Norman Tebbit, a senior minister in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet is often remembered as the MP who told the unemployed to 'get on your bike and look for work'. Along with no u-turns and other favourites, his famous words characterise the attitude of the Governments of the day's policy of self-reliance.

It's arrived and it looks like it's here to stay. The question on everyone's lips is how best to use it in their business or even 'Do we really need it?'. Chances are the response will depend upon the age of the responder.

Due to LawCare, no lawyer need ever face such problems alone. Call 0800 279 6888

Trustees Needed for Crossroads Care Gloucestershire.

LawWorks staff, trustees and volunteers took part in the London Legal Walk on Monday 17th May.

The Department of Law at Queen Mary, University of London are looking for solicitors to act as mentors to a number of its undergraduate law students.

JSD Corporation PTE Ltd v. Al Waha Capital PJSC and another [2009] EWHC 3376 (Ch)

The Chancellor delivered his Budget speech on 24 March 2010.   While there has already been much commentary on the Budget’s long-term economic impact and its political motivations in the run-up to a general election, this article takes a closer look at the tax technical aspects of some of the key announcements affecting companies, businesses and individuals.  It does not include the measures affecting partnerships or investment funds.  For further information, see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/index.htm. 

In this application submissions were received regarding the interpretation of  Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)  and Financial Services Authority client money and distribution rules  (contained in the Client Assets Sourcebook 7.1-7.8  and 7.9 respectively).  One of the eight main  issues before the Court was whether the equitable principles of establishing proprietary interests in substituted assets and mixed funds could be adjusted to facilitate the MiFID objectives of achieving a high level of investor protection in safeguarding client rights in relation to funds held by a firm (MiFID Art.13(8); Impl.Dir.Art.16 (2)). The Court was invited to construe established law on a more ‘modern and client friendly basis for the identification and recovery of property’.

To the uninitiated, an R4 device enables users of the Nintendo DS/DSi, a handheld games console, to use content other than that on cartridges, generally games, on their devices.  Such content can be legitimate in terms of legally downloaded music and what is known as ‘homebrew’ content which are games developed by independent designers.

Alternatively, and this is where the problems begin, users can download games for the DS/DSi illegally, transfer them onto a memory card, which in turn is inserted into the R4 device which can be plugged into the DS/DSi, allowing the games to be played.

Kraft announced its hostile cash and share proposal to buy Cadbury, the English confectioner on 7 September 2009, valuing the company at £10.2bn or 745p per share. The Cadbury board rejected the initial offer, citing that the offer  “fundamentally undervalues the Group and its prospects.”

Facilitate Global is a not for profit, national and international conflict resolution NGO promoting Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law with an integral focus on economic regeneration and development.

The Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report speech on 9 December 2009 concentrated on the Government’s plans to reduce its long-term debt and to take the UK out of recession.  Various tax measures had been suggested to address these issues, including a ‘Tobin’ tax on financial transactions which, despite much discussion and debate, did not make the cut in the end.  Instead, the Government introduced a temporary ‘bank payroll tax’ on excess bonuses, which it claims will encourage banks to focus on risk management and capital adequacy.  

The bank payroll tax has attracted the most publicity, although certain other measures will be immediately felt.  These include a return to 17.5% VAT, further changes to the pension contributions rules for high-income individuals, an end to the stamp duty ‘holiday’, certain tax credit increases, a decision to maintain the current inheritance tax thresholds and a decision not to increase the small companies’ rate. 

The Equality Bill, due to come into force in October 2010, intends to create a fairer society for all.  The main objective of the Bill is twofold:  to harmonise all areas of discrimination law and to strengthen it.  It will bring together existing discrimination legislation as regards sex, age, race, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief as well as introduce significant new changes to the law.

New Guidance has been released by the Department for Communities and Local Government resulting from consultation that took place earlier this year.  The consultation was initiated because of the reduced take-up of existing permissions because of the current economic crisis, and the costs and time involved in both applying for new planning permissions (a “permission”) and making minor amendments to existing ones.

The current EU Telecoms Rules governing this area were agreed in 2002.  In 2005 the Commission began a public consultation to determine if changes were needed.  A new EU Telecoms Reform Package was proposed in November 2007.  It proposed the introduction of a single telecoms market for the 500+ million EU consumers.

Tom volunteers at Centre 70 in West Norwood, and tells us more about his experiences

On 25 November 2009, amid an already precarious world economy, Dubai World, a state owned corporation announced that it was seeking a six-month standstill on its schedule of debt payments. Dubai World’s financial difficulties are largely attributed to its struggling property developing arm Nakheel, which invested heavily in the region, including the Palm Islands development. It has been estimated that Dubai World has liabilities of £36 billion, about three quarters of Dubai’s total state debt

Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE), Re Insolvency Act 1986
[2009] EWCA Civ 1161 (06 November 2009)

LBIE entered administration on 15 September 2008.  LBIE provided services including the execution, clearing and settlement of securities and derivative trades and the custody and valuation of clients’ portfolios.  A key feature of these transactions was that the client obtained proprietary interests in the assets held by or on behalf of LBIE, giving them claims over the cash and securities transferred to LBIE.  As a result the administrators could not be certain who was entitled to the trust property.

What is commonly referred to as the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) consists of three European Union (EU) Directives brought in to implement the Basel Accord 1 and the Basel Accord 2 (Basel 2) within the EU. The CRD affects banks and building societies and certain types of investment firms. In direct response to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), amendments have been proposed to the CRD, the overall aims of which are to make the regulatory framework more risk sensitive and representative of modern banks' risk management practices. 
The proposed further amendments to the CRD (which derive from proposals for Basel 2 amendments) have to be transposed into national legislation by member states by 31 December 2010. Institutions are required to start applying these new rules with effect from the same date.

A very short interview with a volunteer.

As the market continues to fluctuate, more companies are forced to confront cash flow shortages and the peril of insolvency.  Debt-for-equity (debt/equity) swaps are seen as one method for companies to avoid insolvency and return to profitability.