We have reported on the demise of the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) in previous articles, but there’s now a new advertising sheriff in town, the Advertising Regulatory Board (“ARB”), a body whose strapline is “Consumer protection through responsible advertising”. Gail Schimmel is the CEO of this new body ...
Over the past few years, we’ve reported on a number of legal battles involving chocolate bars such as Kit Kat and Toblerone. These cases have dealt with the shape or appearance of chocolate bars. Another “food fight” has erupted in the UK, and this time it involves a speciality chocolate manufacturer called Hotel Chocolat and the retail chain Waitrose ...
THE LINDT BUNNY The company Lindt & Sprungli is the maker of the famous Lindt chocolate bunny. The product comprises chocolate in the shape of a squatting bunny, wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon and a small bell. The chocolate bunny is a very big seller around Easter time, with sales in the tens of millions ...
Quarles & Brady partner Chris Nickels provided insight for an American City Business Journals article about what the latest COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) means for employers ...
Christian Vestheim focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), investments, and Private Equity. He has extensive experience with Private Equity and venture capital transactions, and has assisted numerous national and international clients with investments and acquisitions. Christian has worked on transactions across various sectors, with a particular focus on technology in recent years ...
On 24 January 2024, to deepen the opening-up of the bond market and further facilitate the liquidity management of overseas institutional investors, the People's Bank of China ("PBOC") and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange published theAnnouncement on Further Supporting Overseas Institutional Investors Engaging in Bond Repurchase Business in the China Interbank Bond Market(draft for comments) (the "Announcement") (《关于进一步支持境外机构投资者开展银行间债券市场债券回购业务的公告(征求意见稿)》) to solicit public opinion ...
The Procedures reflect updates to the de-registration process for mutual funds and establish for the first time the de-registration process for private funds, which aim to create a streamlined and harmonised regime for regulated funds ...
In a decision issued late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provided new guidance on the rules governing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to seek the remedy of disgorgement in enforcement actions. The new guidance continues the process of resolving uncertainty left by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in Liu v ...
By means of Circular No ...
On January 21, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the restrictions on corporate expenditures encompassed in the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (commonly known as the McCain-Feingold Act). The 5-4 opinion found the Act’s prohibition on the use of general treasury funds by corporations or unions to directly advocate the election or defeat of candidates or to broadcast electioneering communications ran afoul of the First Amendment’s established protections of free speech ...
A recent Tenth Circuit decision shines light on a new avenue to challenge cannabis businesses, even in states where medical and recreational marijuana is legal. Although the potential federal criminal threat to cannabis businesses in states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis has been relatively well-discussed, the potential civil threat has received little attention. In Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir ...
Is the sale or purchase of software by an agent on behalf of its principal a sale or purchase of ‘goods’ for the purposes of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (the “Regulations”) within the technology sector? Following the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) preliminary ruling in The Software Incubator Ltd v. Computer Associates UK Ltd case, we move a step closer to a much-needed consistent answer ...
How to strike the right balance between (i) the business need to take preparatory steps in view of integrating the target in M&A deals and (ii) the legal requirement to comply with the standstill obligation under merger control rules? ...
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance recently considered another claim by a client against a bank arising from the sale of a financial product. The Judgment in Li Kwok Heem John v Standard Chartered International (USA) Limited (formerly known as American Express Bank Limited) was handed down in early January 2016. In a lengthy Judgment, the Court considered a number of issues highly relevant to banks and other institutions engaged in selling financial products ...
Blissfully unaware that its customer, a merchant, is on the brink of filing a bankruptcy petition, your client has delivered goods on credit. The likely unhappy result: when the customer files, your client is left holding a general unsecured claim, with little chance to be paid until the conclusion of the proceeding. That may be years down the road, and when it finally takes place may amount to no more than pennies on the dollar. But all may not be lost ...
On November 2, 2023, in response to certain controversy, the Canada Revenue Agency (?CRA?) sought to clarify the application of the new disclosure rules, in force since June 22, 2023. The CRA?s comments relate, in particular, to the impact of reporting obligations on severance agreements, a topic we initially covered a few weeks ago1. We believe it is appropriate to go over these clarifications ...
Over the last few years, companies listed on both the primary and secondary market of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”), have been obliged to comply with increasingly onerous and often unclear reporting obligations in respect of the status of their transformation. On 3 February 2021, the B-BBEE Commission offered some clarity, however, there are still uncertainties that need to be addressed for many JSE-listed companies to overcome reporting challenges ...
Class Action and Consumer Law: The Court of Appeal Excludes Non-Consumers from the Approved Class in an Authorized Class Action CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW AND THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT (“CPA”) APPLY FIRST AND FOREMOST TO ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE RETAIL SECTOR. EXPENDITURES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SECTOR REPRESENT MORE THAN SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ALL EXPENDITURES IN THE PROVINCE. IT IS ALSO AN AREA OF THE LAW WHICH FREQUENTLY COMES BEFORE THE COURTS ...
While overdraft litigation risks have threatened the financial services industry for some time, recent class action lawsuits have trickled down to community banks. One place in particular where exposure has expanded is the increased willingness of plaintiff’s counsel to challenge the use of form account agreements and disclosures, including reliance on Regulation E’s model consent form ...
On September 19, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its ruling in the so called “banks’ cases”1, in the context of which consumers instituted class actions to recover the conversion fees charged on credit card transactions in foreign currencies by many institutions issuing such cards. The plaintiffs were maintaining that these charges were contravening the Consumer Protection Act (Quebec) (the “CPA”) ...
Consumer Law and the Consumer Protections Act (THE “CPA”) are aimed first and foremost at economic activities in the retail sales sector, spending in this sector represents more than 65% of spending in the province ...
On October 31, 2013, the Supreme Court rendered three judgments with respect to class actions at the authorization or certification stage, one from the Province of Quebec1 and the other two from the Province of British Columbia.2 In all three cases, the facts raised issues with respect to the price fixing of consumer products in contravention of the Competition Act,3 notably through a conspiracy ...
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) have both issued new Class Deviations from the FARs that implement Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (i.e., the federal contractor vaccine mandate) ...
The Battleground: On one side of the battlefield, positioned on the lofty heights of moral superiority, the asset managers (and academics) lob propaganda leaflets pointing out their greater firepower in the form of smug principle and the dollar value of their total assets under management. Their opponents are a motley crew. There are the Startup Upstarts, whose uniform is expensive sneakers and untidy man-buns ...
