Mondaq Business Briefing back issues from April 2008:
The Significance Of Recent Lawyer-Client Privilege Decisions.(Teleglobe Inc.)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Courts rendered a number of significant rulings concerning lawyer-client privilege in 2007. Privilege decisions in the context of related corporations, special committees of boards of directors, and competition investigations overseas led to important developments relating to the scope, ...
Financial Reporting - IFRS Proposed Amendments To IFRS 2 And IFRIC 11.(International Financial Reporting Standards)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Guidance has been published which aims to clarify how the existing requirements of IFRIC 11 and IFRS 2 should be applied in certain circumstances. In December 2007, the IASB published an exposure draft of proposed changes to both IFRS 2 'Share-based payments' and IFRIC 11 ...
UK GAAP - Companies Act 2006 Update.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Several provisions of the Companies Act 2006 have been delayed by a year and will now not be enacted until October 2009. As discussed in previous Financial Reporting newsletters, while the Companies Act 2006 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, many of its ...
Maintaining The Status Quo - Record Royalties: Protecting And ClaimingYour Share.(United Kingdom. Limitation Act 1980)
Apr 01, 2008 ... In the sixties and seventies bands were formed with much less formality than they are these days. Recording royalties were a major source of income and bands with proven success commanded large advances and increasingly generous royalty shares. Often little thought was given to what should ...
RSL Issues - A Briefing For Registered Social Landlords.
Apr 01, 2008 ... In this edition of RSL issues, we examine how recent changes to reporting standards and accounting practices affect the RSL sector. We also look at the business plan model, and compare bonus levels in housing associations with other sectors. SORP 2008 The SORP 2008 has now been ...
REACH - New Regulatory System For Chemicals.(European Union)(Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Introduction REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances. Global production of chemicals has grown from 1 million tonnes in 1930 to over 400 million tonnes today. In response to the risks inherent in handling chemicals, the EU ...
Online Financial Promotions.(United Kingdom. Financial Services Authority)
Apr 01, 2008 ... According to recent reviews carried out by the FSA, a quarter of all financial advertising on websites reviewed failed to meet the FSA's financial promotions standards and many firms' sponsored links were found to mislead consumers. This edition of Corporate Clips looks at the ...
Invitations To Tender For Telecoms And Technology Services And Outsourcings.
Apr 01, 2008 ... The first formal stage of the procurement process for a long term IT or telecoms services agreement is usually the "Invitation to Tender" ("ITT"). This document (sometimes known instead as a "Request for Proposal", or "Request for Quotation") describes the services the customer requires ...
Construction Industry Sub-Contractors And Tax.
Apr 01, 2008 ... All construction businesses must fully understand the tax status of their contractors, says Shimon Shaw. Anyone who operates a substantial construction business will almost certainly have a number of specialists working for them. In theory, one of the simplest ...
Jones -V- Dapto Leagues Club Limited [2008] NSWCA 32.(New South Wales. Civil Liability Act 2002)(New South Wales, Australia. Court of Appeal)(Case overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... In Brief Mason P; Beazley JA; Bell JA The Court of Appeal will overturn a trial judge's decision where the judge's reasoning is contradictory. The Court of Appeal considered whether the requirements of s 50 of the Civil Liability Act had been made out. ...
Supreme Court Limits Scope Of Arbitration Review.(Case overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... By Ronald C. Minkoff, Shareholder, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz On March 25, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hall Street Associates, LLC v. Mattel, Inc., Docket No. 06-989, 2008 WL 762537 (U.S. Supreme Court March 25, 2008) (hereafter, "Hall Street"). By ruling that ...
Recovering Your Losses.
Apr 01, 2008 ... When an Administrator is appointed, it is imperative that the supplier acts quickly in order to obtain payment in priority to what may be a long list of creditors. What Is A 'Retention Of Title' (ROT) Clause? A ROT is intended to offer protection to a supplier by retaining the ...
A New Year, A New Government And More Tax Changes.
Apr 01, 2008 ... Following the election of the Rudd Labor Government, the focus now turns to tax changes under the new regime. At the forefront of the Labor policy announcements were their proposed personal tax rate reductions. However they also announced a large number of other proposed changes ...
