History shows that, at least since the 1950s, the likelihood that any authorised insurance company will not be able to pay its claims in full is reassuringly small. The level and composition of assets required by insurers, and their liquidity in particular, is carefully regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), as is the standard …
Continue reading “What can you do if your insurer goes bust?”
The rising divorce rate and some well-publicised settlements running into tens of millions of pounds have focused attention on a growing issue in divorce cases: just how far can spouses go to obtain information about their partner’s financial affairs? Uncertainty about legal outcomes adds to the temptation for well-heeled spouses to disregard their obligation to …
Continue reading “Divorce and the media: the courts, the pay-outs and the speculation”
There is no legal definition of the term ‘twilight zone’ (perhaps derived from the cult TV series, the writer would like to think), which is now widely used to describe a period of trading when a company has, or is predicted to have, insufficient cash to pay its debts as they fall due. This might …
Continue reading “The twilight zone: legal issues for directors”
Although many definitions exist, broadly speaking ‘cloud computing’ is the outsourcing of specified IT functions via the internet (the cloud) to provide or receive services that would otherwise only be available if the end user had installed the appropriate hardware and/or software on desktops, or on local networks controlled by that organisation itself. Such services …
On 3 December 2009, following an action brought by the European Commission under article 226 of the EC Treaty (now article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that Germany had failed to comply with its obligations under the European regulatory framework for telecommunications (the …
Continue reading “Commission victorious in ‘regulatory holiday’ action brought against Germany”
A search for the terms ‘surrogacy’ and ‘India’ on Google would reveal that surrogacy tourism in India is on the rise. The trend is attributed to the fact that: the cost of a surrogacy arrangement in India is much lower than other countries; the low income levels of a vast majority of the population mean …
This article will look at several developments within UK immigration law and procedures that have been implemented over the past two months. These include recommendations for changes to Tier 1 of the Points-Based System (PBS) by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), changes to requirements under Tier 2 of the PBS, both for sponsors and sponsored …
The year-end audit process can bring headaches for in-house lawyers. With the financial year for most companies ending on 31 December, the first few months of the New Year bring the deepest scrutiny by external auditors of a company’s transactions and dealings, in addition to year-end procedures being run by internal audit. This increased scrutiny …
Continue reading “Will it be a Happy New Year for your company?”
A consultation document, ‘Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes’ (the consultation document), has beenpublished in respect of proposed changes to the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS) regime, which are largely aimed at improving compliance and widening the scope of the types of transactions that are disclosable. It is clear that HMRC consider this legislation to …
Continue reading “HMRC sharpens its tools to combat avoidance”
On Friday 27 November 2009 the new European Commission, which will begin its mandate early in 2010, was announced by Commission President José Barroso. This announcement followed a week after the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign …
In this month’s corporate tax article, we have considered some of the proposed international tax measures introduced inthe Pre-Budget Report (PBR 2009). The headline-grabbing measures of the PBR 2009, such as the bank bonus tax or the increases in national insurance contributions, have already received considerable media attention and commentary, and therefore this article does …
Continue reading “Pre-Budget Report 2009: international tax matters”
The European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, has published a decision upholding a complaint against the European Commission by Intel Corporation (Intel). The complaint relates to the Commission’s handling of its investigation into Intel’s business activities and, in particular, its record of a meeting with a senior executive from Dell Inc (Dell), one of Intel’s biggest customers. …