Mondaq Business Briefing articles from April 2004

Mondaq Business Briefing archives from April 2004

Courts Curtail ADA Retaliation Claims.(Americans with Disabilities Act)
April 1, 2004... Two January 2004 decisions, one by the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado and one by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, significantly cut back the rights and remedies ADA retaliation claim plaintiffs...

Government Panelists Address Fraud and Abuse and LTCHs at ABA Conference.(long-term acute care hospital)(American Bar Association)
April 1, 2004... [Under the DOJ's] theory of implied certificationa health care providers who participate in federal health care programs must comply with every law that has a nexus to billing federal health care programs, andaa violation of any such law could...

Risks and Responsibilities Under HIPAA After an Impermissible Disclosure Occurs.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
April 1, 2004... [T]o the extent practical, [covered entities] must do what they can to lessen the harmful effects of any security incident that is known to them and that is in violation of either their policies and procedures or the regulatory requirements of...

Head Above Water.(Employee benefits)
April 1, 2004... By David Vincent and Scott Bomhof Published in Benefits Canada, March 2004. During the 1990s, pension surplus was perhaps the most contentious issue facing many Canadian pension plan administrators. The issues of whether surplus could...

Court May Not Re-Draft Claims to Ensure Operability of Invention as Claimed.
April 1, 2004... By Andrew D. Mickelsen and Evan A. Parke The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held that courts need not depart from "ordinary meaning" of an otherwise unambiguous claim term merely to render a claim operable or to sustain...

s.112, [paragraph]6 Claim Element Limited by Disclosed Embodiment.
April 1, 2004... By Firasat M. Ali and Arturo E. Sandoval The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, affirming the grant of summary judgment of non-infringement, held that structure corresponding to an independent means-plus-function claim must be...

Jurors Must be Informed of Claim Construction Rulings For All Disputed Claim Terms.
April 1, 2004... Clarifying an earlier decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held that trial courts have a duty to inform jurors of the court's claim construction rulings on all disputed claim terms and of the jury's obligation to...

Proposed Accommodation For Non-US Companies Transitioning to International Financial Reporting.
April 1, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has proposed certain amendments to Form 20-F to facilitate non-US companies in their transition to reporting their financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting...

Of Fallen Angels, Spin-Offs, and Tax Attributes.
April 1, 2004... A corporation with fundamentally sound businesses nevertheless may find itself facing the disapproval of its capital markets because of problems with one or more of its businesses. Whether the disapproval reaches the point of a debt downgrade,...

Pinsents Closes 10 Major Projects In Three Days.
April 1, 2004... 31 March 2004 - Major Projects lawyers at Pinsents closed 10 multi-million pound PFI and related projects in three days this week as schemes sought to hit financial year-end deadlines. Pinsents teams closed housing, health, schools, street...

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Advises on US $24.5 Million Debt Refinancing for Interest in Argentine Mine.(Company Profile)
April 1, 2004... Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw has advised Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) on its US $24.5 million loan to Northern Orion Resources Inc. The loan is to refinance debt previously incurred by Northern Orion Resources Inc. in connection with...

New Head of Freehills' Perth Office.
April 1, 2004... Peter Mansell, the Head of Freehills' Perth office, has decided to retire from the Freehills partnership to concentrate on non-executive directorships. At various times since 1990, Mr Mansell has been on the firm's National Board and has...

Memorandum On The Communique Of The Ministry Of Finance Regarding The Letters Of Guarantee.
April 1, 2004... January / 2003 (Has been reviewed in February 2004 after the Accounting General Directorate General Communique Serial No. 15 published in the 1st Repeated Official Gazette dated 20.02.2004) INDEX I. SUBJECT II. GENERAL...

Has Argentina's Recovery Run Out Of Gas?
April 1, 2004... By Carlos A. de Kemmeter and Juan Carlos Sanguinetti This edition of Argentine Business Law Watch1 reports on recent government rules responding to the Argentine energy crisis. As winter approaches and natural gas consumption increases, the...

Questions Remain After Panel Decision.(television copyright infringement)
April 1, 2004... Although the decision in The Panel case might be good news for Australian satirists, it fails to fulfil its promise of giving guidance on how much of each other's footage broadcasters can use without infringing copyright in the broadcast. ...

Daily Tax Update: Certain S Corporation, Tax-Exempt Entity Transactions Designated As "Listed Transactions".
April 2, 2004... WASHINGTON PHOENIX LOS ANGELES LONDON BRUSSELS Today, for the first time, the IRS has used its authority under the tax shelter regulations to designate a tax-exempt party as a "participant" in a tax avoidance transaction. Notice 2004-30...