Arbitration-By-Attrition: Is Arbitration In Australia Losing Its Appeal?
Apr 01, 2008 ... Introduction Arbitration is designed to be both fast and final. However the decision of the Victorian Supreme Court in Oil Basins Ltd v BHP Billiton Ltd demonstrates that this may not always be the case. The Victorian Supreme Court upheld BHP's bid to have an ...
Court Decision In Hainbury v Campbelltown Council Sends A Welcome Message To Councils And A Warning To Developers, In Relation To S.82A Reviews Of Council Decisions.(Case overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Applicants and developers have often resorted to section 82A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act to seek an internal review of a council's decision relating to a DA. This often involves a new assessment by Councillors or staff who were not involved in the initial decision, and ...
The Case Of The Polo Player - Labels, Parallel Importation And The Copyright Act.
Apr 01, 2008 ... If you've ever travelled and shopped, you'll know that it is often cheaper to buy that irresistible Chanel handbag overseas and bring it back with you, than it is to buy it at home. But what's stopping a wholesaler or retailer from doing the same thing in bulk? The Polo/Ralph ...
Turkey Announces Its First Nuclear Generation Plant Tender.
Apr 01, 2008 ... In response to predicted power supply shortfalls and rising oil prices Turkey has decided on the nuclear power option. Turkey wants to build three new nuclear generation plants with a total generation capacity of 5,000MW by 2015, the first of which will be developed at Mersin on Turkey's ...
Commercial Dispute Resolution Briefing, April 2008.
Apr 01, 2008 ... ARBITRATION Premium Nafta Products Ltd (20th defendant) & Ors v Fili Shipping Co Ltd (14th claimant) & Ors* The House of Lords has reaffirmed the view that arbitration agreements made in a commercial context should be liberally construed. The claimants had launched ...
DOL Proposes Revisions To The FMLA Regulations.(Family Medical Leave Act )
Apr 01, 2008 ... On February 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") published proposed revisions to the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") regulations. This is the first time changes have been proposed to the regulations since the law's enactment in 1993. The FMLA requires covered employers to ...
Insolvency And Payment Under The Construction Act: The House Of Lords Finally Decides.(Case overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Facts Melville Dundas Limited (in Receivership) v George Wimpey UK Limited and Norwich Union Insurance Limited [2007] UKHL 18 is a case about a contractor, (MD), which was employed by housebuilder George Wimpey UK Limited (GWUK) in respect of a housing development in ...
Madrid Update (Australian Trade Marks).
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Madrid System, administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) comprises two treaties; the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (since 1892), and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement (in force as of ...
New U.S. Supreme Court Decision Opens The Door To Lawsuits By Participants Of 401(K) Plans.(Case overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... By Andrew Graw Esq., and Richard Plumpton Esq. In LaRue v. DeWolff, the Supreme Court reversed a long-standing rule of law that prohibited participants of 401(k) and other retirement plans from seeking individual relief for fiduciary duty breaches. The decision ushers in a new ...
Nicholas Weston Ranked By Managing Intellectual Property World Intellectual Property Survey 2008.(Company overview)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Melbourne, Australia, 31st March, 2008 -- The Managing IP World Intellectual Property Survey 2008, which publishes detailed rankings of the leading firms practising intellectual property in each country, has listed Nicholas Weston for the first time since the firm was founded in 2005. ...
AAMI Limited v Hain [2008] NSWCA 46.(Case overview)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Bezley JA, Tobias JA and McClellan CJ In Brief In assessing, for the purposes of section 138(2)(b) MACA, whether an injured person ought to have been aware of the driver's impairment from alcohol, consideration is to be given to the totality of the evidence including the ...
Department Of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Update.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Any business that uses chemicals should by now be well aware of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Program. This program has initial similarities with existing regulatory programs that review chemical safety from an environmental ...
London Agreement To Come Into Force On 1 May 2008.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by France at the German Federal Ministry of Justice on 19 January 2008, the much anticipated London Agreement will now come into force on 1 May 2008. The London Agreement ushers in a new era of reduced validation costs in ...
Spain Implements A Leniency Programme For Cartels.
