The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) is leading a lobbying effort to get the proposed EC Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) Directive re-drafted following an outcry from the industry.

After a four-month investigation, the FSA has found no evidence of a “concerted attempt by individuals” to manipulate share prices in Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) during the high-profile raid on its shares earlier this year.

A US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation has found that the agency missed multiple opportunities to uncover the Madoff Ponzi scheme.

The AIMA has given a lukewarm welcome to the Treasury’s proposals for a new offshore funds tax regime.

On 21 January US President Barack Obama proposed, "simple common sense" reforms to the US banking system which would severely restrict the extent to which banks would be allowed to invest in hedge funds if implemented.

From 1 April 2009 the current concessionary VAT arrangements allowing employment businesses to charge VAT solely on the commission element of their supply, rather than on the whole cost to the client of placing the temporary worker (including salaries, NICs, pension contributions and other benefits) will be withdrawn.

The amounts both of the basic award and of the compensatory award made by Employment Tribunals to employees unfairly dismissed are each subject to an arbitrary cap.

In Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has decided that a worker who is ill during pre-arranged annual leave should be allowed to take that period of annual leave at a later date, even if that means carrying holiday over into a subsequent holiday year.

Purchasers of business assets from an Administrator must ascertain if employees assigned to that business are also transferred by TUPE.

From 6 April 2008 new sex discrimination Regulations have defined further the duty on businesses to protect their staff from sexual harassment.

One month after the FSA introduced restrictions on short selling of shares in the UK, the US SEC, announced a temporary ban on so-called “naked” short selling, a practice that involves traders selling stocks short without borrowing the stock beforehand.

Businesses are required to pay their staff the National Minimum Wage but some businesses have relied on tips to supplement staff income for the purposes of reaching the National Minimum Wage.

Workers (which includes employees) have the right to paid statutory holiday of 4.8 weeks (rising from April 2009 to 5.6 weeks inclusive of Bank holidays).

Further to our last bulletin where we highlighted the pending appeal of Granatino v Radmacher, involving a signed Pre Nuptial Agreement made in Germany between a German wife and French husband which was deemed unenforceable in English courts, we now bring you our take on the widely reported recent Court of Appeal decision.

Groups representing the UK hedge fund community have criticised the European Commission’s proposals to regulate alternative investment fund managers.

The Justice Minister, Jack Straw, has now introduced the long awaited opening up of the Family Courts to the press.

The FSA has published draft rules for its new disclosure regime for Contracts for Difference (CfDs).

As you may recall, on 1 October 2008, the next set of provisions of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act) came into force.

Everyone should have a properly drafted Will but only about a third of the population actually makes a Will.

Legal systems are generally limited territorially. However, over centuries, private international law has developed rules permitting judgments of one country to be recognised or enforced in other countries.