Articles by ‘John North’

On 25 January 2016, the draft Register of People with Significant Control Regulations 2016 (“the PSC Regulations”) were published and laid before Parliament for approval. The majority of the PSC Regulations will come into force on 6 April 2016. As a consequence there is now to be a requirement for most companies (including LLPs) to maintain a register of those persons who exercise significant influence or control over the company (“PSC Register”). PSC Registers may potentially record shadow and de facto directors publicly for the first time together with what will be, in effect, a register of beneficial owners and which the Government says is part of its initiative to increase trust and transparency in business.

Professionals may owe a duty of care even if they are not being paid for their advice or have a formal contract in place. A recent decision from the Technology and Construction Court in Burgess v Lejonvarn means that favours between friends could potentially invoke a duty of care if professional skills are being called upon.

Charlotte Newlyn in our Dispute Resolution team discusses this decision and considers the practical consequences for professionals who do informal favours for friends.

A firm was last month fined £1.3million after it was found to have made corrupt payments to officials of foreign governments.

The new data protection self assessment toolkit launched by the Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’) is designed to help small and medium sized enterprises (‘SMEs’), which make up 99% of UK businesses, assess and improve their compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Cadbury welcomed last week’s ruling that the four-finger shape of the popular chocolate bar can’t be legally protected. The shape itself was not considered by the High Court distinctive enough to give the snack trademark status and for consumers to identify all such bars as KitKats.

You have no doubt been bombarded by a flurry of articles stating that employers have been given the right to snoop through the entirety of employees’ private messages, but how much of this is true?

Following the European Court of Justice decision in the case of Bogdan Bărbulescu on 12 January, Charlotte Newlyn in our Dispute Resolution team explores the truth behind the panic and whether there will be any changes at all.

One of Britain’s biggest banks has been hit with a £72million fine by the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed the penalty on Barclays Bank, following fears that a so-called “elephant deal”…

Royds has published its detailed guide entitled Protecting your business: getting distribution agreements right.

An impressive recovery from recession has cemented the UK’s position as one of the best places in the world to start a business.

On 27th October 2015, the European Commission decided to adopt an agreement to end roaming charges by June 2017 and, for the first time in EU law, to set net neutrality rules. The net neutrality rules will be implemented on 30th April 2016.

Important changes to company law have been made by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the ‘SBEE’). The changes affect all companies and company secretaries should be making preparations to ensure compliance with the new regime.

The EU and the USA signed an agreement which came into effect in 2000. The agreement was called the Safe Harbour Agreement (‘the Agreement’). The purpose of the Agreement was to streamline the way in which American firms obtained data from Europe cost-effectively without contravening the rule that personal data must not be transferred to parts of the world where there were not adequate privacy protections in place. The Agreement allowed around 5,000 American companies to bypass European privacy laws.