Nelfo is a national trade association for electro, IT, electronic communications, system integrators, and lift companies in Norway. The main point addressed in the complaint to ESA was the allegation that the municipality had overcompensated companies within the BKK Group for maintaining and operating street lights along municipal public roads ...
«As Managing Partner, Mona Søyland has made a great effort for Simonsen Vogt Wiig, which has significantly strengthened the firm’s market position. We thank Mona for her great efforts throughout the period and are very pleased that she continues in the partnership», says Peter Aall Simonsen, Chairman of the board in Simonsen Vogt Wiig. Erlend Lous (51) will take over from Mona. Erlend is currently a partner on the Ocean team in Oslo ...
The aviation industry came to a standstill this month due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, and this has hit the airlines worldwide. With the majority of the fleet on the tarmac, we could potentially see a number of airlines defaulting on their lease agreements and loan facilities. The question of how to enforce security or repossess an aircraft could sadly turn out to be something the lessors and the lenders would have to look into more closely in the time to come ...
In 2013, the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, which at the time only held limited secondary patents related to certain antidepressants, was fined EUR 93.7 million by the European Commission for having entered into settlement agreements in 2002 whereby Lundbeck paid generic manufacturers for not challenging its patents. The payments corresponded to the profits that the generic manufacturers could have made if they had successfully entered the market ...
During 2022, the government has, among other things, made these legal amendments: Removal of the general right to employ someone temporarily up to one year Trade unions that have members in a company that use hired workers from a temp agency can start legal proceedings against the employer about the legality of hiring. Revised home office regulations You can read more about these changes here. The Supreme Court has also contributed to the further development of employment law ...
Enhanced obligations for the employer in reorganizations and redundancies From January 1, 2024, certain employer obligations that previously applied to each separate company will now extend to all companies within a corporate group. The legislative changes mandate that the employer is obliged to consider (and offer to the employee) other suitable work throughout the group, even if the employee is not formally employed in any of the other companies within the group ...
Introduction The employee’s right to be represented on the Board of Directors («BoD») is governed in the Limited Liability Companies Act (Nw: aksjeloven) and the Public Limited Liability Companies Act (Nw: allmennaksjeloven). We will in the following refer to the Limited Liability Companies Act («the Company Act»), as the wording is the same ...
Electronic registration The Norwegian Maritime Authority («NMA«) has developed a new system for electronic ship registration and has proposed certain amendments to the Norwegian Maritime Code and appurtenant regulations. The amendments are currently circulated in a memo subject to public hearing ...
Last night, only days ahead of a general election the minority Government in Norway is likely not to win, a proposal for dramatic changes to the upstream petroleum tax regime. It was announced at 18.00 hours Oslo time in a hastily called press conference by the Minister of Finance Mr Sanner (Conservative) and the Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ms Bru (Conservative) ...
The recent ruling from Hålogaland Court of Appeal on 5 April 2024 involved a dispute concerning communication by email between the parties under a Norwegian standard building and civil engineering contract (NS 8405). This standard contract includes provisions addressing several duties with respect to timely formal communication in order to safeguard contractual rights ...
A recent court ruling from Gulating lagmannsrett (Court of Appeal) states that bonus payments are not covered by the principle of equal treatment for temporary agency workers, cf. LG-2018-162656. The ruling has been appealed, and the result of the appeal to the Supreme Court will be of great importance to many companies and employees of temporary work agencies ...
The ongoing court action, often referred to as the «Stolt Commitment Case», was commenced in the aftermath of a collision between MV «Thorco Cloud» and MV «Stolt Commitment» outside Singapore in 2015. MV «Stolt Commitment» was owned by a Dutch company, and was flying Cayman Island flag ...
Before going into the details of the proposal it should be mentioned that the actual rules of the proposal were not presented in the revised budget. The government stated that they aim to present the rules in the budget for 2022. The rules will also be subject to a hearing round and since the scheme constitutes state aid in accordance with the rules in the EEA Agreement, they will also require notification to and approval from ESA before implementation ...