Apr 02, 2008 ... The final steps to introduce a leniency programme in Spain were adopted on Wednesday 27th February 2008. Even though the possibility of such a programme was explicitly included in the new Competition Act enacted last year (Law 15/2007, of 3 July, on Competition Protection -the ...
Intellectual Property News.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Patents Australia Full Federal Court rejects sweetener patent appeal In the latest in a series of ongoing cases between Ajinomoto Co Inc ('Ajinomoto') and NutraSweet Australia Pty Ltd ('Nutrasweet'), the Full Federal Court has affirmed that Ajinomoto's patent for a ...
New Penalties For Employing Illegal Workers.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Background The Government recently published new measures to prevent illegal working in the UK, which came into force on 29 February 2008 under The Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006. The most important changes are the creation of new civil financial penalties for ...
What Amounts To A Circumstance?(Insurance Contracts Act 1984)(Case overview)
Apr 02, 2008 ... A recent decision by an English court throws light on what circumstances may require notification under a claims-made policy. Background As its name implies, cover is triggered under a 'claims-made policy' when the insured receives a notice during the policy period ...
Additional Conditions & Follow Settlement Provisions.(Aegis Electrical & Gas v Continental Casualty Co.)(Case overview)
Apr 02, 2008 ... In the recent UK decision of Aegis Electrical & Gas v Continental Casualty [2007] EWHC 1762, the Commercial Court considered how the reference to underlying policy terms in a reinsurance slip affects the scope of reinsurance cover, and whether follow the settlement provisions bind a ...
Are Those Instructions Instructive?(Case overview)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Skerbic v McCormack & Ors [2007] ACTSC 93 involved both a claim in negligence and a claim under section 75AD of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) against the manufacturer/supplier, and installer, of garage roller doors which injured the plaintiff. The manufacturer/supplier was ...
M&A - CCAA: Has The Stalking Horse Left The Barn?
Apr 02, 2008 ... With the recent turmoil in credit markets cutting off access to acquisition financing, the sustained wave of M&A activity may be reaching an end. Further, with the US economy in difficulty and the strong Canadian dollar impacting Canadian exporters, 2008 looks likely to be a year that will ...
Harmonization Of Canadian Take-Over Bid And Issuer Bid Rules: Multilateral Instrument 62-104 And OSC Rule 62-504.
Apr 02, 2008 ... New rules governing take-over bids and issuer bids became effective across Canada on February 1, 2008. The new rules are designed to create a harmonized set of rules applicable in all Canadian jurisdictions. Bids made in Canada on or after February 1, 2008 are governed by a single ...
The Physician On-Call Dilemma: Emerging Solutions?
Apr 02, 2008 ... It's a familiar quandary: Your medical staff director calls to report that medical staff members are refusing to provide adequate on-call coverage for emergency services. Finding a solution is paramount. Not only must you provide quality care to emergent patients, but on-call physician ...
ASIC And ASX Warn Market About Stock Lending And Short Selling Obligations.(Australian Securities and Investments Commission)(Australian Stock Exchange)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Falling share prices, margin loans calls and alleged short selling antics of market participants have dominated market commentary in recent weeks. The current difficulties experienced by, amongst others, A.B.C. Learning Centres Limited and Allco Finance Group Limited (who, following margin ...
Corporate Alert - March 2008.
Apr 02, 2008 ... This quarterly bulletin from the Corporate team aims to bring you pertinent commentary on key issues and interesting cases in the areas of Takeovers, Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), Listing Rules and the Corporations Act. ASIC AND ASX RELEASE TWO COMPANIES UPDATES ASIC and ASX ...
Financial Reporting - A Briefing For Finance Directors, March 2008.(International Financial Reporting Standards)
Apr 02, 2008 ... In this issue IFRS Business Combinations – A New Model First-Time Adoption – The Impact On Aim Interim Reports Proposed Amendments To IFRS 2 And IFRIC 11 UK GAAP Companies Act 2006 Update ...
UK GAAP - Distributable Profits.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Following the introduction of IFRS and IFRSbased UK standards, revised and expanded guidance has recently been issued on distributable profits. UK legislation only permits companies to pay dividends out of profits available for distribution, i.e. those that are realised ...
