Originally, the purpose of a ‘pay when paid’ clause as used in the construction industry was to absolve the contractor from liability to pay the subcontractor until it had been paid by the employer. The effect of such a clause was to allow the contractor to pass the risk of default by the employer to …
Continue reading “‘Pay when paid’ or not? Lessons in commercial contract drafting”
Mid-July saw the chill winds of EU infringement procedures blow across much of Europe. The European Commission took first steps in proceedings against twenty EU member states for their failure to fully implement into their national laws new telecoms rules that amend Directive 2002/58/EC (the 2002 Directive) in relation to the use of technologies that …
Continue reading “Cookies cut? Complying with the UK’s implementation of new EU rules on cookie use”
Public outcry against corruption is a worldwide phenomenon today. Voices of citizens in India demanding a corruption-free state have also soared to extremely high decibel levels. Recent high-value scams have further contributed to the increased public awareness. Newspapers and television channels have been full of reports pertaining to scams of alleged misappropriation and misapplication worth billions …
By the time you read this article, the new Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Route will have been available since 9 August 2011. This article looks at the recently published information from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) concerning this route, that has been created to encourage the best and brightest people in the fields of science, …
On the day that the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) came into force, Richard Alderman, director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Telegraph. In the interview, Mr Alderman set out his hard-line approach and highlighted the SFO’s intention to take a much stronger stance with enforcing the Act …
Continue reading “Bribery Act raises the bar for global compliance programmes”
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has recently published its review of mortgage fraud against lenders, having carried out investigations into the ability of lenders to detect and prevent mortgage fraud. The purpose of the report was to consider how lenders are managing the risk to their businesses of mortgage fraud. The report also estimates that …
Continue reading “The billion pound toxic pool… deal with it, don’t add to it!”
It has become the standard suite of construction and engineering contracts in the nuclear decommissioning sector, EDF is currently using it for the early packages at its Hinckley C development in Somerset and Horizon Nuclear Power has been taking soundings from the nuclear supply chain as to its suitability for its proposed new nuclear power …
This article provides an overview of the legal and tax aspects of debt-to-equity conversions in Bulgaria that are relevant for the successful implementation of a restructuring.
On 30 June 2011, the government published the long-awaited consultation document on reform of the controlled foreign companies (CFC) legislation. The consultation follows the announcement at Budget 2011 that the government would consult on full reform this year with new legislation to be included in the Finance Bill 2012. The regime has been repeatedly criticised …
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The courts are regularly asked to imply terms into contracts, and will do so where it can be found that such an implication would reflect the true intentions of the parties. In certain cases, the courts are assisted by rules of construction that create a presumption against a particular intention of the parties. One such …
Continue reading “Are parties able to rely on their own breach of contract?”
Whilst few product recalls grab the headlines in the way of Toyota’s worldwide recall of millions of Prius and other vehicles, product recalls are happening all the time as can readily be seen from newspapers, store advertisements, government agency announcements and a variety of other media. Barring rare cases of malicious tampering, each recall represents …
Continue reading “Product recalls: damned if you do, damned if you don’t?”
UAE Agency law impacts upon many different aspects of commercial life in the United Arab Emirates. The governing law, Federal Law No 18 of 1981 (the Agency Law), is extremely broad and captures commercial activities ranging from a classic principal/agent relationship to franchising and distribution agreements. The Agency Law is a framework that serves to …