The Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) did indeed drop the requirement for public limited companies to be incorporated with at least two members. The change took effect from 1 October 2009 (not 2007). Under the Companies Act 1985 (CA 1985), limited companies had to be incorporated with at least two subscribing members: ‘…1 Mode of forming incorporated company (1) Any two or more persons associated for a lawful purpose may, by subscribing their names to a memorandum of association and otherwise complying with the requirements of this Act in respect of registration, form an incorporated company, with or without limited liability.’ Note that although the text of CA 1985, s 1(1) encompassed both private and public limited companies, private companies were able to incorporate a company with

Local Government analysis: The issue in this appeal was whether the London Borough of Ealing (‘Ealing’), when seeking to discharge its relief duty under section 189B of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996), namely to take reasonable steps to her the appellant secure accommodation, had acted in accordance with HA 1996, s 208, to ensure so far a reasonably practicable to secure that accommodation in their district. Ealing accepted it had a duty towards the appellant (‘Ms Moge’) and made multiple offers which were refused. A final offer was made on a property outside the borough and the court was satisfied that at the time there was no other more reasonable alternative. Wholesome criticism was levelled of the polices Ealing had in place and the evidence produced. Nevertheless it was found that Ealing had complied with their duty and the obligations set out in HA 1996, s 208. Written by Clive Adams, head of Housing Management and Stathis Kosteletos, senior paralegal, both at Birketts LLP.

IP analysis: In a trade mark case regarding the registrability of a tactile trade mark filed at the EUIPO by Neoperl AG, an appeal against a decision of the EUIPO Board of Appeal was heard before the EU General Court. The General Court, on reviewing the Board of Appeal decision, decided that the provisions of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) 207/2009 should be applied to the matter in order such that an analysis of the trade mark under Article 7(1)(a), which in conjunction with Article 4 determines what signs are capable of functioning as trade marks, had to be made before the court could look at the application of Article 7(1)(b), which prevents registration of trade marks that lack distinctive character. The EUIPO appealed the decision to the Court of Justice, which held that the General Court was wrong to apply an order of precedence to subsections of Article 7 of Regulation 207/2009 and was wrong to make a decision on an issue that was not first examined by the EUIPO Board of Appeal. Written by Helene Whelbourn, legal director at Lee & Thompson LLP.

Subject to transitional provisions, from 22 November 2017, a transaction is not a higher rates transaction if: • there is only one purchaser • there is only one vendor, and • on the effective date of the transaction the two of them are married or civil partners and are living together For these purposes where

The essence of a defence of volenti non fit injuria (‘to a willing person, no injury is done’) is that the claimant understands the danger of the situation and willingly consents to the risk of injury. In such circumstances, should injury occur, the claimant has no reason for complaint. The defence is often shortened to volenti. If established, volenti is a complete defence. The justification is that it is not possible to apportion consent and say that a claimant agreed to run certain risks but not others. As such, the defence will only be successful in clear cases. The volenti defence will rarely be available in claims for breach of statutory duty. Requirements for bringing the defence Three factors must be present in order to run the defence: • capacity • knowledge and willingness • agreement (express or implied) Capacity The claimant must have the capacity to give their consent in the relevant way. Children and those suffering from

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was commissioned in October 2020 to review the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) route and comment on various aspects such as the salary and skill thresholds, whether different arrangements should apply to high earners and aspects that differ from the Skilled Worker route. In May 2021, the Home Office confirmed that the Intra-Company routes will be revised and brought within what is to be a new sponsored 'Global Business Mobility' category, together with revised versions of the existing representative of an overseas business route

CASE HUB ARCHIVED–this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the decision of 16 March 2017; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline and commentary. Case facts Outline UK merger investigation into the completed acquisition by Diebold, Incorporated of Wincor Nixdorf AG. The transaction involves horizontal overlaps in markets for the provision of ATMs (cashpoints) to banks and independent ATM deployers (a ‘3–to-2’ merger). Latest developments On 16 March 2017, the CMA issued its final report and cleared the transaction subject to remedies.The CMA found that the transaction has lead to a SLC in the market for the supply of customer-operated ATMs in the UK, where the parties are two of only three providers. In terms of remedies, Diebold is required to sell either its own or Wincor’s customer-operated ATMs business in the UK to a new owner, to be approved by the CMA. Parties Diebold, Incorporated (Diebold), a US based company, is a financial self-service, security and services company that is engaged in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction

A final hearing or trial.

Where the a fixed charge receiver is acting on behalf of the seller in selling a property, the receiver's underlying objective is to have a 'clean deal'—that is, following completion, both the receiver and the appointing mortgagee will know exactly what sum is payable to the mortgagee net of sale costs and expenses, and that there will be no claims following completion against: • the receiver (and the mortgagee if the mortgagee is transferring the property (see Practice Note: Overreaching by a mortgagee) or • the net sale proceeds payable to the mortgagee This objective is achieved by moving risk to the buyer and excluding personal liability of the receiver. Sales information pack and pre-contract enquiries It is important for the buyer to understand that as the receiver is not the owner of the property and the receiver’s appointment to the property may have been very recent; the receiver will have very limited information on the property. The receiver's position is particularly difficult in cases

The terms security and quasi-security are frequently used in relation to finance transactions. The term security in this Practice Note is used in the context of security interests (eg mortgages and charges) which are created as collateral for a finance transaction. Such security interests should not be confused with a 'security' or 'securities' in the context of the capital markets (both equity and debt). In capital markets transactions, the term 'securities' refers to documents that evidence a debt or an investment. securities in the context of capital markets are outside the scope of this Practice Note. For information on debt capital markets, see Practice Note: Key features of the debt capital markets. English law recognises four types of security (mortgages, charges, pledges and liens). A much broader range of arrangements could fall under the umbrella of quasi-security. This Practice Note focuses principally on arrangements which create contractual rights against a person, eg guarantees, comfort letters and set-off rights. Some lawyers also consider negative pledges to be a form of quasi-security. This Practice Note

Similarities between Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations The principle behind the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FIA 2000) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR 2004), SI 2004/3391 is the same—to grant rights of access to information held by public authorities. For further information, see Practice Notes: Environmental Information Regulations 2004—what is environmental information? and Introduction to freedom of information. More specific similarities include: • time limits—in both regimes, information must be provided by the public authorities within 20 working days if the information is held and if there are no applicable exemptions • duty to provide advice and assistance—both FIA 2000 and EIR 2004 stipulate how public authorities should handle requests. Public authorities must give a reasonable standard of advice and assistance to requestors and prospective requestors • appeals—the same appeal procedures apply For more information, see Practice Notes: • Environmental Information Regulations 2004—requesting information • Environmental Information Regulations 2004—clarifying requests • Compliance with a freedom of information request • Clarifying freedom of information requests Despite some similarities,

This Practice Note examines the key differences between Irish insurance law and UK insurance law and will cover: • the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 (Ireland) (CICA 2019 (IRL))—a brief overview • the difference between consumer and non-consumer contracts in Ireland • the difference between the Irish rules regarding fair presentation, the duty of disclosure and utmost good faith compared with the Insurance Act 2015 (IA 2015) and the Marine Insurance Act 1906 (MIA 1906) • Irish provisions relating to prompt payment of claims compared with the Enterprise Act 2016 (EA 2016) • the differences between CICA 2019 (IRL) and the UK Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 (CI(DR)A 2012) • the Civil Liability Act 1961 (Ireland) (CLA 1961 (IRL)) compared to the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (TP(RAI)A 2010) • arbitration clauses • role of the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) compared to the role of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential