On 24 September 2009, the Ministry of Justice published its report on judicial and court activity in England and Wales for the year 2008.

The Financial Services Authority (<B>FSA</B>) is currently carrying out a fundamental review of the Listing Rules. On 8 October 2003 it published a consultation paper (<B>CP</B>) which outlined its proposals to reform the listing regime against the background of changes to be introduced by European legislation.

In this article we explain what lies behind the ongoing SEC investigations and related US litigation in respect of allegations that certain directors of well known companies wrongly backdated stock options for their own benefit. We look at the nature of the liabilities to which these allegations may give rise and consider whether and to what extent directors of English companies may face similar problems. We also look briefly at the D&O coverage implications.

The Court of Appeal recently ruled on the effect of an Iranian sanctions clause entitling insurers to cancel an insurance, but declined to rule on the effect of EU sanctions legislation where the ruling was not necessary and the enforcement of that legislation fell under the jurisdiction of the criminal, rather than civil, courts.

At common law, an insurer faced with changed circumstances which materially alter the insured risk during the course of the policy is entitled to treat the insurance contract as automatically discharged. Earlier this year, the Commercial Court in Swiss Reinsurance Co v United India Insurance Co Ltd (2005) restated the important distinction between such a material alteration and a change in the risk which merely renders it more likely that a loss will occur, which will not entitle the insurer to

The last weeks of the court term saw a number of high profile and significant rulings from four different courts in relation to intellectual property matters.

In an important triple judgment, issued on 2 May 2007, the House of Lords has provided welcome clarification of the law relating to tort claims for economic loss caused by intentional acts - also taking the opportunity to extend the law on breach of confidence.

The nature of a construction project gives rise to the possibility of numerous individual defects or losses arising which may be brought together in one or more claims.

In this article we review the implications of the ruling for solicitors advising clients in circumstances where legal advice privilege may be a relevant consideration.

The FSA's recently published Consultation Paper sets out proposals for a wholesale redrafting of the Insurance Conduct of Business Rules ("ICOB"). The impetus for these proposals is twofold...

Where there is scope for disagreement over the meaning of a clause or covenant and a solicitor is aware of a potential dispute, the solicitor is under a duty to give more cautious advice than simply to advise on a clause's effect alone.

As readers will be aware from our alert on 30 March 2011, the UK Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment that day in the case of Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13 (the judgment).

The decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") on 3 December 2003 to quash the OFT’s decision not to refer for second-stage review the proposed acquisition by iSOFT of Torex has far-reaching implications for the conduct of mergers in the UK.

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force on 1 October 2006 and, subject to some significant points of detail, broadly follow the pattern of other anti-discrimination regimes. It will now be unlawful not only to discriminate directly or indirectly against a person based upon their age, but also on the basis of their ‘perceived’ age – a concept that could prove difficult to apply in practice.

The Law Commission has consulted on issues surrounding criminal liability in regulatory contexts, a topic of particular interest in the current environment.

Everyone is now familiar with the term ‘outsourcing’ as banks, insurance companies and others continue to remove their day to day service functions abroad. Outsourcing has been a feature of the reinsurance market for many years; every run-off, whether of a company, syndicate or book of business, involves outsourcing in one shape or form.

In Cable and Wireless v Muscat (2005) the Employment Appeal Tribunal looked at whether an agency worker, provided via an agency, could be an employee of the end user.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s recent consultation on the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI) said that: "A decision on how the RHI will be funded will be made at Budget 2010.

On 2 March 2009, in "Morgan and another v Hinton Organics (Wessex) Ltd", the Court of Appeal considered arguments in connection with the 1998 Aarhus Convention.