Taking a match to Fortress Europe?
Fladgate Fielder, London
by Eddie Powell
Earlier this year the Court of Appeal for England and Wales held that the parallel importation of Cuban cigars did not amount to trademark infringement even though the importer could not demonstrate express consent to the import. This is believed to be the first time the ‘inferred consent’ defence has been run successfully in the United Kingdom. Is this a cause for concern for brand owners?
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Google V's Belgium Press - No News for Free
Vanden Eynde & Partners – Belgium
by Julie Feld
On July 4 2007, Google filed an appeal against a judgement pronounced in Belgium in February 2007 which had heavily condemned the most important internet company worldwide.
Given the fact that Belgian copyright law is mainly based on European directives and is therefore substantively similar to the others European Union member states copyright law, a decision of the Court of Appeal of Brussels could set an important precedent for how web search engines and on-line news providers link to copyright law, specially in the European Union.
[FULL STORY]
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Private Equity: Australian Senate Committee delivers report
Gadens Lawyers, Sydney
by Andrew Lind and Zmarak Zhouand
Private Equity: Senate Committee delivers report – no need for further legislation On 20 August 2007, the Senate Standing Committee on Economics ('Committee') delivered its report on the effects of private equity on capital markets and the Australian economy.
[FULL STORY]
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The European Company in France: Two Years On
Lefèvre Pelletier & Associés, Paris
by Roland Montfort / Véronique Deau
It is now two years since the Breton law No. 2005-842 of 26 July 2005 introduced into French law the European Company Statute (“ECS”) created by Regulation (EC) No. 2157/2001 and Directive 2001/86/EC of 8 October 2001.
This law was supplemented by decree 2006-448 of 14 April 2006 concerning the “company law” aspect of the ECS and decree 2006-1630 of 9 November 2006 concerning the involvement of employees of the ECS.
[FULL STORY]
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AIM – the US Connection
Memery Crystal LLP, London
by Greg Scott
Greg Scott, Head of Corporate, at Memery Crystal LLP in London talks about his recent trip to Houston, Texas to explain the merits of the AIM market to US domestic oil and gas companies.
[FULL STORY]
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Cross Border Mergers in Italy Pending the Implementation of the Directive 2005/56/EC
Corrado, Ferrari, Mainieri, Pedeferri Law Firm, Rome
by Carmine Gravina
After more than 20 years, on October 26, 2005, the European Parliament and the Council finally approved the Directive 2005/56/EC on cross-border mergers of limited liability companies.
The Directive has introduced a uniform and simplified procedure in order to pursue cross-border mergers between limited liability companies incorporated under the laws of a Member State and having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Community, provided that at least two of them are governed by the laws of different Member States.
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(Draft) Communication and Cooperation (‘CoCo’) Guidelines for Cross-border EU insolvency-proceedings
Udink & De Jong, The Hague
by Willem van Nielen
Last year in Bucharest, the European insolvency practitioners association, INSOL Europe, held their annual congress. During that congress Professor Bob Wessels of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Professor Miguel Virgós of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid presented their Public Draft of September 2006 on the non-binding European Communication and Cooperation Guidelines for Cross-border Insolvency proceedings, also known as the ‘CoCo-guidelines’.
With their presentation in Bucharest Bob Wessels and Miquel Virgos were seeking to test the draft rules against the experience of the INSOL Europe practitioners. Insol Europe’s Secretary General, Marc Udink, who initiated this project for Insol Europe, during the Bucharest Congress appointed a Committee Best Practices to further develop the CoCo guidelines. As secretary of this CoCo-project, I would like to inform the members of ILN and their clients of the importants of the CoCo guidelines for a better and faster cross border recovery.
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Corporate Social Responsibility and Directors' Duties
Gadens Lawyers, Sydney
by Geoff Applegate
Although there is no agreed definition on CSR the term embraces a number of different concepts, such as: Corporate Responsibility (CR), sustainability, accountability ("triple bottom line reporting"), community involvement.
It is generally accepted to include the way corporations manage the economic, social and environmental impacts of its operations; on one view it is the management of non-financial risk.
There is a very good discussion of the history of Corporate Community Investment (CCI) in Australia in a recent report issued by the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership . A recent survey discovered that most managers require a business case to justify CCI, with many requiring a ROI implications.
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The Impending Reform of Foundation Law in Liechtenstein
LAW OFFICE HARRY GSTOEHL & PARTNER
by Harry Gstöhl, D.E.S.
For decades, the civil law Foundation has existed in Liechtenstein as a Continental European counterpart to the Anglo-Saxon trust (which is also available in Liechtenstein and has been able to gain a foothold).
The Foundation has been particularly (but not at all exclusively) successful in Liechtenstein in the Family Foundation variant. As such, it takes basically the form of either a maintenance or a discretionary Foundation and may serve the current generation of family members as well as the future generations for maintenance or merely as a discretionary Foundation with regular or sporadic grants.
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Private Equity in Australia – Recent Developments
Gadens Lawyers, Sydney
by Andrew Lind and Zmarak Zhouand
Private equity is making headlines in Australia, as it is around the world. Recent developments in Australia include:
• a Senate enquiry into private equity and its effects; and
• new legislation in relation to venture capital limited partnerships.
It is not expected that the Senate enquiry will result in any changes affecting private equity transactions, but the recent amendments to legislation affecting venture capital limited partnerships should make the use of these vehicles more attractive to local and foreign investors for early stage private equity investment in Australia.
[FULL STORY]
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