Date Title Group Language 31/1/2012 Dispute Resolution English On June 6, 2011, the Supreme Court decided Erica P. John Fund, Inc v. Halliburton Co, holding that securities fraud plaintiffs need not prove loss causation as a prerequisite to class certification. (January 2012)
31/1/2012 Insurance and reinsurance news: January 2012 Tax; Financial institutions English HM Treasury (HMT) has been consulting on substantial UK tax law changes to be introduced in 2013 in two areas relevant to insurance groups. The first is the taxation of controlled foreign companies (CFCs). The existing CFC regime has been blamed for several UK-headquartered insurance groups leaving the UK. HMT hopes that changes to the system will reverse this trend and encourage groups to relocate their headquarters to the UK, as Aon has recently done. The second is the taxation of life assurance business. The current tax system relies on regulatory returns, which following the implementation of Solvency II will not provide the necessary information. The current life tax system must therefore be overhauled.
In December 2011 and on 31 January 2012 further papers and draft legislation were published in respect of these two topics. Consultation is ongoing and therefore this newsletter summarises key points, rather than describing the detail of the draft legislation. (January 2012)
25/1/2012 Directors’ remuneration – the government’s proposals for reform Employment, pensions and benefits; Corporate English The government has announced proposals that will make significant changes to the governance and disclosure of directors’ pay. Taken together, we think the proposals are pretty sensible, though their success depends on shareholders becoming more activist on director pay issues. But there is room for improvement – for example, having to boil down the value of each director’s package to one figure will grab a headline, but isn’t necessarily useful information for shareholders.
Although the full details will not be available until the spring, this briefing summarises the proposals and our views on a number of the key issues. (January 2012)
23/1/2012 Insurance brokers entitled to receive commission payments Dispute Resolution English The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has upheld the long-established common law position that commissions paid by insurers to insurance brokers do not constitute an illegal secret profit unless it is in excess of what is normally paid within the insurance market. In this briefing, we look at the implications of this decision for insurance companies and agents. (January 2012)
20/12/2011 Dispute Resolution English The New York Court of Appeals, in Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd. v. J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., upheld the Appellate Division's ruling that New York's Martin Act — the state law granting the New York Attorney General the power to prosecute fraudulent practices in the securities markets — does not pre-empt common law claims arising out of the purchase or sale of securities. (December 2011)
20/12/2011 Government and utility buying – a new approach Dispute Resolution English Today, the European Commission published proposals to reform the procurement regime with new directives for public contracts, utilities and concession contracts.
The proposals are the culmination of reports and consultations recently conducted by the Commission with a view to increasing the efficiency of public spending and maximising value for money.
In this briefing we highlight seven features of these proposals. The first six apply to the public sector and utilities, unless otherwise stated. The last addresses the concessions proposal.
16/12/2011 Tax English The US Treasury has issued temporary and proposed regulations explaining and clarifying reporting obligations of US persons with interests in foreign investments and accounts enacted in March 2010. (December 2011)
14/12/2011 Tax English On 29 November 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its decision in the National Grid Indus case. This briefing outlines the critical elements of the decision and includes a summary on how the case affects each of our European tax jurisdictions' exit rules. (December 2011)
13/12/2011 Reform of the EU Takeover Directive and of German Takeover Law Corporate English In autumn 2010, the European Commission commissioned a "Study on the Application of Directive 2004/25/EC" based on the revision clause in Article 20 of the EU Takeover Directive. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer wants to support the European reform discussion and has developed an expert survey in this context. In August/September 2011, 375 experts were asked about their general opinion of the European takeover market and about specific legal aspects of national takeover law. The report presents the result of this expert survey. (November 2011)
9/12/2011 Tax English The government has presented the next stage of its Patent Box tax proposals. The key features are: 10 per cent effective corporation tax rate; broad coverage of worldwide income from existing and new patents; effective 1 April 2013, with a five‑year phase‑in; and a structured, formulaic calculation for qualifying profits. (December 2011)
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