April 2011

BSkyB / News Corp and Ryanair / Aer Lingus: The Long-Reach of UK Merger Control | Charles Russell Speechlys

Two recent high-profile cases involving BSkyB/News Corporation and Ryanair/Aer Lingus have highlighted the importance of the merger control rules. These cases have also demonstrated the extensive scope and potential flexibility of the UK merger control regime and why anyone considering the acquisition of even a minority stake in a business may need to consider competition …

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Make no mistake: High Court refuses to rectify erroneous contract | Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP

Where a contract is formed on the basis of a mistake as to the law or certain facts, the contract can potentially be deemed void from its inception. In certain circumstances, however, the court has the authority to remedy the mistakes, by construing the contract in a way that will correct the mistakes, or by …

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ISDA Master Agreement – “probably the most important standard market agreement used in the financial world” | Macfarlanes

In the recent Lomas & Ors v JFB Firth Rixson Inc & ors [2010], the joint administrators (the administrators) of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) applied for directions as to the true meaning and effect of certain terms under interest rate swap agreements (the swaps), governed by the International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master …

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Beware: unprinted e-mail could prompt stamp duty in Austria | Wolf Theiss

A peculiarity in austrian law is the Austrian Stamp Duty Act (GebG). The Act contains a list of agreements, such as suretyships, settlement agreements, assignments of rights and rental agreements, which are subject to stamp duty if a ‘written deed’ is executed in Austria, or if any link to Austria exists. However, the Act itself …

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SLAPP Suits in the Indian Context | Amarchand Mangaldas

The term ‘SLAPP’, which stands for strategic lawsuit against public participation, was coined by two University of Denver professors, Penelope Canan and George W Pring. A SLAPP suit is usually meritless in that it ‘is intended to intimidate and silence’ a party from engaging in free speech, by burdening them with the cost of a …

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