On July 24, 2013 the First Circuit Court of Appeals, applying an “investment plus” test, concluded that a Sun Capital private equity investment fund was engaged in a “trade or business” for purposes of determining whether the fund could be jointly and severally liable under ERISA for the unfunded pension withdrawal liability of the portfolio company ...
A creditor affected by asset-stripping by a debtor doesn’t have to remain a passive victim of dishonesty. Creditors have probably had trouble since time immemorial with dishonest debtors—ones who deliberately and unlawfully attempt to escape from their obligations ...
Guarantees are a common feature in commercial leases. A guarantor will guarantee a tenant’s obligations under a lease, for example the payment of rent. This provides security to the landlord and can help to maintain continuity of rental income regardless of the default or insolvency of the tenant. However, problems can arise with enforcement of guarantees where the obligations being guaranteed have been changed without the guarantor’s consent ...
Trusts and Private Foundations often serve the same purposes. One transfers goods (money, real estate, shares, etc.) to an Private Foundation or trustee to be managed for the benefit of one or more others. Those “others” can be the ones who have transferred the goods to the trustee or the Private Foundation, but not necessarily so ...
In commercial contracts there is often a ‘waterfall’ clause, which provides for a dispute escalation process prior to the commencement of formal legal proceedings, leaving litigation as the last resort. Such clauses were determined to be legally binding in Cable & Wireless Plc v IBM United Kingdom Ltd [2002] EWHC 2059 (Comm) ...
In recent years, NASA has spent millions, if not billions, of dollars developing what they call “US commercial crew space capabilities” – in ordinary terms they want to make it easier to access the International Space Station from Earth. In trying to achieve this aim they have entered into various commercial agreements under the National Aeronatics and Space Act, known as Space Act Agreements (SAAs), instead of using more traditional form commercial contracts ...
Gareth Bale has been in the news last week for transferring to Real Madrid in a record £85m deal. Less well known is that at the beginning of August he successfully registered as a UK trade mark a logo based on his signature goal celebration. His Eleven of Hearts logo is registered against several classes of goods including precious metals, jewellery, clothing, footwear and even parasols and walking sticks ...
A Q&A guide to dispute resolution law in the United Arab Emirates.The country-specific Q&A gives a structured overview of the key practical issues concerning dispute resolution in this jurisdiction, including court procedures; fees and funding; interim remedies (including attachment orders); disclosure; expert evidence; appeals; class actions; enforcement; cross-border issues; the use of ADR; and any reform proposals. Main dispute resolution methods1 ...
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has just enacted a revamped investor residency programme, entitling successful applicants to a permanent residence certificate (PRC). Qualifying criteriaThe qualifying criteria are:- Villasa. Investment of not less than $300,000 in actual construction of a new home, or in renovation of a distressed property as a home for the applicant and his or her dependants, on the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos or North Caicos; orb ...
Player power, loyalty and respect of contracts has increasingly made media headlines, demonstrated predominantly this summer with Luis Suarez of Liverpool FC and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. As widely reported, Arsenal FC made an infamous bid of £40,000,001.00 to Liverpool for the transfer of the registration of Suarez to Arsenal ...
John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins [2013] EWCA Civ 37 involved a dispute about a property development. Mr Gubbins engaged the John Grimes Partnership Ltd to design a road over land on which he intended to develop residential properties. An express term of the contract between the parties was that the works would be completed by March 2007. However, in February 2008 there was still work to be done so Mr Gubbins engaged an alternative engineer to complete the work ...
Cadbury has lost a five-year legal battle with Swiss rival Nestlé. This week the Court of Appeal overturned a previous decision of the High Court that gave Cadbury an exclusive right to the famous purple colour it uses for its chocolate wrappers. Cadbury began marketing Dairy Milk in a pale mauve colour in 1905 but it wasn’t until 1920 that its full range of Dairy Milk became purple ...
FCA clarifies applications timetable The transitional period for the implementation of AIFMD in the UK ends on 22 July 2014 and existing alternative investment fund managers' (AIFMs) must hold the correct Part 4A permission by that date ...
In a recent First-tier Tribunal Tax Chamber case it was held that HMRC regulations which require the electronic filing of VAT returns were discriminatory. The full decision (which runs to some 154 pages) can be found here.The electronic filing of VAT returns was made compulsory for all businesses with a turnover of over £100,000, and any newly registered business, with effect from 1 April 2010 and for all businesses with effect from 1 April 2012 ...
Whilst adding some clarity, the case doesn't make a "no MAC in financial condition" representation any easier for a lender to rely upon.MAC in loan agreementsMAC definitions come in many forms but generally refer to changes which have an adverse effect either on the borrower's business generally, its financial condition, and/or the ability of the lender to call on its security ...
Invoice financing includes factoring, invoice discounting and asset-based lending. It can be accessed by the SME and corporate market to unlock the value of unpaid debts and assets of a business, such as stock, plant and machinery.This type of financing has distinct advantages. In invoice discounting, funders may be able to offer up to 85% of the value of unpaid debts well before that debt is due to be paid. This dramatically reduces the credit cycle, getting cash back into the business sooner ...
A Report into effective approaches to audit committee reporting has been published by the Financial Reporting Lab, which is a forum set up by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to encourage better communication between listed companies and investors in the UK. The aim of the Report is to provide insight from companies and investors on effective approaches to audit committee reporting ...
Background Following a recent YouGov survey's finding that 85 per cent of SMEs in the UK have been affected by late payments over the past two years, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK government is to launch a consultation this year to examine ways of reducing this problem, and find solutions to ensure payments are made more timeously to SMEs by larger companies ...
A recent decision by the English High Court emphasises the limited scope of the duties on facility agents arising from standard facility terms. The role of facility agents in these circumstances has been found to be “solely mechanical and administrative” in nature. A link to the full text of the decision can be accessed here ...
On December 2, 2013 the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in BG Group v. Argentina, addressing for the first time the applicable rules when a US court reviews an international arbitral award made under a bilateral investment treaty. This case has earned the attention of the international arbitration community, given its potential impact on future arbitral practice in the United States and abroad ...
The Board of the Central Bank of Ecuador issued a new rule governing interest rates for late payment, which seeks to encourage timely payment of claims by customers of the institutions of the national financial system.The new rule establishes a scale of percentages to calculate the default rate of up to 10% in credit operations. The settlements will be made only for the amount due of principal and only from the date of non-payment until the day of fulfillment of obligations ...
As a worldwide asset class private equity has seen more uncertainty than most over recent years. It is now more than four years since the calamitous collapse of the global economy and over that period private equity has continued to lack direction. Since its pioneering days of the 1970s and 1980s and through the leverage fuelled 1990s and 2000s private equity has seen more than its fair share of spectacular successes ...
