Competition authorities in Europe are clamping down on restrictions or bans on online sales, especially sales over internet platforms such as Amazon and eBay. As a general principle, the EU Commission considers that every distributor must be allowed to use the internet to sell products (Vertical Guidelines). However, in the case of third-party internet platforms, […]
Why are the advising classes so bad at advising themselves? The travails at Manches, now merged with Penningtons, illustrate a vulnerability in partnership structures. Ominously, the issue of financial instability and failure to manage business risks is now deemed so acute that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken powers to regulate firms, not just individuals. […]
By Evan M Migdail, Linda E S Pfatteicher and Witold Jurewicz Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana) has released the first of a coming series of detailed tax-reform proposals, this one on international tax. Baucus also released proposals on tax administration and simplification. He is set to release further proposals on cost recovery and tax accounting issues […]
Watson Burton has lost another two partners, this time around to DAC Beachcroft in Newcastle. Litigator Warren Kemp and transactional lawyer James Harrison joined DAC Beachcroft’s construction and engineering practice on 1 November. The two join just months after Watson Burton construction and engineering chief Roddy Gordon left earlier this year to head DAC Beachcroft’s […]
Starting from 1 January 2014 significant changes will come into effect with reference to registration tax, as well in respect of cadastral and mortgage tax application in Italy. On the contrary, the VAT treatment of real-estate investments will not be affected by such new provisions. The new rules will be applicable to transfers of real-estate […]
The legal sector has always set the bar high in terms of beautifully designed offices, not just to attract and retain the best talent but also to give customers a high quality experience from the moment they arrive. With first impressions so important, the design and fit-out of law offices are business critical. We’ve been […]
By Mary B Langowski, Stefanie Jill Fogel, Gail Rodgers, Julie L Hussey, Margaret D Craig and So-Eun Lee State-sponsored GMO-labelling efforts faced defeat in Washington State’s November 2013 election. Voters rejected Washington State’s Initiative Measure 522 (I-522) proposal, 51.21 per cent to 48.79 per cent. Washington’s I-522, known as the ‘Mandatory Labelling of Genetically Engineered […]
The place of supply rules govern where a particular supply takes place, and therefore determine where businesses are obliged to register, collect and remit Value Added Tax (VAT) due on their supplies and in which member state. There are important changes to the VAT place of supply rules affecting cross-border services from 1 January 2015. […]
By Nicolas Morgan, Michael J Sheehan and Grant P Alexander A recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has confirmed that the anti-retaliation provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act only confer protections to whistleblowers who report conduct to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Dodd-Frank encourages individuals to […]
When parties agree to include discretionary rights in their agreement, one party will have the right to determine the outcome of some matter in prescribed circumstances. It is well established, however, that the courts have sought to influence the operation of discretionary provisions by imposing obligations of good faith on commercial players in certain situations. […]
The Court of Appeal for Bermuda (Zacca P, Auld JA and Bell AJA) has delivered an important judgment about the jurisdiction of the Bermuda court to assist foreign liquidators by ordering the production of documents by persons in Bermuda. The interplay or conflict between the decisions of the Privy Council and the UK Supreme Court […]
Nabarro is to open an office in Dubai in 2014 marking the firm’s third international opening after Brussels and Singapore. The new office will be headed up by current construction and engineering head Terry Fleet after being granted the necessary licence and will launch with a team of four partners and associates. It will follow […]