Olympus to be prosecuted by UK fraud agency – BBC News
“Japanese camera and medical equipment maker Olympus and its UK subsidiary Gyrus Group will be prosecuted by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.”
BBC News, 4th September 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: company directors
New directors’ remuneration reporting regime will come into force from October – OUT-LAW.com
“Companies should prepare now for the introduction of new rules governing the information that they must include in their directors’ remuneration reports, an expert has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 15th August 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
Regina v Sale – WLR Daily
Regina v Sale [2013] EWCA Crim 1306; [2013] WLR (D) 304
“Where the defendant was the sole shareholder of a company for which he had secured commercial contracts by corruption, the assessment of the defendant’s criminal benefit for the purposes of a confiscation order could not be based on the turnover from the contracts because that would be disproportionate but should be restricted to the gross profit earned by the company together with any other pecuniary advantage which flowed from the corruption.”
WLR Daily, 25th July 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regulator sees case against iSoft collapse over missing file – The Guardian
“The city regulator has suffered a huge blow to its reputation after one of its biggest financial crime cases, against four former company directors of iSoft, collapsed over a missing file.”
The Guardian, 22nd July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Courts could force directors to compensate creditors, under Government plans – OUT-LAW.com
“Courts could be given the power to order disqualified company directors to compensate creditors who have lost money as a result of their actions, under plans being considered by the Government.”
OUT-LAW.com, 16th July 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
Hospital bosses face prosecution over care failings – The Independent
“Hospital and care home managers who allow neglect and abuse to take place on their watch could face criminal prosecution and unlimited fines under new Government plans designed to restore trust in the health service after a series of high profile NHS scandals.”
The Independent, 4th July 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
New directors’ pay reporting requirements on course for October as final regulations published – OUT-LAW.com
“Changes to the information that companies must include in their remuneration
reports are set to come into force from 1 October following the Government’s
publication of the final rules.”
OUT-LAW.com, 27th June 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
“Legislating for Responsible Capitalism”. A paper by Stephen Hockman QC – Six Pump Court
“Stephen Hockman QC has written a paper published by the Policy Network, entitled ‘Legislating for Responsible Capitalism: what it means in practice’.”
In the paper, he explores the legal amendments available to improve the monitoring, transparency and accountability of corporate practice.”
Full story (PDF)
Six Pump Court, 19th June 2013
Soruce: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk
Directors’ duties – A practical guide for insolvency practitioners – 11 Stone Buildings
“In this note Marcia Shekerdemian takes a closer look at the statutory codification of directors’ duties under the Companies Act 2006 (‘CA’) by reference to key case law, making this a highly practical guide for IPs who are considering bringing misfeasance claims under section 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (‘IA’).”
Full story (PDF)
11 Stone Buildings, June 2013
Source: www.11sb.com
Brumder v Motornet Service and Repairs Ltd and another – WLR Daily
Brumder v Motornet Service and Repairs Ltd and another [2013] EWCA Civ 195; [2013] WLR (D) 102
“In a personal injury claim, it did not lie in the mouth of a claimant who was a defendant company’s sole director and shareholder to assert that the company had not proved that it had done all it could to ensure compliance with safety regulations when it was only through the claimant that the company could act. In such a case the company would be entitled to raise a defence to that effect.”
WLR Daily, 14th March 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
What a tangled web… – NearlyLegal
“Since our post on Barons Finance Limited, we’ve heard various things about the property and landlord related activities of Barons Finance and assorted other companies under the control of Dharam Prakash Gopee. As it appears that Mr Gopee has on at least one occasion continued to pursue proceedings (including appearing in the appeal permission in the last post) for Barons Finance Limited, despite the company having been wound up and a liquidator having been appointed by the Court, we hope this post might be of use for people acting for Defendants in possession proceedings, duty scheme advisers and hopefully members of the judiciary who are unaware of the relevant court decisions and orders.”
