The UK’s departure from the EU is set to lead to a significant change to the UK’s overall approach to competition law. Currently, the UK is required to retain close alignment with EU competition law, which includes respecting the Europea...

On 20 March 2019 the Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’)  imposed a fine  of £25,000  on the guitar supplier Fender Musical Instruments Europe Limited (‘Fender Europe’) for failure to comply with a ...

The United States (“US”) Government announced on 17 April 2019 that it would not renew a waiver to Title III of the US Helms-Burton Act 1996 (“Title III”) that had effectively prevented former owners of property confiscated f...

On 4 June 2019 the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled in favour of Booking.com’s revised “narrow” Most Favourite Nation (“MFN”) clause (Case No. VI-Kart 2/16 (V)). The reactions were predictable. German hote...

On 3 June 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published a report1 by economic consultancy firm Lear, commissioned by the CMA, on merger control in digital markets (“Report”). On the...

On 20 June 2019, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the UK Government’s decision to continue licensing exports of military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen was unlawful. The judgment comes amidst global concer...

One of the most pondered questions following the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) has been - how will the EU Blocking Regulation fair in protecting the interests of EU businesses trading with ...

On 8 October 2019, the Government announced changes to the UK’s temporary tariff regime for certain products in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Under the proposals, which were first published on 13 March 2019 , the Government intended to introd...

We cannot discount the possibility that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without any agreement on any transitional period and with nothing finalised on what the UK’s future trading relationship with the European Union will...

Introduction The Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) has recently adopted a harsh approach imposing quite significant fines on those operators who accept direct debit payments only to the extent that their customers are holders of an ...

  On 21 January 2020, the Court of Appeal (‘CoA’) upheld the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘CAT’) judgment, finding that Ping Europe Ltd (‘Ping’) breached competition law by prohibiting its retailers from sell...

On 30 January 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) confirmed that an agreement in settlement of a patent dispute in the pharmaceutical sector may constitute a restriction of competition by object or effect, as well as an abuse o...

On 11 March 2020 the European Commission (Commission) launched a public consultation on  possible reforms to the Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) Regulation (EU Regulation No. 978/2012 of 25 October 2012) (GSP Regulation). As the GSP Regu...

Border Closure Update In an attempt to stem the virus outbreak in Europe, a number of European Union (EU) and Schengen zone Member States exercised their right to temporarily re-introduced border controls between themselves and other Member States. ...

Join us in a series of podcasts, where we address the key issues impacting the global Competition landscape as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Episode 1: Competition and Cooperation during Covid-19 This podcast is a panel style discussion mode...

Introducing Hong Kong’s four-step fining framework… On 29 April 2020, Justice Godfrey Lam, President of the Competition Tribunal, handed down judgment in relation to the fines to be imposed on the parties in the W. Hing and Others case....

  Pursuant to Article 3:246 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Civil Code (DCC) pledgees have the power to enforce their right of pledge on receivables by claiming (direct) payment of the receivable. This power also includes the right to enforce rights o...

On 3 June 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that a valid right of pledge can be established on goods that are delivered subject to retention of title (of ownership). If the buyer is declared bankrupt, the conditional ownership can become an uncondition...

We are pleased to present to you our brochure which reviews the changes in the Polish law that we believe will have a major impact on business in Poland in 2017.

The case of So Sau Lai Connie v DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd [2017] HKEC 29 is a typical letter of credit fraud case. This case illustrates whether certain “red flags” may constitute discrepant presentation or a fraud indication. Background ...

Introduction Financial services firms’ corporate governance and risk cultures is a ‘hot’ topic with financial regulators globally. Regulators have noted that serious corporate governance and conduct failings of financial services f...

Digital currency has been arousing a lot of interest for some time. In public administration circles - at least officially – so far, it has not been discussed very much. A few days ago though, the situation has changed. The National Bank of Po...

The position of banks being served with a Mareva injunction order has been clarified in Hong Kong. In the recent case of Grasberg Capital Asia Limited v Bank of Communications Limited (HCA 2016/784)*, the Court considered the question of whether a b...

On 25 October 2017, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) published the Whitepaper 2.0 (“Whitepaper 2.0”) on Distributed Ledger Technology (“DLT”). This Whitepaper 2.0 provides practical advice on over 20 gove...

Legal background Often, under a contract, one party will have a right to exercise discretion - the contract will give the party the right to take a decision that affects the rights of both parties. In real estate finance an obvious example of this i...

...

Key Points A disposition by a receiver, whether appointed by the court or under a fixed charge, is not a disposition by a mortgagor for the purposes of s284 Insolvency Act 1986 (“IA”). The wider implications of the decision may be to lim...

  The Singapore office of global legal practice Eversheds Sutherland today announced the appointment of Gerard Ng as a partner in the Banking and Financial Services Practice group. With over 20 years of experience, Gerard is a specialist in len...

Key Points • The self-dealing rule does not extend to a sale by a receiver to a party in which the mortgagee has an interest. • Although the duties of a receiver and a mortgagee are similar as to the Property, a receiver, unlike a mortgage...

New LIBOR transition publications On 16 January 2020, the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority and Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates published a set of documents outlining priorities and milestones for sterling LIBOR transi...

State recapitalisation aid to companies in the Covid 19 crisis 1. Overview | within a very short time, the German legislator passed a law to establish an Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) | the aim is to stabilize the companies in the real economy a...

Coronavirus and the related restrictive measures directly affect not only insolvency proceedings that are already in progress, but can also cause or accelerate financial problems that will lead to bankruptcy and subsequent beginning of insolvency pr...