We all know the feeling of making an online purchase and later regretting it - did I really need another kitchen gadget that I'll probably only use once? Luckily, by way of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which form part of retained EU law, consumers in the UK have the right to a "cooling off period" for distance contracts in certain circumstances ...
The purpose of disclosing conflicts of interest in the investment services industry is to ensure maximum transparency for the investor. A common conflict of interest is the situation when the fund’s investment manager owns voting shares in the fund and appoints a director who is already heavily involved in the investment manager’s structure. Consequently, the appointed director might be conflicted if one is required to take a decision against the investment manager ...
When initially approaching potential lenders it’s important to be clear about the level of flexibility you’ll need in your finance documents in order to accommodate future plans and aspirations. Amending documents and renegotiating terms is a huge drain on resources (and in current climes, costly) and your aim should be to ensure financing terms will remain fit for purpose throughout their term ...
The Procurement Bill has now had its third and final reading and has passed the Report Stage in the House of Commons. The House of Commons’ latest amendments that have been added to the Bill include the following: If a supplier or a connected person poses a threat to the national security of the UK, this would be a mandatory exclusion ground. This is a change from previous versions of the Bill which classed this exclusion ground as discretionary ...
Choosing the name of a sports team can be a perilous exercise. In addition to representing certain values, names are supposed to fire up the fan base and motivate the athletes themselves. It must sometimes meet with the approval of major sponsors. But when sports teams are companies seeking to profit commercially from the use of their brand, legal considerations also come into play. Team names are typically linked to the organization of sports events for which tickets are sold ...
On June 1, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau along with Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, NCUA and FHFA (collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on rules to implement quality control standards for automated valuation models (AVMs) used by residential mortgage originators and secondary market issuers in determining the collateral worth of a mortgage loan that is secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling ...
Good governance counts because without it a charity’s impact can be much diminished, but it is also important not to be overwhelmed by all the detail and to focus on what matters. There is a lot of guidance on governance for charities Someone once said, “With proper governance, life will improve for all ...
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has sought to consider as many voices as possible in its assessment of the vast human impact the pandemic has had on both individuals and organisations. Every Story Matters is the Inquiry’s way of doing so, enabling those in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to share their experiences of the pandemic with the Inquiry, via an online form. To date, around 6,000 people have shared their stories ...
We are pleased to let you know that on 07 June 2023 the Russian parliament approved the draft law allowing the shareholders of small and medium-size enterprises to liquidate their business within a simplified procedure ...
The President of the Russian Federation instructed the Government to consider the opportunity of granting clearance for the sale of Russian legal entities controlled by “unfriendly” entities only with the consent of senior officials of the Russian regions where such entities are located. The Government should issue a report on this matter by June 15, 2023 ...
June 12, 2023 By: Michael Flynn On May 30, 2023, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Request for Input (RFI) from the public focusing on “issues faced by tenants in multifamily properties, and on any opportunities and potential impacts associated with requiring or encouraging specific tenant protections at multifamily properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Written input and feedback from the public is due by July 31, 2023 ...
Overview On 22 February 2023, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOC”) issued a new regulation on the Forms and Procedures for Issuance of Temporary Suspension Measures and/or Decisions by the Cambodia Competition Commission (“CCC”) to strengthen the enforcement of the Law on Competition (“Competition Law”) in Cambodia ...
A recent Financial Times newspaper article raises the question whether the mandate underlying the UK's competition authority (the CMA) should be reviewed. The argument is based on the CMA's blocking of the Microsoft/Activision merger, compared to the EU's conditional consent decision. The CMA's decision is being appealed by the merger parties ...
A gym franchisor recently secured a preliminary injunction against its former franchisee prohibiting the franchisee from operating an independent gym on the same location and using the franchisor’s trade secrets. Chris O’Hare, along with his company, (O’Hare), was a former Core Progression gym franchisee ...
When the Supreme Court in 2020 issued its decision in Liu v. SEC, placing limits upon the Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to obtain disgorgement, many observers believed that the decision would significantly diminish the SEC's capability to seek and obtain significant disgorgement recoveries in civil enforcement actions alleging violations of the securities laws ...
What is changing with how prudential regulators view fintech partnerships? How is this affecting financial institutions TPRM programs? Prudential regulators appear to be acknowledging the role that fintech partnerships have in the marketplace, both to expand banking services to previous unbanked/underbanked populations, and to allow smaller, regional banks to develop new markets for their services ...
In an uncertain market, there is often a renewed emphasis from investors not just on liquidity and rate of return on property investment opportunities, but also on the structuring of legal interests and the ability to ‘exit’ from a scheme ...
The Ministry of Economy published the new proposal to update the Regulation on consumer information on mortgage loans (Decree No. 42 of 2012), which improves consumer understanding of financial information and promotes the comparison of products offered by financial institutions ...
This pilot is a first-of-its-kind use of distributed ledger (Web3) SLC technology and is expected to deliver reduced operational costs and improved risk management for lenders. Based on natural language contract terms developed by SVW and converted to SLCs using Hunit’s AI-powered tools, MMB’s clients will benefit from simplified processes, streamlined monitoring, and improved contract fulfilment ...
What do a squeak toy, whiskey, and dog poop have in common? If you are silently thinking to yourself “absolutely nothing,” it may surprise you to hear that the U.S. Supreme Court has spent months considering this question. On June 8, 2023, in a long-awaited win for trademark owners, SCOTUS ruled that a lower court erred when it issued a decision finding that a dog toy that parodies a famous liquor bottle, was covered by First Amendment free speech protections ...
June 8, 2023 By: Stephanie Shea and Michael Flynn On June 6, 2023, the FDIC, FRB and OCC collectively issued a document entitled, “Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management” (“2023 Guidance”). Prior to this, each of these agencies had issued separate guidance on third-party risk. This 2023 Guidance replaces those separate pieces on third-party risk ...
