In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued five decisions worthy of particular note: Inserso Corp. v. U.S.[1] Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc.[2] Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. v. U.S.[3] LAX Electronics Inc. v. U.S.[4] Centerra Integrated Facilities Services LLC ...
On 14 October 2022, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) made amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations, 2002, which will come into force on 14 November 2022. In terms of these amendments, the prescribed amount for reporting cash transactions under section 28 of FICA to the Financial Intelligence Centre has increased from ZAR24 999 to ZAR49 999.99 ...
As described in our earlierclient alert, dated September 13, 2016, under certain specific circumstances, section 1129 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) permits a bankruptcy court to confirm a Chapter 11 plan and rewrite the terms of a debt instrument (including mortgage debt or mezzanine debt), including the interest, amortization, and maturity ...
In United States v. United States ex rel. Thrower, No. 18-16408, on November 14, a panel of the Ninth Circuit gave a skeptical reception to the Department of Justice (DOJ) argument that the district court’s denial of the government’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam complaint against Academy Mortgage Corporation (Academy) invaded the government’s “prosecutorial discretion ...
What is litigation funding and why is it attractive? Also known as legal finance or litigation finance, third party funding – historically – was considered an improper or corrupting influence on litigation. These old offences of champerty and maintenance were first decriminalised in England in 1967 ...
We have this year assisted with numerous new financings, covering everything from new bank syndicates, refinancings, direct lending and bond loans. It has in periods been especially hectic within the shipping, aviation and renewable energy sectors. On the regulatory side, we have had a particular focus on the LIBOR transition ...
In February 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (Subchapter V) took effect.[1] Subchapter V amends Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code to allow certain individuals and businesses with debts of less than $2,725,625 to file a streamlined Chapter 11 case with the goal to make small business bankruptcies faster and cheaper ...
Pennsylvania law suggests construction defects generally are not considered an "occurrence" under most CGL insurance policies because defects are not true accidents, e.g., a fortuitous event. However, an exception generally exists for products-related claims as opposed to pure defect claims ...
Law firms periodically receive requests for advice from CPAs regarding a client’s need to come into compliance with the relatively new and sometimes confusing “economic nexus” or “Wayfair” rules for selling goods or providing services to customers in another state ...
Regional Labor Court Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ruling of July 30, 2019, 5 Sa 233/18 It is up to the employer to decide how to react to a conflict situation in the company, regardless of the causes and responsibilities of the disputants. FACTS The parties dispute over the validity of transferring the plaintiff to another workplace to resolve an interpersonal conflict ...
Clients unfamiliar with patent prosecution are often surprised to learn that few patent applications receive a first-action allowance, or FAA. There are even rankings of law firms that receive the most FAAs each year. But what does an FAA signify? Is it a cause to celebrate, or to conduct a post-mortem? The answer is, of course, “it depends ...
In its most basic form, the guaranty is an agreement (importantly it is the guarantor’s separate contract with lender) by one party to be responsible for the debt or obligations of someone else. We all know it and love it – it is the lender’s friend. But like so many friendships, when it is built on a fundamental misunderstanding or problem, a train wreck ensues and we feel the pain ...
Several significant changes to the UAE Civil Procedure Law (Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 as amended) came into effect in February this year. An overview of these changes, brought about by Regulations promulgated pursuant to Decree by Law No 10 of 2017 and Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018 (the Regulations) can be found in our inBrief of 12 February 2019 ...
February 2, 2023 By: Manuel Fishman In what may turn out to be a lesson on the limits of the application of equitable doctrines supporting rent relief in the face of good lease drafting, a California court of appeal panel in San Diego has taken a narrow view on the application of the doctrines of quiet enjoyment, frustration of purpose, impracticability and impossibility as a defense to the payment of rent under a lease following State and local closure orders issued in response to the COVID 1
In Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Ltd v Simply Construct (UK) LLP, the Court of Appeal recently determined that a collateral warranty, signed four years after completion, was a construction contract that applied retrospectively, therefore an adjudication award applied to the dispute under the warranty and was enforceable. The court’s decision provides clarity that a collateral warranty can be sufficient evidence of contractual obligations to seek enforcement of an adjudication award ...
There is no bespoke legislation dealing with “pre-pack” restructuring or sale of the business or assets of an insolvent British Virgin Islands (BVI) company, and in practice, as primarily a holding company jurisdiction pre-packs are not in high demand in the BVI ...
1. What measures are available in your jurisdiction to allow struggling businesses to enter into a “pre-pack”? There is no bespoke legislation dealing with “pre-pack” restructuring or sale of the business or assets of an insolvent Cayman Islands company ...
1. What measures are available in your jurisdiction to allow struggling businesses to enter into a “pre-pack”? Guernsey stands out against many offshore jurisdictions because it has a dedicated administration regime designed to facilitate corporate rescue. The procedure is broadly similar to that in the United Kingdom, albeit it has been simplified and tweaked to suit Guernsey’s finance industry ...
Balance has been tipping over from creditors to shareholders and the pandemic is only bringing this deepening fault line to the fore. Covid-19 slammed into the global consciousness this March and, as expected, immediately torpedoed the markets. But despite the worsening economic data hogging news headlines, exacerbated by intensifying US-China tensions, the markets have paradoxically strengthened since ...
On August 23, 2023, the extracts from the minutes of the meeting of the Sub-commission of the Government Commission for Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation No. 182/5 dated August 09, 2023, were published. (“Extracts No. 182/5”). The said Extracts No ...
In seeking to address the impact of climate change within Hong Kong’s fund management industry, the SFC has introduced new climate-related regulatory requirements for fund managers in relation to disclosures and to their investment risk and management processes. In this ten-minute podcast, Jeremy Lam outlines key features of the new regime, the timeframe for implementation and how best to plan ahead ...
In July 2021, new private law cases received by Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service) fell by over 16%. According to the latest figures published by Cafcass this week, they received a total of 3,774 new private law cases in July 2021, 740 cases (16.4%) fewer than in July 2020. Private law cases generally consist of applications made to the family court by a parent or carer of a child following a divorce or separation ...
Economic torts provide relief in relation to intentional interference with economic interests. This collection of torts can be divided into two categories: deceptive market practices and improper market practices. This paper concerns itself exclusively with the latter, examining the torts of inducing breach of contract, unlawful interference with economic interests and civil conspiracy ...
While the motivation behind the Civil Justice Commission’s consultation paper – aimed at enhancing the Court system – is laudable, the proposed introduction of litigation scale costs may hurt Singapore’s standing as a global litigation hub. In 2015, the Chief Justice established the Civil Justice Commission (CJC) to review Singapore’s civil justice system, with the goal of transforming and modernising the litigation process ...
