After a hectic first quarter, the focus shifted dramatically after the lockdown in mid-March. Within a few days, we went from negotiating new financings within most industries to assisting our clients with urgent waivers and liquidity loans. After the initial chaotic period, we have, however, seen a more normalized period with considerable activity where strong companies and good projects have been able to obtain new financings on acceptable terms ...
General Since the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) was introduced in 2010, several legislative acts have been adopted in the EU without being incorporated into the EEA-agreement. This is mainly due to Norwegian constitutional issues. These constitutional issues were resolved in 2018, and as result, a huge backlog of EU legislative acts needs to be incorporated into the EEA-agreement and transposed into Norwegian law ...
After an extremely busy 2021 where the financial markets and the lending sector recovered rapidly from the COVID-hibernation, 2022 has been a turbulent year that did not live up to expectations in terms of activity. With geopolitical unrest, high inflation and rising interest rates as the backdrop, financial markets were volatile and funding costs increased substantially ...
Parties in the process of arbitrating disputes, thinking of commencing arbitration, or even thinking of including arbitration provisions in a contract have been given a lot to think about, thanks to the changes introduced by Decree 34 of 2021. It is early days yet, and we need to see how matters develop. With that caveat out of the way, here is a rough guide of what Decree 34 could mean for parties in arbitration in the UAE ...
The U.S. General Services Administration recently added Green Globes as an additional third-party green building certification system for federal government construction projects. With this addition, many are now asking about the difference between Green Globes and LEED. Green Globes has emerged, in some parts of the U.S., as a rival building option to the more well-known Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) system ...
On January 20, 2017, in a case of first impression among the appellate courts, a panel of the Ninth Circuit concluded in Syed v. M-I, LLC (Case No. 14-17186) that an employer violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when its background check disclosure/authorization document includes a sentence that releases the employer, the consumer reporting agency (the vendor), and their agents from liability for any violations of the FCRA ...
As seen in Bank Director Banks should not wait on lawmakers taking action on the myriad of proposed cannabis banking bills to make important strategic decisions about servicing marijuana-related business. It is unclear if any of the proposed cannabis banking bills will gain enough traction and support in Washington to pass through Congress. Despite the inaction, a growing number of financial institutions are choosing to provide banking services to the cannabis industry ...
You may already be aware of a new federal law called the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA), which became effective on January 1, 2024. The CTA was enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and mandates that certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) report identifying information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ...
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE PLACEMENTS(“Regulation 45-106”)OBLIGATION TO KNOW YOUR INVESTOR WELLIssuer’s obligations:Ask questionsVerify the investor’s declared income and assetsConfirm the relationship between the investor and the issuerObtain proof of the investor’s statusKeep the documents on file
In our previous articles (part one, part two and part three), we discussed ways in which trademarks are maintained and protected through filings that are mandatory and which filings would result in abandonment or cancellation if not timely submitted. There are also optional filings a trademark owner can take advantage of to optimize and secure its rights under a U.S. trademark registration. An Affidavit of Incontestability Under Section 15 is one such method ...
Yuppies – do they confuse you? Late last year, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) handed down an important trade mark judgment in Yuppiechef Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Yuppie Gadgets Holdings (Pty) Ltd. The case dealt with that thorny issue that bedevils so many trade mark cases – confusing similarity. The facts were fairly straightforward. Yuppiechef is an online retail business that specialises in kitchen and household goods ...
America’s fascination with zombies infiltrated the West Virginia Legislature during the 2014 Regular Session, resulting in the introduction of a “zombie debt” bill, House Bill 4360. The bill, as introduced, was designed to thwart all debt collection efforts after a debt’s statute of limitations has passed ...