Having practised both as a shipping lawyer and an aviation lawyer for many years, I do find the experience and practice with the Cape Town Convention and aviation finance transactions to be interesting when experiencing the challenges faced by the shipping industry with respect to recognition and enforcement of mortgages ...
Earlier this year the Borgarting Court of Appeal rendered its judgment in Gassled, a case of major importance for the upstream Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) industry, natural gas buyers in Europe; and the Norwegian government, as resource owner and NCS regulator. If the judgment becomes final and binding, it will benefit the European gas supply. However, it may be a rude awakening for institutional investors in NCS infrastructure ...
On 3 October 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) published its groundbreaking ruling in case C-18/18 establishing that the EU enables national courts to order information societies such as Facebook to remove defamatory information. This also encompasses equivalent versions of previously declared illegal information. In doing so, the ECJ effectively held that EU law does not preclude injunctions issued by national courts from producing worldwide effects ...
Many businesses are struggling due to the Covid-19 outbreak and associated restrictions. They face immediate consequences in terms of reduced labor force, counterparties unable to deliver and own failure to deliver. In this phase, it is crucial for the business to be proactive and set out a plan to maintain operational operations and mitigate the risk. In a chaotic situation with unforeseen and complex consequences, one may easily react with panic ...
Many organizations are these days in a phase of reorganizing their operations and establishing alternative solutions to ensure continued business work capacity. Meanwhile numerous hackers and other cyber criminals around the world are mobilizing themselves to take advantage of the extraordinary situation. All business should therefore be aware of a significant increase of cyber risk in relation to the current corona crisis ...
Introduction A convertible loan is considered a hybrid instrument as it is neither debt nor equity. Whether it is accounted for as debt or equity depends on the terms of the loan. Convertible loans typically carry interest and have a fixed maturity date, but other varieties also exist. Conversion is triggered by the lender, the borrower or automatically upon the occurrence of a trigger event. The conversion price is pre-agreed and can be fixed or subject to a pre-agreed pricing mechanism ...
There is an ongoing controversy relating to search engine advertising. In particular regarding the legality of purchasing search terms incorporating third-party trademarks. In seeking a reasonable legal standard, this article discusses the latest legal development in trademark, unfair trading practices, marketing, and competition Law ...
Sustainability and social responsibility are among Simonsen Vogt Wiig’s strategic priorities, and we are highly committed to contributing beyond our own sphere as well as running our business in a sustainable way. In connection with the firm’s internal work with sustainability, goal 16 «Peace, justice and strong institutions» was identified as one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to which we want to pay a particular focus ...
On 29 July 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluded that website operators can be deemed joint controllers under the GDPR together with social media providers for using plug ins, such as Facebook Like buttons. However, the parties are joint controllers only in respect of the collection and transmission of personal data to the social media provider, and not in respect of subsequent processing by the social media provider ...
When the lockdown was a fact in March 2020, Norwegian courts demonstrated a great willingness to keep the wheels of the Norwegian litigation system going by rapidly transitioning to conducting court hearings through video meetings, and by resolving a larger number of cases through written proceedings. The question going forward is whether experiences gained through the pandemic should change how civil procedures are conducted, and if so, what these changes should be ...
Christian Vestheim focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), investments, and Private Equity. He has extensive experience with Private Equity and venture capital transactions, and has assisted numerous national and international clients with investments and acquisitions. Christian has worked on transactions across various sectors, with a particular focus on technology in recent years ...
Effective 1 January 2020, new rules pertaining to whistleblowing will enter into force.On 11 June 2019, the Norwegian Parliament passed a resolution that all provisions of the Working Environment Act Chapter 2 A shall be amended. The changes in the law mainly contribute to clarification and precise formulation of judicial status so as to make the provisions more accessible and understandable to the users of the law ...