Malta Extends Time Limit To Pay 5% Vat On Yachts Until April 15, 2004.
April 2, 2004... Early this year the Maltese Government introduced a system whereby yacht owners could register their yachts in Malta and pay 5% VAT on the market value of the yacht. Such yachts would be considered to be VAT-paid for EU purposes as soon as...

Commercial Litigation NetLetter- 01 April 2004.
April 2, 2004... HIGHLIGHTS A "springing" power of attorney that only takes effect upon the mental infirmity of the donor is an enduring power of attorney for the purposes of s. 8(1) of the British Columbia Power of Attorney Act. Parnall (Attorney of) v....

Rx for the Prescription Drug Battle.
April 2, 2004... By M.K. Gaedeke Roland This article first appeared in Buffalo Business First. For the uninsured and elderly in the United States, Canada might provide a solution to obtaining more affordable prescription medications. On December 8,...

Pre-Filing Infringement Analysis is "Key Factor" to Avoiding Rule 11 Sanctions.(Q-Pharma, Inc. v. The Andrew Jergens Company, Case No. 03-1184 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 8, 2004))
April 2, 2004... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirmed that the Rule 11 requirements of reasonable pre-filing investigation may be satisfied by an "infringement analysis" performed prior to filing a patent infringement suit. Q-Pharma, Inc....

Patent Term Extension Under H-W Act Covers Alternative Forms Of Approved Product.(Hatch-Waxman Act)(Pfizer Inc. v. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ltd., Case Nos. 03-1227, -1258 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 27, 2004))
April 2, 2004... Construing portions of the Hatch-Waxman Act (H-W), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the patent term restoration provision encompasses alternative salt and ester forms of an approved drug product, but clarifying that...

Overview of Current Anti-Spam Regulations.
April 2, 2004... The proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail, more commonly known as "spam," has prompted legislatures to consider, and in many cases enact, legislation banning or at least regulating spam. As a recent and extreme example of this, in...

International Client Alert - March 2004.
April 2, 2004... U.S. COURT OF APPEALS HOLDS THAT BRIBES TO REDUCE FOREIGN TAX AND CUSTOMS OBLIGATIONS ARE PROHIBITED BY THE FCPA The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that illicit payments made by a U.S. company to foreign customs...

First Global Offshore Law Group With Major Presence in Bermuda and Cayman Islands Begins Operations.(Appleby Spurling Hunter)
April 2, 2004... April 1, 2004 - The global offshore law Group, Appleby Spurling Hunter, began operations today as the first law organization with a major presence in both Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The Group reflects the combination of Appleby Spurling &...

Experimental Use Under the Microscope.
April 2, 2004... Article by Wayne Condon and Nicholas Tyacke Should there be an express exemption in the Patents Act so that the experimental use of patented inventions is not an infringement of the patent? A recently released Issues Paper looks at...

Daily Tax Update: House Recesses, While Senate Faces Abbreviated Schedule Next Week.
April 5, 2004... WASHINGTON PHOENIX LOS ANGELES LONDON BRUSSELS THE DAILY TAX UPDATE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON A PERIODIC BASIS UNTIL CONGRESS RETURNS FROM ITS SPRING RECESS ON APRIL 19. Today, before adjourning for its two-week spring recess, the House...

IRS Developments on Treaty Filings and ITINs.(Internal Revenue Service)(individual taxpayer identification numbers)
April 5, 2004... This article first published by the Canadian Tax Foundation in volume 12, number 2 Canadian Tax Highlights. IRS Tightens Process for Obtaining ITINs. The IRS recently announced in Notice 2004-1 that it has tightened the eligibility...

Licensee in Good Standing Barred From Bringing Declaratory Judgment Action.
April 5, 2004... In a case involving a declaratory judgment suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a district court's ruling that the claims at issue were not infringed and invalid on the grounds that the lower court lacked subject...

Only Ambiguous Claims May be Construed "to Preserve Validity".
April 5, 2004... In an opinion that may come as a surprise to those familiar with the old axiom that "claims should be construed when possible to preserve their validity," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held the axiom applies only to...

Gas-Fired Power Generation in China: Opportunity or Road Block?
April 5, 2004... By Peter Roberts and Russell Wilkinson China is a vast potential market for natural gas. The second largest primary energy market in the world after the U.S., its energy demands are growing apace with its accelerating GDP. At around 3...