SWift - News And Views For Lawyers And Solicitors - Just One Click.
Apr 02, 2008 ... In this issue: Data theft Breach of warranty claims Linear regression Asset protection services Technology can simplify and speed up a company's processes, but it can also make it easier for employees to steal or misuse company ...
Age Discrimination Still Rife In UK Workplaces (Employment Bulletin - March 2008).(Survey)
Apr 02, 2008 ... A survey conducted by Axa has found that age discrimination is occurring on a regular basis in UK workplaces, with many employees still being pressured into early retirement. The survey revealed that a fifth of respondents had experienced pressure from their employer to retire ...
Adapting To A Changing Climate - Risk Management And Due Diligence In The Age Of Climate Change.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Copyright 2008, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP Originally published in Blakes Bulletin on Energy-Oil & Gas: March 2008 There has been a recent push by both public and private sectors to introduce new initiatives to combat and adapt to climate change; however, adapting ...
Employee Benefits Developments For February 2008.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Qualified Retirement Plans The U.S. Supreme Court held that a defined contribution plan participant may seek recovery under Section 502(a)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended for fiduciary breaches by plan fiduciaries that caused a ...
Court Dismisses Antitrust Challenge To Joint Bid In Corporate Acquisition.(Pennsylvania Avenue Funds v Borey Inc)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Controversial district court decision could affect joint bidding by private equity funds. On February 21, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed antitrust claims against two private equity funds that allegedly conspired in their joint bid ...
Proposed Regulations Provide Comprehensive Guidance On Subpart F Contract Manufacturing Issues.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Overview On February 27, 2008, the Treasury Department (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (the Service) released proposed regulations that provide comprehensive guidance on the treatment of contract manufacturing arrangements under the foreign base company sales income ...
DOL Guidance: ERISA Fiduciary Responsibility To Monitor And Collect Delinquent Contributions.(Department of Labor)(Employee Retirement Income Security Act)
Apr 02, 2008 ... Employers maintaining benefit plans that are subject to ERISA's trust requirement and plan fiduciaries should properly assign authority over plan assets, or they may be subject to fiduciary responsibility (and liability) for losses sustained by the plan. On February 1, 2008, the ...
Corporate And Financial Weekly Digest - March 28, 2008.
Apr 02, 2008 ... SEC/Corporate Robert L. Kohl, Mark A. Conley & David S. Kravitz SEC Proposes Amendments to Regulation S-P's Privacy Rules On March 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed amendments to Regulation S-P, setting forth more specific requirements for the safeguarding of ...
Government Pushes Ahead With Component Pricing Amendments To TPA.(Trade Practices Act)
Apr 02, 2008 ... On 30 March 2008, the Federal Government announced that it will proceed with amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) relating to component pricing and has released the Trade Practices Amendment (Component Pricing and Other Measures) Bill 2008 (draft Bill) for public comment. ...
Phoney Pharmaceuticals.
Apr 02, 2008 ... A review of the trade in counterfeit medicines, and some associated Intellectual Property enforcement issues. 'A counterfeit medicine is one which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to identity and/or source. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and ...
New Partner Promotions Reinforce Appleby's Global Growth.
Apr 02, 2008 ... Leading offshore firm Appleby has announced the promotion of seven lawyers to partnership. Capping a year in which the firm added 46 new lawyers, including three lateral partners, these promotions confirm Appleby's commitment to expansion across the firm's global network. "We ...
Data Theft - An Inside Job.
Apr 03, 2008 ... In recent years, employers have become increasingly vulnerable to resentful employees misusing or stealing electronic data. John Holden looks at how employers may be at risk and how they can protect themselves. As more and more businesses rely on technology for essential ...
Only Fools Or Liars? Breach Of Warranty Claims.
Apr 03, 2008; ... A corporate financier might say that only a fool or a liar would find themselves on the receiving end of a breach of warranty claim after the sale of a business. Arguably, a well-organised, properly advised vendor should be able to sell a business and be reasonably certain that ...
Predicting The Fit - Statistical Analysis.
Apr 03, 2008 ... Vanessa Winspeare and Sam Green examine whether basic linear regression reduces the inherent uncertainty when predicting the future. When forensic accountants quantify damages they may need to analyse accounting and non-accounting information in order to answer the question: ...
