and around the world, and that disruption is expected to escalate. Among the issues confronting our clients, the effect of public health orders and other measures to address COVID-19 is threatening, impacting, and in some cases, outright prohibiting the performance of material contractual obligations ...
Classic Maritime Inc. v Limbungan SDN BHD & Anor [2018] EWHC 2389 (Comm) This case arose out of a dispute relating to the correct interpretation of an “exceptions clause” which excused non-performance of a contract in circumstances that are usually described asforce majeure ...
The 2023 Foreign Bank Tracker, now in its eighth year reveals capital flow trends into Australia via foreign banks, and market analysis of the results ...
Following the presentation of the 2020 Budget proposal and Finance Bill, 2019 to the National Assembly in October 2019, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, MR. Muhammadu Buhari, signed the Bill into law on 13 January 2020. The Finance Act, 2019 (the “Act”) introduces amendments to the Companies Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Petroleum Profits Tax Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Capital Gains Tax Act, Customs and Excise Tariff Act and Stamp Duties Act ...
Broad scope of application The FSR targets any undertaking engaged in an economic activity in the internal market that has received a foreign subsidy distorting the internal market. A foreign subsidy is any financial contribution provided by a third country (non-EU Member State) which confers a benefit on an undertaking engaging in an economic activity in the internal market and which is limited to one or more undertakings or industries ...
The first quarter of 2024 was a busy time for regulatory action in the bank M&A space. Coming off a slow year for bank deal announcements in 2023, many bankers and bank advisors believed that 2024 would be a rebound year for bank combinations. Those expectations may be scaled back now that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released proposed updates to their bank merger application rules and policies ...
In a case concerning the validity and effect of certain deeds relating to pension increases, the High Court has handed down its judgement. The case also considers the application of scheme forfeiture clauses to arrears of underpayments. The case, concerning the Axminster pension scheme (‘Scheme’), was brought by the Scheme’s independent trustee. Many of the original issues were compromised by the parties, meaning that the court was asked to approve the compromise ...
The term «næringsdrivende» (business activity) in the Norwegian Foundation Act shall be understood as activity with taxable profit («erverv til formål») The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries’ work on amending the Norwegian Foundation Act has been going on for several years, cf. proposals for a new Foundation Act in the NOU 2016: 21. Further law amendment proposals have now been proposed in a public hearing ...
When startup founders get together to form a new company, one of the first steps after actually incorporating the entity is to issue the founders their initial equity in the company. This is commonly referred to as “founders stock.” Most initial cap tables target the issuance to founders of around 8 million shares, so that combined with a 2 million share option pool, the initial “fully diluted” capitalization is 10 million shares ...
HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-16 (“the Letter”) on September 7, changing a Departmental policy on surplus cash distribution that had been in place for roughly half a century. Multifamily borrowers with loans that close after September 7 may, subject to certain preconditions, take distributions of surplus cash monthly instead of annually or semi-annually ...
The Court of Appeal of Quebec has issued an important judgment pertaining to a franchisor’s implicit obligations towards its franchisees. In June 2012, the Superior Court of Quebec ordered Dunkin’ Donuts Brands Canada Ltd. (“Dunkin’ Donuts”) to pay an amount of $16.4M (plus interests and costs) to 21 of its franchisees in Quebec the sum of $16 ...
Embezzlement and fraud within nonprofit organizations has reached epidemic proportions. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s (2020) Global Study which contains an analysis of 2,504 cases of occupational fraud that were investigated between January 2018 and September 2019, 70 percent of frauds occurred in nonprofit organizations ...
Freddie Mac has taken a series of steps to assist its borrowers, sellers, and servicers during these unprecedented times, and should help Freddie Mac continue its goal to “keep mortgage money flowing, support the stability of the housing market, and promote housing affordability.” Freddie Mac announces avenues of assistance to borrowers affected by COVID-19, and that borrowers in forbearance will not be required to repay in a single lump sum ...
It is evident that the current lockdown is having an unprecedented slowdown in the movement of persons between EU Member States. This is not due to a restriction which was imposed by the EU itself but because of the restrictions which the Member States themselves imposed through their respective Public Health officials. It is noticeable that the legal restrictions on immigration were driven by the Member States' individual rules rather than by a general guideline from the EU ...
The designation of eight new Freeports within England made headlines in the Budget and now the winning bidders have to put into effect their successful proposals. What will this mean in practice for those areas affected and what are the likely issues that Freeport authorities will face? We have pulled together some questions we are asked frequently on Freeports, together with the responses we have been providing to our clients ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
? The reform of the French law of obligations implemented by the French ordinance No 2016—131 of 10 February 2016 (the Ordinance), conducted after public consultations and high quality working papers, constitutes the deepest overhaul of French contract law since the Civil Code of 1804. The Ordinance applies to contracts entered into as from 1 October 2016,2 including amendment agreements, tacit renewals and novated contracts executed or occurring after that date ...
