May 2010

Who’s watching you? Rise of corporate monitoring | DLA Piper

The new zealous and robust approach adopted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to combat corporate fraud and corruption offences has been increasingly described as the Americanisation of the organisation. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (equivalent to the SFO and Financial Services Authority (FSA) here) have made anti-corruption …

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What a nuisance! Key environmental cases from the past year | Burges Salmon

The law of nuisance was first developed by the courts of England and Wales hundreds of years ago, long before the industrial revolution, at a time when England was predominantly a rural society. Throughout the intervening period there has been great change to our society and the law of nuisance has been adapted by the …

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EFRBS: attractive alternative for high earners? | Jones Day

6 April 2006 saw the introduction of the Employer Financed Retirement Benefit Scheme (EFRBS), replacing the now defunct Funded Unapproved Retirement Benefit Scheme. An EFRBS is an unregistered (ie not registered with HM Revenue & Customs) pension scheme commonly used to provide retirement benefits to high-net-worth individuals (defined as those earning over £150,000 per annum …

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All change for the new financial year | Charles Russell Speechlys

With the AGM season in full swing, this article takes stock of rule changes that public companies have been dealing with when presenting their accounts and holding their AGMs. Before looking at the changes it is worth remembering that the legal and governance regimes do not apply in their entirety to all companies. Company definitions …

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UAE insolvency law exists! | Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla

During the boom times, Dubai and the UAE seldom experienced insolvency cases, so it became a widespread rumour that the UAE does not have an insolvency law. In addition, it had also been widely speculated that the UAE has a very archaic regime in which debts can lead a debtor to jail. By opposition to …

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Supreme Court warns: agree first, start work later | Edwards Wildman Palmer UK LLP

There is a situation more common than most people would think, particularly in the construction industry whereby parties commence work under a letter of intent, pending the negotiation and execution of a full written contract, setting out all the detailed terms and conditions governing contract performance. This often occurs where projects are time and cost …

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Dilapidations strategies | Brodies

The popular consensus is that there will not be a return to pre-2008 levels of property transactions for at least a few years. It is also uncertain when, if ever, the property market will return to the boom times seen in the early part of the last decade. During this period, it was not uncommon …

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Canadian international trade and investment priorities: Budget 2010 and the Throne Speech | Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

On 4 March 2010, the federal government announced its budget for 2010 (Budget 2010). Several of the measures proposed by the government relate to international trade and investment. Included in the budget are commitments to: eliminate a large number of custom tariffs on manufactured goods; continue the negotiation of international trade and investment agreements; enhance …

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Compliance with competition law: prevention is better than cure | Boekel

A sound corporate governance policy requires managing directors to guarantee compliance with competition law in the organisation. Violations can lead to penalties of millions of euros, and serious damage to the reputation of the organisation and the persons involved. In practice, it is difficult to identify and control competition law risks. This problem can be …

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Court of Appeal supports FSA’s request for documents | Norton Rose Fulbright

The trend for co-operation between international financial regulators has become a feature of the regulatory environment over recent years. On 24 February 2010, in a boost for the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in its approach to dealing with requests for assistance from overseas regulators, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal and found in favour …

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Reputation law: an international approach to protecting brands | Schillings

The threat from modern methods of communication is that the potential damage to an individual, company or brand’s reputation is fast and global. As international companies and their brands grow, so does the need for a trusted reputation and the need to protect the brand. The speed at which information travels, especially in this internet …

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Rights of light in cities: injunctions and damages | CMS Cameron McKenna

As space commands a higher and higher price in our cities, new buildings are being put up ever closer together and reaching ever taller. London, with its record land prices, already has the UK’s largest concentration of commercial skyscrapers. After a slowdown in development during the economic recession, Savills Project Consultancy’s ‘Commercial Development Activity’ (March …

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