The Government has announced a new scheme to supplement the existing HomeBuy scheme. The new scheme, known as "Rent to HomeBuy", will allow potential buyers to rent a property for a specified period at a less than market rent, with the option to buy a share of the property at the end of that period. The Government hopes that the new scheme will enable more tenants to buy their own home ...
Part I of a III Part Primer: An Introduction This newsletter is the first of a three part report prepared for our public finance clients with respect to “public private partnerships.” Also known as “PPP” or “P3” projects, there is an increasing amount of press regarding these projects, some of which is contradictory and some of which is just plain confusing ...
The Civil Justice Reforms will come into effect on 2 April 2009. The new court rules aim to improve cost-effectiveness and reduce complexity and delays in court proceedings. The purpose of this bulletin is to briefly highlight some of the majorchanges to the High Court and District Court Rules, which will come into effect on 2 April 2009. Subsequent bulletins will deal with these topics in more detail.1 ...
The Scottish Government has recently unveiled its long-awaited proposal for financing and delivering major public projects in Scotland. The initiative, the Scottish Futures Trust (the SFT), will replace the widely-criticised Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and heralds a golden opportunity for the delivery of high quality projects which represent value for money for the taxpayer ...
The proposed amendments to the Act have now been issued by DBERR. They are due to progress through parliament this session, but the key question is are they as anticipated and do they cover the recommendations made for change? The answer is largely yes. Although some in the industry will argue that they do not go far enough, they are representative of the latest 2007 Consultation ...
The JCT Constructing Excellence Contract 2006 is seen as a radical departure from the JCT's more "traditional" building contracts. However, will it be used used by developers in the private and public sectors? Many of the more "traditional" forms of contract (JCT and ICE in particular) were perceived to encourage an adversarial approach ...
For a long time, there have been negotiated general terms and conditions for the purchase of goods for construction businesses. The latest version is called ABM 07.Before I explain the changes these entail in relation to the previously provisions, ABM 92, I will give a summary description of the development, from the mid-1970’s, which has led to the ABM of today ...
This legal update follows our September 2008 issue which gave a general overview of the major changes to the High Court and District Court Rules to come into effect on 2 April 2009. This and subsequent issues deal with those changes in more detail. This issue deals with the new "underlying objectives" and active case management by the court ...
Summary The Court of Appeal held that administrators were personally liable in costs for litigation in circumstances where a creditor challenged whether the purpose of administration could be achieved. The case highlights a number of important points for administrators and in particular the high standards expected of them following an appointment. Facts Joint administrators were appointed to Ulva Limited ("Ulva") by the sole director on 14 August 2007 ...
On June 17, 2008, the Supreme Court of Lithuania rendered a decision restricting the rights of the trademark owner to revoke his consent to use a trademark as a company name. In UAB Solvex Baltic v. UAB Scandihouse (Case No 3K-3-335/2008 (S)), the owner of the trademark SCANDIHOUSE petitioned the defendant to change its company name ...
Latest Developments Although we have not witnessed any major legislative or policy changes during the last year, these seem to be forthcoming in 2009 as the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) developed draft amendment to the Competition Act 2001 introducing fundamental changes into national merger control regime ...
Attorneys and Government Policy Advisors in Dykema's Infrastructure and Project Finance Practice Area, seek to keep our clients and contacts abreast of pending legislation, new developments and other topics. Our intent is to provide you with timely, relevant, and useful information that will help you with your business goals ...
Bank Indonesia issued Regulation No. 10/7/PBI/2008 on 19 February 2008 regarding Offshore Loans of Non-bank Companies. Offshore loans are one of the key factors which may have positive and negative impacts on balance of payments, monetary stabilization and development continuity ...
The Minister of Law and Human Rights issued Regulation No. 03.HT.03.10 of 2007 on 8 November 2007. Under Law No ...
After lengthy discussion, the Indonesian House of Representatives finally passed the Bill on Limited Liability Companies into law on the 23rd of July 2007 and it was then signed by the President on the 16th of August 2007 and enacted as Law No 40 of 2007 regarding Limited Liability Companies ("Law 40"). Law 40 revokes the previous limited liability companies law, ie Law No. 1 of 1995 regarding Limited Liability Companies ("Law 1") ...
Since 26 April 2007, Indonesia has had a new Investment Law, namely Law No. 25 of 2007 regarding Investment (“New Investment Law”). The New Investment Law replaces two old laws; ie Law No. 1 of 1967 regarding Foreign Investment, and Law No 6 of 1968 regarding Domestic Investment, both as amended. The New Investment Law accommodates both foreign and domestic investment ...
As the economic outlook continues to look gloomy we are noticing a considerable increase in employment litigation work - this doesn't just point towards more people being dismissed (although this is certainly a factor) but also that as money gets tighter individuals feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by bringing claims. For employers this is obviously a headache ...
On November 21st, the Supreme Court of Canada released a crucial decision on the interpretation of the “faulty or improper design” exclusion in all-risks builders’ insurance policies. By a bare (4 to 3) majority, the Court adopted a comparative standard requiring insurers to show that an impugned design failed to meet “the highest standards of the day” for the exclusion to apply ...
Commercial disputes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are generally resolved through litigation in the courts or arbitration. Arbitration is becoming an increasingly popular way to resolve disputes. The UAE recently signed the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (New York Convention). General overview and court structure The UAE is a federation of seven Emirates established in 1971 ...
Given the current economic climate, it has been a busy year for all lenders, but coupled with the biggest overhaul of Consumer Credit Law since 1974, with the introduction of Consumer Credit Act 2006, the changes for this year are not over yet. On 1 December 2008 the OFT has released a new arrears and default information sheet. You can obtain a copy of the new statements the following link: http://www.oft.gov ...
WARNING SIGNS AND EARLY ACTIONS Works are falling behind programme. If a Contractor is struggling financially then they may not be able to buy sufficient resources to complete the job within the time limits. If a Contractor starts asking for advance payments, this is another sign that it is not in good financial health ...
The Office of Fair Trading (the “OFT”) has published the results of its market study into homebuilding in the UK. The report concludes that the sector is broadly competitive and there is little evidence of house builders holding onto land to restrict supply and so increase prices. However, the report also concludes that homebuyers can experience delays and faults and they need more protection when buying a new home ...
This is largely a codification of duties which already existed under previous legislation or the common law. However, the Act does introduce some new duties. With effect from 1 October 2008, every director of a company now has a statutory duty to avoid a situation in which he has, or can have, a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or possibly may conflict, with the interests of the company (a ‘situational conflict') ...
Many property agreements allow the developer to decide whether conditions attaching to planning permissions are onerous without imposing a parallel obligation to act reasonably.Despite this wide discretion, recent case law has confirmed that there is still an implied duty to act in good faith ...
Its fair to say 2008 was an extremely challenging year for UK property. Anything between 25-50% has been wiped off values from their peak in mid 2007 ...