NearlyLegal, 17th February 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Media Protection Services Ltd v Crawford and another – WLR Daily
Media Protection Services Ltd v Crawford and another [2012] EWHC 2373 (Admin); [2012] WLR (D) 250
“The laying of an information by a director of a private limited company, acting for reward on behalf of a client in the course of its business, constituted acting as a solicitor within the meaning and in breach of section 20 of the Solicitors Act 1974 and carrying on a reserved legal activity, namely the conduct of litigation, contrary to the Legal Services Act 2007, with the result that the proceedings were void.”
WLR Daily, 16th August 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Jury in FSA’s iSoft trial fail to return a verdict – The Guardian
“Three ex-company directors accused of helping the owner of Barnsley football club make millions by concocting ‘fairytale’ financial results for software firm iSoft are facing a retrial after a jury failed to return a verdict on Wednesday.”
The Guardian, 8th August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Age limits in the boardroom – Cloisters
“As Lord Davies reported in February 2011, at the current rate of change it will take over 70 years to achieve gender-balanced boardrooms in the UK. Almost a decade ago, the Higgs review of the role and
effectiveness of non-executive directors called for greater diversity among board directors, but the response on this front has been poor. Given that encouragement has failed, it is no wonder
that plans are afoot to prod listed companies into increasing the number of women on their boards.”
Full story (PDF)
Cloisters, August 2012
Source: www.cloisters.com
Employees deciding together to establish a competing business: what are the legal principles – 11 KBW
“In many cases where a person wishes to leave an employment and establish a new business, that person may wish to tell colleagues about the plans and to encourage them to join him or her in the new venture. It may be that there is disaffection in the workplace and that there is a general, if unexpressed, desire to move on.”
Full story (PDF)
11 KBW, 22nd June 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
Mental health problems no longer a bar to becoming an MP – The Guardian
“Laws barring people who have had severe mental health problems from jury service and from being MPs or company directors are to be abolished following an extraordinary debate in which several MPs gave moving accounts of their own experiences of the illnesses.”
The Guardian, 14th June 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Cathie and another v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – WLR Daily
“In the context of determining whether to disqualify a company director for misconduct in the direction of an insolvent company the use of the expression ‘exceptional circumstances’ was better avoided. The expression ‘extenuating circumstances’ was to be preferred, because the fact finder’s task was to consider the evidence as a whole, including extenuating circumstances, and to decide whether the director had fallen below the standards of probity and competence appropriate for persons fit to be company directors.”
WLR Daily, 1st June 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Cavenagh v William Evans Ltd – WLR Daily
Cavenagh v William Evans Ltd: [2012] EWCA Civ 697; [2012] WLR (D) 164
“Where an employer had elected to lawfully dismiss an employee under the term of the service agreement on payment of salary in lieu of the notice period, the employer was liable to pay the salary in lieu to the employee as an accrued debt. The employer could not later avoid payment on the basis that the employee had committed a gross misconduct prior to the date of the dismissal which the employer had discovered after the date of the dismissal.”
WLR Daily, 24th May 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Farepak victims await directors ruling – The Guardian
“Victims of the collapse of Christmas hamper firm Farepak could be a step closer to justice as the company’s directors face a judge in London’s high court.”
The Guardian, 24th May 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Smith v Butler – WLR Daily
Smith v Butler [2012] EWCA Civ 314; [2012] WLR (D) 96
“Where the terms of a managing director’s appointment to a company made no provision for the express delegation of any specific powers by the board of the company to him, although there might be an intention to implicitly delegate some powers to him, such delegation would not usually have the effect of excluding the powers of the board and the managing director had no implied power to suspend the company chairman or exclude him from the company’s premises. The implied powers of a managing director could include a power to commence legal proceedings, unless the board expressly or by implication decided that such proceedings ought not to be taken or was unlikely to ratify the commencement of proceedings.”
WLR Daily, 15th March 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
