Insurance law is an area which has remained unchanged for over 100 years. The Insurance Act 2015 (the Act) will have a significant impact on non-consumer insurance contracts post 12 August 2016. The old law The insured is under the duty of utmost good faith to disclose all facts material ... Read More »
Category Archives: United Kingdom
Feed Subscription<BHS – The latest score between Philip Green and the Pensions Regulator
November 15, 2016
Summary of the parliamentary inquiry Since our last update on the BHS saga, in the July 2016 edition of Pensions Compass, the parliamentary inquiry and public sessions run by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (the Select Committee) have ended and Frank Field MP (Field), who sat on the Select ... Read More »
Employer tips: managing workers with serious medical conditions
November 14, 2016
ACAS has issued new guidance to assist employers in managing staff who have long-term or potentially life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis. ACAS has published its guidance in light of projections drawn up by Macmillan Cancer Support in 2013 which estimated that by 2020 47% of the ... Read More »
When should directors consider the interests of creditors
November 11, 2016
In the recent decision of BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA & others, the High Court considered a number of legal aspects around the payment of dividends and the making by directors of a statement of solvency. The facts The facts are long and complicated, but in summary company A ... Read More »
Problems with partitioning when exercising a break clause
November 10, 2016
Break clauses are one of the most frequent causes of disputes between landlords and tenants. Depending on the specific drafting of the break clause when it was originally negotiated, a tenant could give its break notice expecting that its lease will come to an end automatically on the break date ... Read More »
General Counsel adding value by corporate simplification
November 7, 2016
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak” (Hans Hoffman) Simplifying a group structure through closing corporate vehicles can have significant benefits to the balance sheet and the business. It may also help with your work load. This article sets out why corporates ... Read More »
Disability discrimination: What amounts to a reasonable adjustment?
November 3, 2016
Companies often ask what adjustments need to be made if they employ someone with a long term illness. The recent case of G4S Cash Solutions appears to take the steps that need to be considered that bit further. The G4S case The G4S case involved an employee who had a ... Read More »
House of Commons inquiry into corporate governance
November 1, 2016
The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee of the House of Commons has jumped on the bandwagon and launched an inquiry into corporate governance. An analysis of governance is drawing interest from a broad spectrum of people including our new Conservative Prime Minister, the Labour chair of the Business, Innovation and ... Read More »
Article 50 – Royal Prerogative or Parliament?
October 28, 2016
On 23 June 2016 the UK voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. While non-binding, the new government has said that the Brexit vote will be given effect. The response in the UK to the referendum result was an outpouring of emotion and a cessation of effective government ... Read More »
English pension law and overseas businesses – a tough act to follow, but expensive to ignore
July 26, 2016
INTRODUCTION This note highlights key points concerning English Pensions Law where overseas businesses are selling, buying or operating businesses in the United Kingdom. State pension provision in the UK is limited and accordingly private sector pension provision is common and highly regulated. FOCUS OF THIS NOTE Pension benefits provided by ... Read More »
Banks boosted by landmark ruling on surveyor negligence
July 14, 2016
Lenders will be able to recover significantly larger amounts when suing over negligent property valuations after a landmark court ruling that is forecast to have wide implications for professional advisers. Legal experts warned that an immediate result of the Court of Appeal judgment handed down on Friday was that professional ... Read More »
A spring clean – important rate changes in April 2016
July 5, 2016
April 2016 saw a number of important changes to employment rates with the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) and increases to compensation and redundancy limits. National Living Wage The NLW came into force on 1 April 2016 and applies to all workers aged 25 and over. The initial ... Read More »
Trading subsidiaries of charities and Gift Aid: A reminder
July 4, 2016
Many charities have subsidiaries which carry out trading activities in order to generate income which can then be applied to further the objects of the parent charity. There are a number of ways in which such income can be paid up to the parent charity and one frequently used route ... Read More »
The Shareholder Spring – revisited
July 1, 2016
During the Shareholder Spring of 2012 shareholders won the argument that non-executive directors alone could be trusted to keep directors’ pay under appropriate scrutiny and control. Accordingly, the UK government took action and put in place a new remuneration reporting regime for listed companies (not including companies with securities admitted ... Read More »
When does a private investigator need to comply with a subject access request?
June 30, 2016
The High Court case of Gurieva & Anor v Community Safety Development (UK) Ltd, heard by Mr Justice Warby, dealt with the obligations of the defendant private investigator (as data controller) to comply with a data subject access request made by a couple who were the focus of the defendant’s ... Read More »