Monthly Archives: February 2017
Hall & Wilcox boosts Melbourne Property & Projects team with two new appointments
Leading business law firm, Hall & Wilcox, has further strengthened its Property & Projects team in Melbourne with the appointment of new special counsel, Nikki Carroll and Mark Croft.
Nikki was previously a senior lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills, and brings specialist experience in private infrastructure investment including project development, acquisition and financing for Australian and international transactions. Nikki has also worked as legal counsel for one of Australia’s largest fund managers and a clean energy start-up.
Ombudsman’s report: Big reforms for small business banking
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman’s report for the inquiry into small business loans was released on 6 February. The Ombudsman, Kate Carnell AO, made 15 recommendations to the government and the banking sector to reform regulatory practices for small business lending.
It appears that a number of submissions made to the inquiry related to concerns held by customers regarding:
- the involvement of third party valuers, investigative accountants and receivers
- contracts which the Bank can make unilateral changes to and are said to be one-sided
- the difficulties in challenging bank’s decisions and actions, particularly if a dispute is outside the scope of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Court Refuses To Dismiss Challenge To OSHA Practice Allowing Unions To Accompany OSHA Workplace Investigations
A United States District Court in Texas has refused to dismiss a law suit challenging OSHA’s practice of allowing union representatives and organizers to serve as “employee representatives” in inspections of non-union worksites. If the Court ultimately sustains the plaintiff’s claims, unions will lose another often valuable organizing tool that has provided them with visibility and access to employees in connection with organizing campaigns.
Talking Tax – Issue 64
ATO guidance
Taxpayer Alert 2017/1(TA 2017/1): Re-characterisation of income from trading business
The ATO are reviewing arrangements that attempt to fragment integrated trading businesses to re-characterise trading income as passive income which is favourably taxed. Where these arrangements are entered into, the general anti-avoidance rules in Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) may be triggered.
Super Bowl Commercials: The Bad of 2017
Now that we’ve seen our lackluster list of “good” Super Bowl commercials for 2017, let’s dive into the ones that I thought weren’t so hot. The majority of spots made it into my “mediocre” category, so it’s harder to choose “bad” and “ugly” ads this year than you might think – but I’ve buckled down and come up with a few for you!
New York Department of Labor Clarifies Pay Transparency Provisions in Equal Pay Act
On February 1, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) adopted regulations (“Regulations”) clarifying the pay transparency provisions of Section 194(4) of the New York Labor Law. The pay transparency section was added to Section 194 as part of a broader amendment to New York State’s equal pay law in January 2016. This pay transparency section provides that employers may not prohibit employees from “inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing” the wages of that employee or another employee, and explains what any company policy on the topic can and cannot say.
Considering liquidated and ascertained damages on an agreement for lease
It is sometimes the case that a tenant will enter into agreements for lease where the landlord is undertaking substantial works to, or even constructing, the building or estate within which the premises will be located so that grant of the lease is conditional upon completion of those works.
Liquidated and ascertained damages (LADs) clauses stipulate that a specified sum of money will be payable by one party to the other where there has been a particular breach of contract. Under contract law, if a person agrees to perform certain acts (here, the landlord’s works) for another person (the tenant), in return for a benefit (payment of rent), disputes could arise if the tenant is dissatisfied with the way the landlord performs the works.
Det kan også være en gave at lade et krav forældes – og så kan det omstødes
Konkurslovens § 64 bestemmer, at gaver, der er givet inden en vis frist før konkursen, kan omstødes. Når en gave bliver omstødt, betyder det, at den, der har modtaget gaven, skal tilbagelevere gaven eller betale et beløb svarende til gavens værdi til konkursboet.
Kommanditisters fradragskonto – ansvarlig indskudskapital og selvskyldnerkaution
I denne artikel behandles spørgsmålet om opgørelse af fradragskontoen for kommanditister i et K/S på grundlag af deres forpligtelse til at indskyde ansvarlig indskudskapital samt ved at påtage selvskyldnerkaution for kommanditselskabet.
For det første behandles gældende praksis om opgørelsen af ansvarlig indskudskapital. Den seneste afgrænsning vedr. opgørelsen i forhold til gældskonvertering og indbetaling med overkurs behandles, ligesom seneste praksis vedr. ejerstrukturer med flere K/S’er over hinanden behandles.
For det andet behandles den seneste praksis om selvskyldnerkaution.
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