The freeze partnership is an often overlooked estate tax planning tool. Unlike more common estate tax planning vehicles, the freeze partnership is not a trust and, as the name implies, is a closely-held partnership, limited partnership or LLC (in this article, the term partnership will be used to refer to partnerships, limited partnerships and LLCs) ...
The advent of blank cheque company IPOs. Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) have taken the corporate world by storm. These “blank cheque” shell companies, which raise funds in their initial public offerings (IPO) to invest in potential but as yet unidentified target businesses, have fuelled a listing frenzy in the US. SPAC IPOs have garnered US$87.9 billion in fundraising in the first three months of 2021, already exceeding last year’s total ...
Republic Act No. 11523, also known as “An Act Ensuring Philippine Financial Industry Resiliency Against the COVID-19 Pandemic” (FIST Act)1, which seeks to assist banks and financial institutions (FIs) in dealing with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, took effect on February 18, 2021 upon its publication in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of general circulation ...
In what appears to be the first substantive dispositive ruling on a COVID-19 related business interruption insurance claim, a Michigan court has dismissed an insured’s business interruption claim, finding that the insured did not suffer a direct physical loss and no insurance coverage exists for the insured’s claim ...
1. Background to the case The case concerned a young, female employee in a mechanical workshop, who felt she had been sexually harassed by two of the enterprise’s customers. Customer No 1 had on one occasion, while the female employee was sitting on the floor in a forward-leaning position, performing work, put his hands on her lower back, under her top ...
In Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc., (IPR2020-00019, Fintiv), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) elegantly laid out six different factors that the Board currently considers in discretionarily denying institution of an Inter Partes Review (IPR) that has a parallel district court proceeding ...
In last quarter’s issue, we discussed the rise of digital currencies and the blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology that supports them. We now turn our focus to how the financial industry and governments have embraced this technology and are working to adapt it to traditional banking services and applications as far ranging as recording property transfers and safeguarding nuclear missiles ...
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recently published a report on its 12-month review of the Revised FATF Standards on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers, and a report on so-called stablecoins which highlighted associated risks of money laundering/terrorism financing (“ML/TF”) ...
We would like to inform you that on July 10, 2023 the Federal Law No. 301-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” has been adopted (hereinafter – the “Law”, the “Fifth antimonopoly package”). The Law shall take effect as of September 01, 2023 ...
The attorney-client privilege is a cornerstone of the legal practice. The privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between a client and an attorney from disclosure to a third party when the communications are intended to be confidential and the confidentiality is not waived ...
State and local governments throughout the nation are struggling to address the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, enacted by Congress on March 28, 2020 appears to provide insufficient funding, and many state and local governments need more federal financial assistance ...
Since the launch of the Main Street Lending Program, the Federal Reserve (through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which is implementing the program) issued updates on July 15, 2020 and July 31, 2020 to the Frequently Asked Questions document (“FAQ”), originally published on April 30, 2020, for the three loan facilities available to for profit businesses ...
In a judgment handed down on 14 June 2022 in The Federal Republic of Nigeria v JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A [2022] EWHC 1447 (Comm) (FRN v JPMC) the court again considered the scope of the Quincecare duty and gross negligence. The decision is good news for Banks. The case related to the payment of over $1 billion by JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) to accounts held by a Nigerian company called Malabu Oil and Gas Limited (Malabu) ...
In April 2024, the FCA issued practical steps and finalised guidance on the Anti-Greenwashing rule, effective from 31 May 2024, ushering forth the FCA's regulatory priority accorded to ESG and sustainability. On 28 November 2023, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published consultation paper, GC23/3, (the “CP”) outlining its proposed guidance on the Anti-Greenwashing rule (ESG 4.3.1R, the “Rule”) ...
In its judgment of 4 May 2023 (Case C-487/21), the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) specified the scope of the right to obtain a “copy” of personal data in the context of the right of access. The ECJ ruled that the copy must be used to provide the data subject with a faithful and intelligible reproduction of all personal data that are the subject of the processing ...
The EU published a report on 18 April 2024, ‘Much More than a Market’.1 The reasons behind the call for the report are the EU’s concerns that just over 30 years after its creation there are important aspects of the Single Market that are not complete, and that the world is very different to what it was 30 years ago ...
The new year, 2022, will be the year in which cryptocurrencies gain more legitimacy worldwide through government regulation, oversight and further acceptance. Indeed, in December 2021, the Dubai World Trade Centre announced that it will become a crypto zone and a regulator for cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets - including digital assets, products, operators and exchanges. In September 2021, the country of El Salvador officially recognized Bitcoin as legal tender ...
The London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is expected to cease after the end of 2021. In particular, LIBOR-linked loans may not be offered after Q3 2020. This will impact the variable rate in LIBOR-linked financial products. Since the 1980s, LIBORhas been used widely as an interest rate benchmark to calculate the interest rate applicable to financial products. These rates are written into loans, derivatives agreements, and many other contracts ...
Open banking is an emerging financial services model that focuses on the portability and open availability of customer data held by financial institutions. It involves opening up banking systems, particularly customer data, to third parties to allow them provide services directly to customers ...
Jeremy Hunt’s speech on 9th December heralds the (delayed) arrival of the anticipated reform of consumer credit in the UK…and much more. But will the fanfare live up to the industry’s expectations? The financial services sector have faced unprecedented challenges over the last few years, particularly those involved in the provision of consumer credit ...
Dan Stowers, Partner and Lauren Bowkett, Principal Associate in the Regulation, Business Crime and Compliance Division explore the powers enacted under the new Economic Crime Act 2022 and what this means for those involved ...
A new report by Shoosmiths, in partnership with Beauhurst, shows that the number of venture capital ‘megadeals’ in the UK has increased tenfold over the last decade. In 2011 a modest five ‘megadeals’ (where £50 million or more is invested into a company) occurred, compared with an astounding 51 megadeals in the first half of 2021 ...
Dear Sirs, On March 11, 2010 the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev introduced in the State Duma the draft of Federal law No. 341071-5 “On alternative dispute resolution procedure by way of mediation (a mediation process)” ( “the Draft law”). It is to be applicable from January 1, 2011. View More
TheBig Maccase has enjoyed considerable publicity – many publications have reported on it, includingWorld IP Review. The decision shines a spotlight on some important aspects of trade mark law. In this case, an Irish company called Supermac’s applied for the cancellation of the EU trade mark registration for Big Mac (belonging to McDonald’s) on the basis of non-use ...
LAST JUNE WE DISCUSSED THE COURT OF APPEAL DECISION IN STONEHAVEN COUNTY CLUB1, WHICH DEALT WITH THE APPLICATION OF SECTION 139 BIA TO A CLAIM BY INVESTISSEMENT QUEBEC.2 THE COURT OF APPEAL HAS RULED ON THE SCOPE OF THIS SECTION ONCE AGAIN ...
