Mondaq Most Recent Articles-07 November 2009

Offshore: Company Formation FAQ on Cyprus brought to you exclusively from Andreas Sofocleous & Co FAQ for company formation in Cyprus.	False Advertising FAQ on United States brought to you exclusively from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP Frequently asked questions on false advertising.
Labour Law FAQ on Germany brought to you exclusively from Schneider Schwegler Frequently asked questions about Labour law in Germany.	Offshore: Trusts FAQ on Mauritius brought to you exclusively from Multiconsult A definitive guide to the offshore trust market through questions and answers.
UK Code Of Practice On Tax For The Banking Sector Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson On 29 June, 2009, HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) in the UK published a draft code of practice for the banking sector (the “Code”). This was expected, following the 2009 Budget.	Ten Ways To Avoid Destroying Value In Your Technology Company — Part III McCarthy Tétrault LLP In the last two editions, we discussed a number of ways technology companies can diminish their value, including failing to secure all copyrights, failing to patent inventions, carelessly giving away access to source code, and hastily granting exclusive distribution rights.
Recent Provincial Initiatives In Support Of Venture Capital In Canada McCarthy Tétrault LLP Venture capital in Canada has faced significant funding challenges in recent years. The downturn in the global economy — together with the credit crisis, volatile capital markets, and a dearth of initial public offerings — has further exacerbated the problem. Venture capital deal activity in Canada slowed significantly in 2008.	Amendment of NYSE Rule 452: Elimination of Broker Discretionary Voting in Director Elections Mayer Brown On July 1, 2009, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the New York Stock Exchange’s amendment to Rule 452, eliminating the ability of brokers to vote in their discretion with respect to elections of directors.
Medicaid Integrity Program: “Piled Higher And Deeper” Duane Morris LLP Just when it appeared it could not get any worse than the Recovery Audit Contractor (“RAC”) program, the rollout of the Medicaid Integrity Program (“MIP”) began across the United States.	Constructive Dismissal Glovers Solicitors LLP To establish a case of constructive dismissal the employee must show that his employer committed a fundamental breach of a term of the employee’s contract of employment.
Registered Designs: An Illuminating Case! Madderns Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys Australian design registrations provide exclusive rights in the appearance of a product. While popular, the system has been criticised for the somewhat limited scope of the protection provided to the design owner.	EC Antitrust Law Update Proskauer Rose LLP On June 4, 2009, the European Court of Justice (E.C.J.) rendered a decision on exchanges of information between competitors and ruled for the first time that a single meeting between competitors can amount to an anticompetitive concerted practice.
Inside M&A - May/June 2009 McDermott Will & Emery For years, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) have provided both a ready exit strategy for privately held business owners and a platform for management buyouts.	Raising Capital In Difficult Times Addisons In the current global financial crisis raising capital has become a significant issue for many companies. Banks and financial institutions are now more cautious about their lending practices, regularly imposing relatively stringent financial and security covenants.
Changes to US Municipal Bond Market Continuing Disclosure Rules Effective July 1 Mayer Brown July 1, 2009, marks the arrival of a significantly different continuing disclosure regime for the US municipal bond market.	Illinois Adopts Law Permitting Wind Energy Projects Statewide to Obtain Sales and Use Tax Exemptions Mayer Brown Illinois Public Act 096-0028 (the “Act”) became effective June 30, 2009. The Act permits wind energy projects across Illinois to obtain exemptions from sales and use taxes by direct application to the state.
Anti-Money Laundering And Countering Financing Of Terrorism Bill Introduced To Parliament DLA Phillips Fox Following the release of a draft Bill for public consultation in September 2008, and the recent publication of Cabinet papers and a regulatory impact statement, the Anti- Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill (Bill) has finally been introduced to Parliament.	Jousting With The Tax Man: An Extreme Makeover, IRS Edition Caplin & Drysdale As agencies go, the IRS is modest in size, representing 3 percent of federal employees and less than 4 percent of 2008 budget expenditures.
