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 ...
The US judge who presided over the nation's only successful copyright infringement case for file-sharing by an individual, has declared it a mistrial. He said he had committed a "manifest error" in his instructions to the jury and the award of damages of $222,000 was "unprecedented and oppressive" ...
On 1 July 2008 a new Marketing Practices Act entered into force. The new act implements Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and implies some new aspects for Swedish companies to take into consideration. These include a new way of qualifying commercial practices and the fact that marketing statements can, in the final instance, be subject to assessment by the European Court of Justice ...
The SFC recently issued a press release and a circular on risk disclosure. The circular reminds issuers of retail investment products, including authorised funds, of their duty to include in offering documents sufficient relevant risk information for investors to make an informed investment decision, and for marketing materials to be "clear, fair and present a balanced picture with adequate and prominent risk disclosure" ...
Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced a new program to facilitate the issuance of shortterm commercial paper (“CP”) by eligible issuers. The program was launched on Monday, October 27, 2008. The program is being administered by a new special purpose financing vehicle (“SPV”) that is referred to as the Commercial Paper Financing Facility, or “CPFF ...
A new Act which comes into force on 16 January 2009 imposes serious new penalties for directors, employers and employees who are convicted of a health and safety offence. The Bill received Royal Assent on 16 October 2008 and unlike the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, this has had a relatively easy journey through the parliamentary stages ...
Bolivian law contemplates two procedures by which local companies with financial difficulties, are ultimately obliged to sell their assets in order to satisfy existing payment obligations, be it through a mandatory dissolution and liquidation or through a judicial bankruptcy procedure. I ...
As a consequence of the complexity of Hong Kong’s disclosure of interests regime, local substantial shareholders and global investment houses alike frequently fall foul of its provisions. Even robust monitoring and reporting systems can fail to cater to idiosyncrasies of the Hong Kong regime ...
On May 22, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in a case involving the notion of reasonable foreseeability in negligence actions. This judgment, written by the Chief Justice, confirms that tort law must compensate harm done on the basis of reasonable foresight, and must not be considered as insurance ...
1. What types of collateral are available? Real estate, operating and other licence rights or concessions, leaseholds, buildings, moveable property, contractual lights, receivables, shares, securities, onshore and offshore bank accounts, entire enterprises, after-acquired property, proceeds from investments and the sale of collateral are all available ...
A new regulation has been issued by the Minister of Health, namely Regulation of the Ministry of Health No. 1010/MENKES/PER/XI/2008 regarding the Registration of Medicines (“Regulation 1010/2008”). Regulation 1010/2008 revokes previous Ministry of Health Regulation No. 949/Menkes/Per/VI/2000. Under Regulation 1010/2008, a medicine to be distributed in Indonesia must first be registered before a Distribution License (Izin Edar) can be applied for ...
Best Practices & Standards The hedge fund industry has experienced trying times over the past few months. Year-end redemption requests have flooded the sector. Scandals such as the so-called "ponzi" scheme allegedly carried out by Bernard Madoff resulting in billions of dollars in losses have shaken the industry ...
Following certain onsite inspections, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a Circular in October 2008 setting out various standards of conduct and control procedures that the SFC views as being "generally expected" of a Hong Kong-licensed hedge fund manager (HKHFM) ...
Six months on from the implementation of sections 20 and 21 of the Road Safety Act 2006, and occupational road safety remains a significant cause for concern for employers. The Act introduced two new offences of causing death by careless driving and causing death whilst unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured, with offenders finding themselves facing up to five years’ imprisonment for what could be a momentary lapse of concentration ...
ALTIUS contributed to a publication on International Acquisition Finance accross mutiple jurisdictions. The volume provides counsel with a full insight into the law and regulation across numerous jurisdictions. Johan De Bruycker, Caroline Wildemeersch and Kasper Van Landeghem from ALTIUS' Banking & Finance team untangle the complications of debt funding regimes for the Belgian jurisdiction. 1 ...
Reduction in Income Tax for Publicly Owned Companies The Ministry of Finance recently issued regulation No.238/PMK.03/2008 of 2008 regarding the Procedures for and Supervision of the Granting of Tariff Reductions to Local Entity Tax Payers which are Publicly Owned Companies ...
New Law on Aviation In order to keep up with the development of the aviation industry in Indonesia, on 17 December 2008, the House of Representatives passed the Bill on Aviation. This Bill came in force on 12 January 2009 as Law No 1 of 2009 regarding Aviation (“Law 1”) ...
Last year, the European Commission initiated an inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry, claiming that there were indications that competition in the industry was not working as well as it should. Although responses to the preliminary report have been rather critical, from both the legal community and the industry itself, there are a few conclusions worth noting ...
A campaign that ran throughout March has been extended into April, and will focus on refurbishment, repair and maintenance works. Statistics show that more than half of workers who died on construction sites in recent years were working on refurbishment projects ...
I. Legal Framework The banking business in the Republic of Panama is regulated by Decree-Law No. 9 of February 26, 1998 and its amendments (the “Banking Law”). The Banking Law created the Superintendency of Banks (the “Superintendency”), which is the government agency in charge of supervising and overseeing banking operations and the exercise of the banking business in the Republic of Panama ...
Technical Resolution 26 – FACPCE Dated March 20, 2009 the FACPCE (Argentine Federation of Economic Sciences Professional Boards) approved Technical Resolution No. 26 “Adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards of the Board” effective as from the years commenced after January 1st, 2011, not admitting an earlier application ...
On June 17, 2009, the Obama administration issued a "white paper" which proposes a sweeping reorganization of financial-market supervision. The plan would touch almost every corner of banking from how mortgages are underwritten to the way exotic financial instruments are traded. The plan will undoubtedly be modified during the Legislative process. Banks in other countries have already objected to the proposed international effects ...
One of the most talked about eHealth initiatives is the introduction of a national electronic health record for all Australians. Having a centralised database of electronic health records will greatly improve access to accurate and up-to-date data by health care workers, including doctors, hospital staff and emergency service providers ...
We are increasingly being asked: “Is it more likely that individuals rather than companies will be prosecuted under the new Health and Safety Offences Act 2008?”. The new Act, which came into force in January 2009, did not introduce any further duties on either organisations or individuals, but it did dramatically increase the penalties that can be imposed for breaches of existing health and safety legislation ...
IntroductionAs of 8 January 2009, Belgian listed companies and financial undertakings are required to have an audit committee. The Law of 17 December 2008 on the establishment of an audit committee in listed companies and financial undertakings (the “Law”) then enters into force ...