Rebuilding Iraq.
April 5, 2004... Legal Challenges Facing Foreign Investments In The Reconstruction Of Iraq[c] I. INTRODUCTION The goal of this presentation is to identify and discuss some of the important issues and considerations with respect to funding the massive...

In Defense of Deferred Compensation - The Last Win-Win in Corporate America.
April 5, 2004... A July 2003 issue of The Economist magazine contained an article that referred to the deferring of one's pay as being part of a "lavish pension scheme confined to top executives." The implication of these carefully chosen words has two...

Publication of Patent Applications.
April 5, 2004... A patent applicant must provide a complete description in their patent specification of how his or her invention is put into practice. During the patent application process, the patent specification is made available to the public by being...

Statutory Notices: The Impact of the Reforms to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
April 5, 2004... Originally published March 2004 Commencing on 1st June 2004, statutory notices served by parties under a lease must comply with the reforms to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 which have been introduced by the Regulatory Reform (Business...

Streamlining Federal Security Programs: How Customs Bundles Them Together.
April 6, 2004... Originally published March, 2004 Reprinted with permission from Marine Digest and Transportation News (This is the fourth of a four-part Legal Lookout series addressing federal security regulations and programs) Now that you've...

The 24-Hour Rule: the Early "Heads Up" to Customs About Inbound Freight and Its Impact.
April 6, 2004... Originally published March, 2004 Reprinted with permission from Marine Digest and Transportation News (This is the third of a four-part Legal Lookout series addressing federal security regulations and programs) As if international...

The Container Security Initiative: Pushing out the Front Lines in the War on Terrorism.
April 6, 2004... Originally published February, 2004 Reprinted with permission from Marine Digest and Transportation News The war on terrorism is just that: a war in every sense but the most traditional. Foreign invaders are trying to besiege and...

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism: Government and Industry Join Forces Against Common Foes.
April 6, 2004... Originally published January, 2004 Reprinted with permission from Marine Digest and Transportation News The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, known as "C-T PAT," isn't the first time Uncle Sam has buddied up with the...

Pope Declares That Artificial Feeding/Hydration Are "Morally Obligatory".
April 6, 2004... According to USA Today, Pope John Paul II recently declared that a feeding tube constitutes "basic care" for an individual in a persistent vegetative state, and that removal of the tube is "euthanasia by admission." The declaration has taken...

Seventh Circuit Considers HIPAA In Quashing Subpoena For Medical Records.(Northwestern Memorial Hospital v. Ashcroft)
April 6, 2004... On March 26, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in Northwestern Memorial Hospital v. Ashcroft that a subpoena seeking abortion records was properly quashed (i.e., nullified). In the underlying case, plaintiffs have...

CMS Issues Correction To Stark II Regs.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Correction Notice)
April 6, 2004... Corrections to the recently published Stark II regulations are scheduled to appear in today's Federal Register (April 6, 2004). The corrections restore language that was inadvertently omitted from the preamble when it was published on March 26,...

Executive Compensation - Where Economic Policy and Politics Collide.
April 6, 2004... America's business executives have been transformed into the country's political pinata. The media and an entire gaggle of Washington D.C. politicos would have us believe that it is these executives who are at the core of the nation's economic...

Insights and Frequently Overlooked Items Arising From Purchase Price Allocations in an Asset Purchase.
April 6, 2004... Many more acquisitions of businesses occur in the form of asset purchases, as opposed to stock purchases. This structure presents many opportunities and pitfalls when it comes time to allocate the purchase price for the assets over the various...

Important Modifications to Rules Governing Cancellation of Debt in a Consolidated Group Background.
April 6, 2004... Until recently, it was unclear whether a member of a consolidated group that realized cancellation of indebtedness ("COD") income that is excluded from gross income (either because the member is in a Title 11 proceeding ("the bankruptcy...

New Dawn for Australia's Registered Designs Laws.
April 6, 2004... By Wayne Condon and Richard Hoad A new day is finally about to dawn for Australia's registered design laws. After a lengthy period of gestation, the Australian parliament has finally passed new legislation regarding the registration of...

Spawn Comic Book Characters Creator Secures Co-Author Status Under Copyright Act.
April 6, 2004... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a jury determination, holding that the statute of limitations under 17 U.S.C. s.507(b) did not begin to run until Todd McFarlane, the publisher and compiler of the Spawn comic book,...

