Please note, this Q&A only covers the contractual position under English law. Suppliers often enhance their position by supplying goods on terms incorporating a reservation of title (ROT), which allows one party (the seller) to retain title to delivered goods until another party (the buyer) has paid for them in full or, where permitted to do so, sold them on to a third party. A clause providing for a retention of title arrangement (ROT clause) can sometimes be referred to as a 'Romalpa' clause, after the case Aluminium Industrie Vaassen v Romalpa Aluminium. For further information, see Practice Note: Retention of title—overview. In relation to the application of English and German law, when the English court determines that the applicable law is that of another jurisdiction, it will hear expert evidence as to how that law should

This Q&A considers how the English courts will assess a debtor’s centre of main interests (COMI) post-IP completion day as well as the meaning of COMI proceedings, a new concept created by the Insolvency (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (Brexit SI 2019/146), SI 2019/146. Definition of COMI under Retained Recast Regulation on Insolvency, Art 3 Article 3 of the Retained Recast Regulation on Insolvency defines COMI for corporates as: ‘The centre of main interests shall be the place where the debtor conducts the administration of its interests on a regular basis and which is ascertainable by third parties. In the case of a company or legal person, the place of the registered office shall be presumed to be the centre of its main interests in the absence of proof to the contrary. That presumption shall only apply if the registered office has not been moved from the UK to a Member State or to the UK from a Member State within

We refer you to Practice Note: Will drafting—applying the EU Succession Regulation, which outlines the practical application of the EU Succession Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012). You will see from this Practice

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is an EU regulation that will apply automatically in the UK on 25 May 2018 before the UK will have been able to leave the EU (ie prior to Brexit). UK organisations will therefore need to prepare for and start to comply with the GDPR notwithstanding Brexit. Scope of the GDPR In summary, Article 2(1) of the GDPR states that the GDPR applies to: • the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means, and • the processing other than by automated means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system ‘Personal data’ is defined in Article 4(1) of the GDPR as follows: ‘any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’)’; ‘an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier

The Investment Firms Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 (IFR) will not form part of UK law (and the Investment Firms Directive (EU) 2019/2034 (IFD) will not need to be implemented in the UK), unless the current implementation period under the Withdrawal Agreement is extended beyond June 2021. Such extension is very unlikely and will require a change in law. However, a UK regime, aligned to IFR and IFD, is likely to be introduced, as indicated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its 2019/20 Business Plan. The IFR and the IFD

Malaysia is a party to the New York convention and will recognise and enforce an award provided that the award is final and binding. In Malaysia, section 38 of the Arbitration Act 2005 (AA 2005) gives recognition to arbitration awards made in an arbitration, either where the seat of arbitration is in Malaysia or where the award is issued from a foreign state. Such awards will be recognised by the Malaysian courts as being binding

The government announced in the April 2015 budget that it would bring in, with effect from 6 April 2017, a Residential Nil Rate Band (RNRB) for the purposes of inheritance tax. The RNRB will progressively increase to 2021 and thereafter will increase by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The purpose of the RNRB is stated to be to enable parents to pass on to their children the family home and is therefore an additional allowance to the £325,000 nil rate band specific to that class of asset. In order for the RNRB to

An employee may apply to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to pay the statutory redundancy payment out of the state guarantee fund (the National Insurance Fund) if they are unable to obtain the payment from their employer because: • the employer refuses to pay, or • the employer is insolvent To obtain the payment,

The Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (Sarah bill) was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 June 2014. The Sarah bill is part of a number of initiatives, such as the HSE’s myth buster campaign and Red Tape Challenge, to try to get back to a more common sense health and safety approach. The affectionately nicknamed Sarah bill has been developed to try to redress the balance in health and safety culture and to stop employers and members of the public being held liable, despite having done the ‘right thing’ to protect others. The current legal position for someone who causes loss or injury to another person during the course of an activity is that they face being sued for damages (in the tort of negligence) or in certain situations for breach of a statutory duty (such as

The Basel Accords—Basel I, II and III The Basle (or Basel) Capital Convergence Agreement of July 1988, is the original text of the first Basel Capital Accord (Basel I), which set down an agreement among the G-10 central banks (including the UK and non-EU countries such as the United States of America and Japan) to apply common minimum capital standards to their banking industries originally to be achieved by end of 1992. It focused mainly on credit risk by creating a bank asset classification system and the appropriate risk weighting of assets. The second Basel Accord, the Revised Capital Framework (Basel II) served as an update of Basel I and focused on three main areas, minimum capital requirements, supervisory review of an institution’s capital adequacy and internal assessment process and an effective use of disclosure to strengthen market discipline and encourage sound banking practices (ie the three pillars). Following the Lehmans Brothers collapse of 2008 and the ensuing financial crisis, the Basel Committee

In order to answer this question it is necessary to understand the effect of the VAT Directive in UK law prior to Brexit, before going on to consider the position during and after the Brexit implementation period. The position prior to Brexit Member States of the EU (which, prior to Brexit, included the UK) are under an obligation to transpose EU Directives into national law. In the UK, this obligation was recognised in section 2(1) of the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972) which expressly required all UK authorities to give effect to the powers, obligations, liabilities, remedies and procedures which are provided for by EU law. For more information, see Practice Note: Obligation to transpose and process EU Directives. If an EU Member State fails to correctly transpose a provision of a Directive into national law, and if certain conditions are met, the Directive can have direct effect. There are different types of direct effect, but for Directives the relevant type is vertical

As of 1 October 2015 and the coming into force of sections 33 to 41 Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015) and the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1646, the regime in respect of section 21 notices (section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988)) and related requirements has changed in respect of English tenancies. However, for the duration of the transitional period of 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2018 under DA 2015, s 41, the requirements as to the form of notice and other requirements for serving a valid section 21 notice in respect of tenancies entered into before 1 October 2015 (or statutory periodic tenancies