Mondaq Most Recent Articles-11 March 2010

OH&S Corporate Criminal Liability Rears Its Head Again In Canada Heenan Blaikie In what should serve as a stark reminder for both employers and individuals, police in Ontario recently charged a corporate employer and two individuals with criminal negligence causing death after a fatal workplace accident at a construction project.
Delaware Chancery Court Upholds Shareholder Rights Plan With A 4.99% Trigger Designed To Protect NOLs Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg On February 26, 2010, the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld Selectica, Inc.'s adoption and use of its shareholder rights plan with a 4.99% trigger designed to protect Selectica's ability to use its significant net operating losses (NOLs) (Selectica, Inc. v. Versata Enterprises, Inc., C.A. No. 4241-VCN (Del. Ch. Feb 26, 2010)).	Miami Vice Charles Russell LLP The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code is the core document that provides the framework for harmonised anti-doping policies globally and has been adopted as the basis for the majority of sports regulators’ own anti-doping policies.
Crashgate And Bloodgate: The Rise Of Whistleblowing Policies In Sport? Charles Russell LLP We’re all familiar with the recent falls from grace of Flavio Briatore in F1 and Dean Richards at Harlequins in the 'Crashgate' and 'Bloodgate' scandals.	Canadian Federal Budget Announces Changes To Employee Stock Option Rules Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP The federal budget, announced on March 4, 2010, includes significant changes to the taxation of employee stock options.
Bribery: The Corporate Wake Up Call * Peters & Peters All businesses and their legal advisers need to get to grips with their obligations under the Bribery Bill, as failure to implement adequate procedures could have dire consequences, warns Neil Swift.	The Newly Opened Costa Rican Insurance And Reinsurance Market: A Mini-Brazil? Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP In August 2008, Costa Rican President Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez signed into law Costa Rica’s new Ley Reguladora del Mercado de Seguros, thereby ending the Instituto Nacional de Seguros’ (INS) more than eighty-year-old monopoly over the country’s insurance industry.
A Summary Of Recent Developments In Insurance, Reinsurance And Litigation Law Clyde & Co The first instance decision in this case was reported in Weekly Update 25/09. In the US, the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained an order appointing a receiver over the worldwide assets of Stanford International Bank ("SIB") and other companies in the Stanford group.	Growing Pains In A Newly "Opened" Reinsurance Market Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP Over the last year, we have discussed in detail the operation of "cession limits" and "right of first refusal" such that the "opening" of the Brazilian reinsurance market clearly had its limits.
Insurance And Reinsurance In Venezuela: Government Encroachment In A Booming Market Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP Venezuela remains an enticing and daunting jurisdiction in 2010, as the government continues to intervene in the financial services and other major industries and the insurance industry faces the prospect of a new comprehensive insurance law.	Turkey’s Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Hergüner Bilgen Özeke The pharmaceutical sector has long attracted the scrutiny of antitrust authorities in many jurisdictions, mainly over major patent holders’ alleged abuse of market power.
IP Update - February 2010 McDermott Will & Emery Upholding a district court’s jury instruction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that sales of products delivered free on board (f.o.b.) to a destination outside the United States could be infringing sales under 35 U.S.C. §271(a) and that the "knowledge of the patent" requirement for inducing infringement under §271(b) and DSU Medical can include deliberately ignoring the risk that a protective patent exists.	Supreme Court Clarifies "Principal Place Of Business" Test For Diversity Jurisdiction McDermott Will & Emery It is important that every corporation take time now to understand the new test for citizenship in diversity cases recently announced by the Supreme Court, rather than being surprised by application of the new rule when filing or defending a future lawsuit.
Recent Developments In Employee Benefits And Executive Compensation Blank Rome LLP This newsletter briefly discusses several recent developments in employee benefits and executive compensation that may be of interest.	B.C. Budget 2010 - Film And Digital Media Incentives Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP British Columbia released a Budget on March 2, 2010, which introduced several measures to maintain and enhance B.C.’s competitiveness in the film and digital media sectors.
Minimum Retail Pricing For Cigarettes Infringes EU Law CMS Cameron McKenna LLP The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has found that legislation in France, Austria and Ireland fixing minimum prices for tobacco products including cigarettes infringes European Union law.	UK Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal To Halt Extradition To The U.S. In Connection with Alleged Cartel Participation Morgan Lewis On February 24, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom dismissed the appeal of Ian Norris, former CEO of The Morgan Crucible Company plc, paving the way for the first-ever extradition to the United States of a defendant in an antitrust case.
Budget Briefing 2010 Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, tabled the fifth federal budget of the Conservative minority government today.	Satellites, For Now Goodmans LLP In its 2010 Budget delivered Thursday, March 4, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government announced that it will remove the restrictions on foreign ownership of Canadian satellites.
Approach RFP, Tender And Procurement Documents With Care Bennett Jones LLP In Tercon Construction Ltd. v. British Columbia (Ministry of Transportation and Highways), 2010 SCC 4, the Supreme Court of Canada provided an analytical framework for the interpretation of a clause excluding liability in the context of a request for proposals, giving owners cause to carefully consider the drafting of RFP, tender or other procurement documents in the future.	Toronto's New Harmonized Zoning By-Law - What You Need To Know Stikeman Elliott LLP The City of Toronto's proposed new zoning by-law is anticipated to be approved by City Council as early as July 2010.
SEC Amends Notice And Access Proxy Rules Reed Smith On February 22, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted amendments to the procedures that it previously had adopted to promote the use of the Internet as a reliable and cost-efficient means of making proxy materials available to shareholders.	CSA Issue Orders Exempting Registrants From Certain Provisions Of NI 31-103 Stikeman Elliott LLP On February 26, 2010, members of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) each issued omnibus/blanket orders in response to applications requesting exemptions from certain provisions of National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements and Exemptions (31-103). 31-103, together with amendments to related instruments and policies, came into effect on September 28, 2009 (the Effective Date).
Pending Iranian Sanctions Could Significantly Impact European Entities Reed Smith The United States Congress is currently considering legislation that would increase the scope and application of the U.S. sanctions against Iran.	Response To The 2010 Federal Budget Bennett Jones LLP On March 4, 2010, the federal finance minister, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, released the 2010 federal Budget.
Home Building Act (NSW) Re-write - Consultation Paper Gadens Lawyers Discusses consultation paper on changes proposed to Home Building Act NSW.	Court Upholds Protections Of First Nations In Commercial Dispute Blaney McMurtry LLP Blaney McMurtry has a long-standing, respected record of committed counsel and service to Canadian Aboriginal communities.
Having It Your Way: Employers’ Challenges To Remaining Union-Free In A Potentially Radically Changed Legal Environment Fisher & Phillips LLP This is the second in a series of articles designed to alert employers to the challenges employers will face who wish to remain union-free in a potentially radically changed legal environment	Environmental Assessment: Worth The cost? Dianne Saxe Professional Corporation, Saxe Law Office Federal Conservatives have often signalled their reservations about environmental assessment and approvals, and their impact on slowing favoured projects.
COBRA Subsidy Extended Again Reed Smith On March 2, 2010, the president signed into law H.R. 4691, the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 ("TEA of 2010"), which provides a short-term extension of the COBRA subsidy initially established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") and set to expire February 28, 2010.