Catering to the cutting-edge internet cable needs of the likes of BT and C&W, and taking on heavyweights for consortia tenders is all in a day’s work for Ciena’s Fred Linker Next time you send an email to a client overseas spare a thought for the technology enabling it and the sheer distance it has to […]
Winter flooding has put Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ on the lips of just about everyone in the UK, but the actual water has been nothing compared with a veritable tidal wave of verbiage in the media on the subject. According to newspapers, broadcasters and politicians of all hues, the country is in the […]
Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), the government’s newest weapon in the fight against corporate crime, become available to prosecutors from 24 February 2014. They will widen the scope for enforcement against companies and corporate entities involved in fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption. On 14 February 2014, the director of the Serious Fraud Office and the […]
It is not unusual for a settlor to impose confidentiality conditions upon trustees by the terms of the trust. However, there are limits to the extent to which information may be withheld from beneficiaries. Ultimately, all such conditions are subject to review by the court under its supervisory jurisdiction to ensure the proper administration of […]
In the case of Hillcrest Homes Ltd v Beresford and Curbishley Ltd (Feb 2014), the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) decided that claims that had been advanced in negligent misstatement and misrepresentation could not be adjudicated. Hillcrest was a property developer. It entered into a JCT Design and Build Contract 2005 (the ‘Building Contract’) with […]
Changes to European copyright law have forced the Beatles to make available a number of previously unreleased live recordings to the general public. Fifty-nine tracks were released by Apple Records on 17 December 2013, just in time for Christmas. While the tracks have long been the subject of bootleg recordings, they have never previously been […]
Failings by insurance intermediary HomeServe Membership have resulted in the company being fined £30.6m, the largest amount ever imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the retail sector in what the regulator described as ‘serious, systematic and long-running failings’. The fine would have exceeded £40.7m had HomeServe not qualified for a 30 per cent […]
On 17 January 2014, the Court of Appeal considered the levels of fines imposed for radioactive waste and health and safety offences committed by large companies and introduced requirements on those offenders regarding the provision of financial and corporate information prior to sentencing. The Court of Appeal heard two appeals jointly, due to the shared […]
By Siobhan Doherty Pre-contract enquiries can be time consuming and look cumbersome but replies to enquiries are an important source of information for a buyer, while a seller must be aware that some stock responses can have significant legal implications. At the start of most property transactions, a prospective buyer will raise enquiries about the […]
On 18 February, Andrew Dowell reported in The Wall Street Journal that a ‘computer attack’ breached the crowdfunding site Kickstarter Inc. According to Dowell, Kickstarter was founded about five years ago and has raised $850m (£510m) in pledges from five million people. Kickstarter retains five per cent of the funds raised by projects that meet […]
The Authorised Collective Investment Schemes (Class B) Rules 2013 came into operation on 2 January 2014, replacing the Collective Investment Schemes (Class B) Rules 1990. This note discusses certain aspects of the changes that have been made. As a result of the changes, Class B scheme service providers will need to take action. In particular, […]