Trade Secret Must be Valuable to Theft Victim and Others.
April 6, 2004... Characterizing the matter as a case of first impression, the California Court of Appeal (California's intermediate appeals court) has held that to qualify as a trade secret under the California Penal Code, information must be unknown both to...

Department of Homeland Security Issues Interim Safety Act Regulations and Releases Application.
April 6, 2004... By Franceska O. Schroeder and William Espinosa On October 10th, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") issued interim regulations implementing the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (the "SAFETY...

Streamlining Enrollment Requirements In The Medicare Program.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 6, 2004... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") published a 65-page instruction transmittal (Change Request 3159, Transmittal 69) on March 26, 2004, which instructs fiscal intermediaries and carriers on requirements for reviewing the...

Recent Court Decisions Emphasize The Importance of Putting All Employment Policies in Writing And Properly Training Employees on Their Application.
April 6, 2004... Employers frequently adopt exhaustive written personnel policies that govern relationships with current employees because they know that a written policy can be an effective tool for defending against lawsuits alleging discriminatory or other...

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
April 6, 2004... Originally published March 2004 Time is running out - Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ("the Act") comes into effect on 1st October 2004. If you are a landlord, tenant or purchaser of commercial property you may need to...

Budget Briefing.
April 6, 2004... Originally published March 2004 Budgets aren't what they used to be: we now have pre-budget reports, draft legislation released in advance of the Budget, consultation processes and instant access via the internet to press releases as soon as...

Charities Bill - Round-up of Recent Developments.
April 6, 2004... Originally published April 2004 There is still no date for publication of the eagerly awaited Charities Bill. Recent Developments The following is a round up of recent developments of interest to the charity/not-for-profit sector....

Executing Warrants Under Section 135.
April 6, 2004... Originally published March 2004 On occasion it may be necessary to obtain a Warrant to enable patients to be taken from their home to hospital. Section 135 of the Mental Health Act provides for a magistrate to issue a warrant authorising...

Supreme Court Of Canada Rules On Criminal Interest Rates.
April 6, 2004... In our January 2003 Corporate Finance Bulletin ("January 2003 Bulletin"), based on the Ontario Court of Appeal ("OCA") decision in Transport North America Express Inc. v. New Solutions Financial Corp. ("Transport 1"), we reported that Ontario...

Westray Bill Impacts Canadian Workplaces.(Criminal Code of Canada)
April 6, 2004... In our January Employee and Labour Relations bulletin, we reported important amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada that will significantly impact all Canadian workplaces. Bill C-45, also known as the Westray Bill in honour of the deadly...

Important Modifications to Rules Governing Cancellation of Debt in a Consolidated Group Background.
April 6, 2004... Until recently, it was unclear whether a member of a consolidated group that realized cancellation of indebtedness ("COD") income that is excluded from gross income (either because the member is in a Title 11 proceeding ("the bankruptcy...

Revenue Ruling 98-27 and New Spin-off Control Provision in IRS Restructuring Bill.
April 7, 2004... Originally published May 27, 1998 I. Revenue Ruling 98-27 Renders Rev. Rul. 96-30 and 75-406 Obsolete On May 14, 1998, the Internal Revenue Service ("Service") issued Revenue Ruling 98-27, which renders obsolete Rev. Rul. 96-30, 1996-1...

FFIEC Issues Retail Payment Systems Risk Management Guidance.(Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council )
April 7, 2004... The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (the "FFIEC") issued a Retail Payment Systems Booklet (the "Booklet") to provide risk management guidance to financial institutions ("FIs") concerning their retail payment activities (e.g....

Daily Tax Update: IRS, Justice Department Increase Efforts to Catch Tax Cheats.(United States. Internal Revenue Service)
April 7, 2004... WASHINGTON PHOENIX LOS ANGELES LONDON BRUSSELS THE DAILY TAX UPDATE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON A PERIODIC BASIS UNTIL CONGRESS RETURNS FROM ITS SPRING RECESS ON APRIL 19. Today, the Department of Justice and the IRS announced they are...

TTAB Disagrees With Supreme Court on Dilution Standard.(Trademark Trial and Appeal Board)
April 7, 2004... Article originally written in February 2004 The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") has recently ruled that the Supreme Court's holding in Mosely v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. does not apply to oppositions and cancellations before the...

Festo Bars Preliminary Injunction.(Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.,patents, cases)
April 7, 2004... Article originally written on February 10, 2004 Cancellation of claims has taken on greater significance in view of the recent decision in Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited v. Apotex, Inc., Federal Circuit...

