Scope of this treatiseThe purpose of this discussion is to address those cases which are most likely to have a significant effect for those practicing in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech areas ...
Last November the expert group appointed by the Scottish Executive to consider a statutory offence of corporate culpable homicide issued its report. As expected, the group proposed a new statutory offence of corporate killing. It recommended that this should apply to incorporated companies and, as far as possible, to unincorporated and Crown bodies. The report recommended that two individual offences (applying to named persons) be introduced ...
On February 2, 2006, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered an interesting judgement involving directors’ liabilities in the case of Johnson and Marcil v. André Arthur et al (500-09-012808-028), a lawsuit for slander ...
IN OUR JUNE 2005 “FDA WATCH” column, we provided an overview of the regulatory, political, and scientific landscape for follow-on biological products in the U.S. As reported a year ago, the biogenerics debate centers around whether generic biologics are scientifically possible (i.e ...
The European Commission published its Recommendation on the role of non-executive directors in February 2005. Member States are invited, but not required, to promote the application of the Recommendation's principles by 30 June 2006. The principles are applicable to listed companies, although Member States are allowed to extend the ambit to unlisted companies. The Recommendation adopts the comply or explain approach utilised by the UK Combined Code ...
ALERT Hospital May Be Excluded For Physician Recruiting On May 8, 2006 the OIG announced that it intends to exclude San Diego-based Alvarado Hospital from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and all other federal health care programs because of payments the Hospital made under relocation agreements involving placement of newly-recruited physicians in established physician practices ...
SEC and PCAOB To Take Action on Section 404 Internal Controls Reporting Matters The SEC recently announced a series of actions it and the PCAOB intend to take to improve the implementation of the internal control reporting requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. These actions include: • Providing Guidance for Companies ...
Certificate of Need Strategies for New Nursing Home Beds Special Population Beds are Re-Approved At its March 2006 meeting, the Michigan Certificate of Need (“CON”) Commission took action to re-approve several state-wide pools of nursing home beds that are set aside to serve special populations, including: Alzheimer’s Use 60 beds Hospice 30 beds Religious Use 20 beds The Commission reserved 22 special population beds on a non-specified basis for future use ...
Things To Think About This Proxy Season Prior to Drafting Update director and officer questionnaires, including “independence” criteria for directors Most public companies follow the “best practice” of having all directors and executive officers complete a standard form of questionnaire each year to verify the accuracy of information about the person that is reported in the 10-K Report and proxy statement ...
On 17 February 2006, The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Exchange") announced various minor and housekeeping amendments to the Main Board and GEM Listing Rules. The amendments came into effect on 1 March 2006. They relate to the following matters: Disclosures of "advances to entities" and "financial assistance and guarantees to affiliated companies" Rules 13.13 to 13.16 of the Main Board Listing Rules and rules 17.15 to 17 ...
In April last year, companies were given greater flexibility in protecting their directors against certain liabilities as a result of changes to the law. The changes recognised increasing concern over directors' exposure to liability arising from legal proceedings brought by third parties. The Companies Actprohibits a company from exempting directors in respect of liability if negligent, in default or in breach of duty or trust ...
Last March 15th was published Decree Law nr. 52/2006 implementing Directive 2003/6/CE, of the European Parliament and the Council, dated January 28th, on insider dealing and market manipulation, and Directive 2003/71/CE, of the European Parliament and the Council, dated November 4th, on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading and amending Directive 2001/34/CE ...
Interdisciplinary collaborations and partnering across the medical research and life sciences sectors are becoming increasingly common. Large corporations with good industry reputations and large research budgets are seeking to collaborate with smaller companies developing next-generation products. Equally, smaller companies are coming together to share complementary know-how and technologies and to work together in the global marketplace ...
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced in June that it was considering launching an investigation into the UK airports market "with a view to establishing if the current market structure works well for consumers". This raised a number of eyebrows in the City, as the European Commission had only just cleared Ferrovial's bid for BAA, confirming that the market (at least for ground-handling services) "is broadly perceived as well-functioning by airlines" ...
Patent Opinion Letters: Privilege Waivers after Knorr Knorr-Bremse: The Federal Circuit Changes the Role of Options of Counsel in Patent Cases In September 2004, the en banc opinion of the Federal Circuit Court in Knorr- Bremse System Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge Bmbh v. Dana Corp ...
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced in June that it was considering launching an investigation into the UK airports market "with a view to establishing if the current market structure works well for consumers". This raised a number of eyebrows in the City, as the European Commission had only just cleared Ferrovial's bid for BAA, confirming that the market (at least for ground-handling services) "is broadly perceived as well-functioning by airlines" ...
There is an argument that in certain circumstances greater prudence is now required from members dividends following the Court of Appeal case It's a Wrap (UK) Ltd (In Liquidation) v (1) Barbara Gula and (2) Anthony Gula [2006] EWCA Civ 544, which reverses an earlier High Court decision. The case involved an insolvent company which had claimed repayment of dividends unlawfully paid to the defendants who were the only members and directors of the company ...
As the poultry farming crisis looms and countries are on the lookout for outbreaks of infection, scientists are closely following the evolution of the virus, which is moving to new sources of infection.Before a crisis is on our doorstep, businesses should prepare themselves for the consequences of a high rate of absenteeism. Without exaggerating the risks, they should adopt preventive strategies and become aware of the legal ins and outs of their actions ...
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) has proposed new regulations for rural onshore low stress pipelines and rural onshore gathering lines. Although PHMSA has been anticipating further regulation of these types of lines for the past few years, the Agency acknowledges that the proposed rule is a direct response to legislative and media scrutiny of recent incidents that occurred in the Alaska Prudhoe Bay field ...
The funding of emerging oil & gas companies is less straightforward than other start-ups due to the inherent risks associated with drilling for oil and taking any successful drilling programmes from exploration stage through to the production of oil & gas. Debt finance, essentially borrowing from banks, is usually dependent upon a guaranteed revenue, so is normally only a funding option once production has commenced ...
Pursuant to the Act on Drugs, the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic has specified in annexes to this Decree details on forms to be used for prescriptions of drugs and medical aids. By this Decree, the Ministry also has set the sample forms of medical prescription, special medical prescription, medical reference, and extract from medical prescription, order and special order ...
Respondents to Dykema's 2006 M&A survey generally maintain a positive outlook on the future of the U.S. mergers and acquisitions market. Responses were received from both company executives and their outside advisors. Survey respondents are looking toward strategic buyers as an increased presence in the coming year, but also forecast significant involvement by financial and foreign buyers ...
The Finance Committee at Holyrood published its long awaited Report into Accountability and Governance last month. Its conclusions, and especially its strong criticism of the current structure of independent bodies in Scotland, have raised a few eyebrows among those with an interest in public administration. The Report follows a lengthy inquiry which began in March this year, looking into the growth of independent regulatory and investigatory bodies in Scotland since devolution ...
Long before the creation of limited liability companies, the best practice for companies or individuals that operated multiple distinct businesses or held multiple significant assets, such as real estate, was to segregate each distinct business or asset into a separate entity so that the liabilities of one of the businesses or assets would not affect the other businesses or assets ...
