Claims of bad faith present unique challenges for insurers (and their counsel) with respect to attorney-client privilege: if the insurer’s state of mind is at issue, is the legal advice on which the insurer relied also at issue, thereby waiving the privilege? And if so, under what circumstances? The following addresses this issue in the context of a common practice for insurance counsel—authoring denial letters—and two recent holdings that should serve as warnings in th
By Michael C. Flynn and Melissa Richards On February 5, a Buchalter Client Alert discussed CFPB Acting Director Uejio’s announcement that he was considering delaying implementation of the two new QM Final Rules (the “General QM final rule”, which creates a new definition for QMs generally, and the “Seasoned QM Final Rule”, which establishes a new “Seasoned QM”), and stated that the CFPB might consider changes to both rules ...
By Michael Flynn, Doug Prince and Khaled Tarazi On Thursday, February 25, a Federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the CDC tenant eviction order is unconstitutional, but did not enjoin the order. The case was brought by seven Texas landlords against the CDC, challenging the CDC moratorium order. The CDC moratorium applies to tenants who, among other things, declare economic hardship and earned $99,000 or less in 2020 ($198,000 for couples) ...
For the first time, a restructuring plan has been confirmed under the new Court Approved Restructuring Plan Act (Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord, or WHOA). This court confirmation illustrates how a "Dutch Scheme" comes about in practice. In this article our restructuring specialists Jelmer Baukema and Willemijn Bouman briefly discuss the court confirmation ...
Since the decision of the House of Lords in the case of Moncrieff v Jamieson, it has been settled in Scots law that a servitude right of parking can exist as an ancillary right to a servitude right of vehicular access. A recent decision of the Sheriff Appeal Court (Johnston v Davidson & Milne [2020] SAC (Civ) 22 FFR/A103-18) provided welcome further guidance from the Sheriff Appeal Court as to when such an ancillary right will be implied ...
The Shoosmiths pensions team has hosted a webinar for non-pensions professionals, trustees and company directors to provide an oversight of pensions issues likely to effect businesses over the next 12 months ...
A NEW PATHWAY From Uber to Jumia and even older technology (tech) companies like Etranzact and Chams Plc, it is arguable that Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”) have not offered great returns for tech companies in Nigeria and across the globe[1]. Investors are speculating on whether the great tech bubble is about to burst because, considering the cost of IPOs, tech companies have to scrutinise the expected returns when contemplating an IPO ...
Tech Companies and Fund Raising: The New Way of Going Public (Part 2) In the second part of our article, we focus on Spotify, a digital music service that utilised a direct listing to become a public company, the key steps they took that differed from a traditional IPO, and how the NSE can modify its current regulatory framework to include direct listings. Case Study: Spotify Technology S ...
The Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”) became law on January 1, 2021, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Pub. L. 116-283) when the Senate voted to override former President Trump’s veto of that bill. High-net-worth families for whom privacy is a paramount consideration may be concerned that the Act creates a risk of sensitive ownership information being exposed to the wrong persons ...
On 19 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment which confirmed that Uber drivers are workers and not independent contractors. We look at the basis for the decision and what it means for other employers. Background This case began back in 2016, when Uber drivers Mr Aslam, Mr Farrar and others submitted a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET) regarding their employment status ...
Hear directly from the CFPB about mortgage servicing in the COVID-19 era, including how the leadership transition is affecting the CFPB’s priorities and approach. From a webinar on March 3, Bradley hosted a Q&A session with Allison Brown of the CFPB's Office of Supervision Policy to discuss the CFPB’s supervisory expectations as the industry grapples with CARES implementation and other challenges arising from the coronavirus crisis ...
On February 18, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-15, which provides guidance with regard to a number of provisions of the temporary changes to the rules related to the operation of health and dependent care flexible spending accounts that were included as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “New Law”), and also provides for an additional exception from the standard rules regarding Section 125 plan (often referred to as cafeteria plans or flexible benefits p
California employers should assess their meal period policies and practices in light of the California Supreme Court's February 25, 2021, decision in Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC (Donohue). This ruling: (1) prohibits California employers from rounding time punches for meal periods and (2) holds that time records showing non-compliant meal periods will raise a rebuttable presumption of liability for meal period violations ...
A lot happened in 2020, so you would be forgiven if you had missed some of the developments in the financial services sector. In this article, we look back and identify seven key trends which emerged in banking, finance, funds and asset management. 1. COVID-19 COVID-19 has impacted financial services as it has every other industry. Throughout 2020, the FCA, PRA and Bank of England have taken steps to react to the pandemic ...
Preparing and maintaining statutory company registers can use up valuable resources of the finance department or directors of the company, however if a company is sold it is one of the first documents that the buyers’ solicitors will request. It can be costly, and time consuming to re-create registers and it can hold up any sale ...
There were a lot of good green measures in the Budget and the government deserves credit for recognising the vital role that net zero transition will play in determining our future prosperity. Not just building back stronger but building back greener, with reference clearly made to the role the headline announcement of Freeports will have in supporting the delivery of the UK’s clean energy revolution ...
Signals from the SEC regarding the growing importance to the Commission of ESG disclosures keep coming, seemingly daily. The recently appointed acting director of the Division of Corporation Finance has long pushed the agency for “relevant, material, decision-useful ESG disclosure.” More recently, the SEC announced the creation and filling of the position of senior policy advisor for climate and ESG in the office of Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee ...
On the 4th March 2021, the Seventh Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued its decision on an important matter related to the breach of ambient air quality legislation by the UK government (European Commission v. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, c-664/18). This case is only one among several others filed by the Commission against EU Member States, including France, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary ...
With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in Hong Kong, employers may wish to encourage or even require their employees to be vaccinated for protection. An interesting question arises: If an employee gets injured on their way to or from the vaccination venue, will the employer have to pay compensation? Two cases in the US may shed light on this. In Firestone Tire Rubber Co. v Crawford, 177 Ga. App. 242 (Ga. Ct. App ...
FINANCIAL SERVICES BNM announces new funds for SMEs On 5 February 2021, Bank Negara Malaysia ("BNM") announced: an additional RM2 billion for the Targeted Relief and Recovery Facility (“TRRF”); the establishment of a RM200 million Disaster Relief Facility (“DRF”) 2021. TRRF The TRRF was a facility announced in the Budget 2021, established to assist eligible SMEs in the services sector ...
In a recent case, the High Court took the opportunity to restate the law on misrepresentation and the importance of demonstrating that an innocent party has actually relied on a misrepresentation. In Leeds City Council and others v Barclays Bank PLC and another [2021] EWHC 363 (Comm), the High Court preferred the Defendant’s interpretation of the applicable test and struck out the Claimants’ claims for misrepresentation ...
On February 23, 2021, the Plenary of the Court of Appeals of Santiago agreed to establish a regulation that favors the use of telematic systems and information technology in the various functions performed by notaries, providing instructions for: The use of advanced electronic signature (FEA) by the notary publics (notarios públicos). The authorization of signatures stamped on private instruments, by telematic means ...
On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, Supreme Decree N° 007-2021-VIVIENDA was published in the Official Gazette “El Peruano”, which established a three-month deadline for the submission of Cofinanced Private Initiatives (“IPC”) on investment projects for sanitation services ...