Marijuana Compassionate Use Act Did Not Protect Employee From Termination.
Apr 03, 2008; ... California Employment Law Notes Ross v. Ragingwire Telecommunications, Inc., 42 Cal. 4th 920 (2008) In accordance with the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215), Gary Ross had a physician's recommendation to use marijuana for his chronic back pain ....
ASX Proposal For Non-Voting Securities.(Australian Securities Exchange)
Apr 03, 2008; ... The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has issued a public consultation paper and invited feedback on a proposal to allow listed companies to issue and trade in non-voting ordinary shares. The introduction of such changes has the potential to affect the way in which companies float and ...
A selection of the best copyright cases of 2007.
Apr 03, 2008 ... Copyright/Design Overlap: Yacht plugs as works of artistic craftsmanship? Burge v Swarbrick [2007] HCA 17 Mr Swarbrick has designed numerous yachts including a 30 foot sports boat marketed as the "JS 9000" in Australia. Boldgold Investments manufactured competitive ...
Unique Opportunities in Australia for Protectionn of Simple Innovations and Functional Designs.
Apr 03, 2008; ... In many jurisdictions it is becoming increasingly difficult to get IP protection for inventions that seem relatively simple or incremental, yet which represent significant investment for the commercialising entity. However, Australia has two regimes that may provide a strategically useful ...
U.S. Government To Increase Fines For Employers Who Hire Unauthorized Workers.(Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security)
Apr 03, 2008; ... An Immigration Practice Area Alert. On February 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), together with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published a Final Rule in the Federal Register that increases civil fines by approximately 25 percent against employers who violate ...
State And Federal False Claims Act.
Apr 03, 2008; ... As seen in Staying Well within the Law, a newsletter on the current legal issues facing today's health care industry. The Federal False Claims Act (Federal FCA) was enacted in 1863 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and at the height of the Civil War. Deceptive military ...
No Joke - District Court Voids USPTO's Rule Changes.(United States. Patent and Trademark Office)
Apr 03, 2008; ... Status Quo! This was the outcome following yesterday's ruling by U.S. District Court in Tafas, Smith Beecham Corp. et al. v. Dudas, No. 07-cv-846 (E.D. Va Apr. 1, 2008). On August 21, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final notice of its changes to the ...
UK Immigration Changes: Penalty Dilemmas For Employers.
Apr 03, 2008; ... Heightened emphasis on enforcement is a cornerstone in the radically different immigration system being implemented in the United Kingdom over the next year. Employers who sponsor foreign persons to work in the UK will have greater obligations to check and report on the status of these ...
Delaware Court Reads Advance Notice Bylaw Narrowly.(cases of JANA Master Fund with CNET Networks Inc.)
Apr 03, 2008; ... The Delaware Court of Chancery has narrowly interpreted an advance notice bylaw and left CNET Networks without the protection of this important provision in the context of a proxy fight. JANA Master Fund v. CNET Networks (March 13, 2008). U.S. public companies should review their advance ...
Environmental Advisory: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds Parent Corporation Not Liable Under Massachusetts Superfund Law For Contamination Caused By Subsidiary.(Case overview)
Apr 03, 2008 ... The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has held that a parent corporation is not liable under M.G.L. c. 21E, the Massachusetts Superfund law, for the liability of a subsidiary that the parent did not own or control at the time the subsidiary released hazardous materials and sold a ...
Following The Settlements: A Second Chance To Come Clean.
Apr 03, 2008 ... In June 2007, Simon Gildener reviewed the High Court decision of Wasa v Lexington in "Following the Settlements: How not to clean up!" in 2008 the Court of Appeal has revisited the decision, and Simon examines the higher court's different approach. Background Alcoa ...
Immigration Alert: USCIS Announces Interim Rule On Cap-Subject H-1B Visas For Fiscal Year 2009.(United States. Citizenship and Immigration Services)
Apr 03, 2008 ... On March 19, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an interim rule updating the existing rules governing the H-1B visa program. These rule changes primarily affect the implementation of the random H-1B cap lottery system, and also clarify USCIS's policy regarding ...