CMS Issues Long-Awaited Phase II Stark Regulations.(U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 7, 2004... By Timothy P. Blanchard, Michael L. Blau, Ira Coleman, Eric B. Gordon M.D., Daniel H. Melvin, Joan Polacheck, Max Reynolds and Andrew B. Roth On March 26, 2004, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Phase II of...

Paragraph IV Patent Challenges: Significant Changes to Hatch-Waxman.
April 7, 2004... Article originally written on February 10, 2004 On December 8, 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 "the Medicare Reform Act" became law. The Act includes a section entitled "Access to Affordable...

IRS Developments Impact The FICA Tax Treatment of Medical Residents.(Federal Insurance Contributions Act)
April 7, 2004... Two important IRS developments face hospitals regarding the U.S. Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax treatment of stipends paid to medical residents. First, proposed regulations were released that dramatically expand the scope of...

California Decision Clarifies Franchise Termination Damages.(JRS Products case against Matsushita Electric Corp. of America)
April 7, 2004... What damages are available to a franchisee under the California Franchise Relations Act (CFRA) for a wrongful termination or nonrenewal? In JRS Products, Inc. v. Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, 115 Cal. App. 4th 168, 8 Cal. Rptr 3d 840...

Swire Properties Ltd. And Others v. The Secretary For Justice on Behalf of The Government of The HKSAR.
April 7, 2004... The Court of Final Appeal on July 2003 delivered a judgment in respect of an appeal against an arbitration award. Apart from being financially significant, given that billions of dollars were at stake, the Court of Final Appeal considered this...

Memorandum On Electronic Signature Law.
April 7, 2004... LIST OF INDEX I. SUBJECT II. LAW PROVISIONS 1. Purpose and Scope of the Law 2."Electronic Signature" Concept 2.1. Legal Definition 2.2. "Secure Electronic Signature" 3. Activities of Electronic Certificate...

Subdivision Control.
April 7, 2004... Subdivision control is one of the most important restrictions on land use in Canada. All of the Canadian provinces have enacted subdivision control legislation in one form or another. Governmental Control Subdivision control means the...

Pinsents Advises Countrywide On Complex Demerger.(Countrywide Assured)
April 7, 2004... FTSE mid-250 company, Countrywide Assured Group plc, is being advised by a large legal team from Pinsents on the proposed demerger of its life assurance business which will create two new listed companies. The transaction also involves a return...

Pinsents Advises ISS On Significant Facilities Management Acquisition.(ISS Group acquires Coflex)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2004... The UK arm of international facilities services company, ISS Group, has been advised by lawyers from Pinsents on its first acquisition of a facilities management company in the UK. The acquisition of Coflex by ISS UK Limited immediately...

Patrick V Capital Finance Corporation (Australasia) Pty Ltd [2004] FCA 120 (26 February 2004).
April 7, 2004... Catchwords: Trade Practices Act misleading and deceptive conduct - representative proceedings - prospectus issued for stage production 'Crazy For You' - allegation that representations as to use of investors' funds were misleading. Dr...

Thomas V Southcorp Australia Pty Ltd & ANOR [2004] VSC 34 (16 February 2004).
April 7, 2004... Catchwords: Compensation - defective goods causing loss - Trades Practices Act 1974 (Act), sections 75AC, 75AF and 75AG. The case concerned a heater purchased by Mr and Mrs Thomas, which was allegedly defective and caused a fire which...

Internet Music Sharing: A Green Light in Canada.
April 7, 2004... On March 31, 2004, in a remarkable decision, the Federal Court of Canada established a substantial roadblock to the efforts of the Canadian recording industry to curtail the unauthorized sharing of audio recordings across the Internet 1 .Mr....

Memorandum Regarding Mergers of Joint Stock Companies.
April 7, 2004... TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUBJECT II. PROVISIONS OF TURKISH COMMERCIAL CODE 1. Merger By Way of Acquisition 1.1. Call to Creditors 1.2. Separate Management of Assets 1.3. Joint and Several Liabilities 1.4. Court with...

Stock Option Fundamentals.(Reprint)
April 8, 2004... Originally published September 7, 2002 Although the decline in the stock market boom has made stock options less profitable for executives than they were in the past decade, they nonetheless remain a widely used and significant form of...

Taxation Of Financial Institutions And Products.(Reprint)
April 8, 2004... Originally published November 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Course Schedule II. Assignments and Course Reading List III. Substantive Outlines A. Taxation of Commercial Banks and Thrift Institutions B. