In December 2004 and more recently in March 2005, the Superior Court rendered three significant judgments respecting motions for authorization to institute class actions. In the first case, Bouchard v. Laiterie et Boulangerie Parmalat Inc.1, the motion was denied for the absence of interest and of rights of the applicant. In the second case, Citoyens pour une qualité de vie v. Aéroports de Montréal2, the motion was denied for lack of identical, similar or related questions of law or fact ...
Limited Companies (LCs) and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) are corporate structures that exist as separate legal entities and afford members limited liability. LCs and LLPs can enter into contracts, hold property, sue and be sued, grant fixed and floating charges and are subject to similar disclosure, accounting and filing requirements. The main distinction between them is that while an LC is treated as a taxable entity an LLP’s members are taxed as individuals ...
After long years of fierce debate, the Kyoto Protocol finally came into force on 16 February 2005, imposing obligations on states parties to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. This article takes a look at the background to the Protocol, and the many new and varied opportunities for businesses in Scotland and across the globe. The Protocol itself was adopted at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto on 11 December 1997 ...
Summary • The directors’ duty of care (objective standard) • The directors’ duty of loyalty does not extend to creditors • The duty of care extends to other beneficiaries beyond the corporation • Corporate governance = shield against directors’ liability • In the United States, directors are forced to contribute their personal funds toward settlements • Changes are made to the proposed corporate governance rules and guidelines • Our April 2004 bulletin was updated in January 2005 to ref
Foreign arbitral awards and court judgments in Lithuania may be enforced only after having been recognised and authorised for enforcement by the Court of Appeals of Lithuania, an authority empowered by the State to recognise awards/judgments and authorise their enforcement ...
This will depend on how much money you are trying to raise and the number of people to whom you intend to offer the shares. The biggest change to the current AIM prospectus will occur if you are raising more than EUR 2.5 million (about £1.7 million) and you are offering shares to more than 100 people. If that is the case, the prospective directive (PD) will apply and the company will need to produce a PD prospectus ...
“Financial assistance” includes granting credit, lending money, providing security for or guaranteeing a loan. (This is the definition in relation to connected transactions, but a similar concept would apply generally.) We will first discuss the treatment of price-sensitive information, in respect of which there is a general obligation ...
THE LAW OF DEFAMATION: A PRIMER By Thomas S. Woods* INTRODUCTION Editors, publishers, writers, advertisers and all who are involved in the dissemination of information in written or electronic form should have at least an elementary grasp of the principles of the law of defamation. It is often said that a little information can be a dangerous thing. That truism is difficult to dispute ...
The UK press reported recently (August 2004) that an unnamed Lloyds TSB customer, backed by the Lloyds TSB Group Union, has complained to the Information Commissioner (the UK equivalent of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner) in respect of the transfer abroad of “sensitive personal data” 1 held by Lloyds about its customers. The government-appointed information commissioner has been asked to rule on whether Lloyds TSB is acting illegally ...
Synopsis - Trial lawyers often find themselves defending one of several defendants in a lawsuit. Depending on the claims and defenses in the case, they may need to communicate with lawyers defending other parties to discuss defense strategy and understand the case from different perspectives. It is critically important for trial lawyers to know and understand which communications are protected from discovery ...
May a manufacturer fix the price at which its distributor may sell its products (resale price maintenance)? Article 10 of the Federal Enconomic Competition Law sets out in seven paragraphs the activities that are classified as relative monopolistic practices, provided that: (a) the agent in question has substantial economic power in the relevant market; and (b) the purpose of effect of the activity is, or may be, to improperly displace other agents from the market, significantly impede their
Current economic competition legislation has imposed new rules on economic agents that operate in the national market. These rules have changed the nature of the relationships which business may have with competitors, suppliers, distributors, and customers ...
1. Overview of recent corporate governance reforms a. Recent initiatives There have been numerous recent changes in Hong Kong in relation to corporate governance matters, extending well beyond legislation and nonbinding codes. The roles of relevant regulators have also been examined and proposed changes made. As far as legislation is concerned, the most significant change is the introduction of the Securities and Futures Ordinance, which came into force on April 1 2003 ...
One of the key sectors of the Oil & Gas industry is the extraction of oil, gas and gas condensate hereinafter to be referred as carbohydrates (“CH”). For businesses involved in CH extraction, the two key assets are the extraction licence and the oil or gas well (“CH Well”). This article throws light on light on the legal concept of a CH Well in Ukranian Law and its application to the ownership issue ...
On October 29, 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its much anticipated decision in the case of Peoples Department Stores (Trustee of) vs. Wise ...
The JIA or the Joint Investment Activity Agreement is a legal document on the basis of which thousands of tones of carbohydrates become privately owned in Ukraine everyday. Presently the JIA Agreement dominates the production of carbohydrates and this situation does not seem to be about to change in the near future. The article goes on to describe various JIA’s ...
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Fears that contracts signed with Iraq's interim government could be voided by a new elected leadership have made oil companies wary of entering into deals with the energy-rich country, experts said on Tuesday. "We're seeing some reticence from major oil companies in dealing with the interim government," Lori Feathers, a lawyer with Haynes & Boone, LLP told an energy industry gathering ...
As natural gas commodity prices continue their near-term climb, and new domestic sources become harder to find, many oil and gas producers and large gas users such as chemical companies are looking abroad for a cheaper and more readily available source of supply ...
I. Introduction President Vicente Fox has devoted significant political efforts to reform the energy sector. He is well aware of the current needs for investment, particularly in power generation and non-associated gas exploration and production. He is also aware that the government will not have the necessary funds to match the anticipated growth of energy demand ...
I. Introduction Mexico’s power generation sector is facing a possible crisis in the near future. The Federal Government has estimated that over 27,000 megawatts of additional power generation capacity will be needed by 2009 to avoid a power crisis in the country. Since 1960, the electricity sector has been reserved to the State ...
by Igor Shevchenko and Michael Kharenko, Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners The need for corporate governance regulation evolved as Ukraine gained its independence and began its transformation to a market economy. Privatisation of state companies has led to their reorganisation into joint stock companies with a diverse ownership base ...
In the commercial scope, the legal representation of limited liability companies is usually exercised by the President of the Board of Directors ...
It is basic to determine the legal status of enterprises in the business world. This becomes more important in different sceneries: when acquiring an existing corporation, investing in a going concern, granting loans, merger of companies, in joint ventures, etc. The term "Due Diligence" refers to the process of exhaustive search of the legal status of a specific enterprise ...
Many employers are turning to arbitration in an effort to avoid the costs and inconvenience of litigation. Before implementing a policy requiring employees to submit disputes to binding arbitration, however, employers should consider the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration, as well as the procedural hurdles that must be overcome before an arbitration policy can be enforced against employees. The Advantages: • Arbitration can be less burdensome to employers ...