IRS Acknowledges Planning Opportunity For Consolidated Groups McDermott Will & Emery Consolidated groups with members that have worthless common stock but some value on their preferred stock should consider opportunities to merge the member into other group members in order to accelerate a worthless stock deduction.	Checking In With The Guidance Department Caplin & Drysdale While the rest of us have been distracted by the presidential election, the estate and gift attorneys at the IRS have been steadily issuing guidance and laying out an ambitious plan for more.
Joint Ventures With Foreign Investors Harrington Law Associates, PLLC This memorandum was prepared for a client who owns a US company and who was considering a joint venture in the State of Florida with a non-US individual. The venture entailed acquisition of US real property for the purpose of lease or resell.	Russian Employment Law Briefing Herbert Smith This briefing paper highlights some of the features of Russian employment and immigration legislation in the context of the present economic climate.
Due Diligence for Lenders With Distressed Assets Holland & Knight It is important for lenders – and their special asset/portfolio management teams - to take inventory of lenders’ real estate collateral.	National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System – 2 Months To Register - Are You Ready? Deacons Corporations which are required to report energy consumption, energy production and greenhouse gas emissions under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS) must apply to register before 31 August 2009 for the 2008-2009 financial year.
Legislation Passed To Impose Duty On Victorian Leases Deacons On 25 June 2009, the controversial Duties Amendment Bill 2008 was passed by the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament with minimal amendments.	Court Stops Hostile Bid Due To Financial Advisor’s Conflict Of Interest McCarthy Tétrault LLP In February 2009, the Ontario Superior Court stopped a hostile bid by Rusoro Mining Ltd. for the shares of Gold Reserve Inc. because Rusoro’s financial advisor, Endeavour Financial International Corporation, had a conflict of interest.
Private Equity Fund Terms — Expect A Shift In Focus McCarthy Tétrault LLP As with other sectors of global capital markets, private equity fund formation has been impacted by the credit crisis and economic downturn.	“Res Ipsa Loquitor” Revisited In Awarding Injunction To “Diamond” TM LEX ORBIS "Res ipsa loquitur" is a legal term from Latin meaning, "the thing itself speaks". Being significantly applied in tort law, the principle first found place in the 1863 English case of Byrne v. Boadle.
U.S. Supreme Court Holds That City Discriminated Against White Firefighters Foley Hoag LLP Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a case of so-called reverse discrimination that the City of New Haven, Connecticut discriminated against 17 white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter by refusing to certify the results of a promotional exam.	EC Trade Mark Law In The Life Sciences Industry As Exemplified By The Case Bayern Innovativ v Ohim SZECSKAY - Attorneys at Law This article tries to shed light on an important area of trade mark law in connection with a decision recently handed down by the European Court of First Instance (the "CFI"), more specifically with respect to the complex question of similarity between marks and confusion of the public.
Changes To The e-Business Tax Credit McCarthy Tétrault LLP The Québec Government recently announced changes to the refundable tax credit for the development of e-business.	Silence And Inaction Gave Search Engines An Implied Licence To Display A Cached Copy Of Author’s Works McCarthy Tétrault LLP In Parker v. Yahoo! Inc., a US District Court dismissed in part an author’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and Yahoo! for making a "cached" copy of his works available in their search results, because he had not taken steps to prevent the caching or have the content removed.
Supreme Court Holds That Disparate-Treatment Discrimination Must Be Based Upon Strong Basis In Evidence Of Potential Liability For Disparate Impact Discrimination Morrison & Foerster LLP In Ricci v. DeStefano, decided on June 29, 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that “race-based action like the City’s in this case is impermissible under Title VII unless the employer can demonstrate a strong basis in evidence that, had it not taken the action, it would have been liable under the disparate-impact statute.”	$8 Billion For High-Speed And Intercity Rail July 10, 2009 Deadline: Let The Competition Begin Fox Rothschild LLP The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA") provides $8 billion for the development of High-Speed Rail and Intercity Passenger Rail projects.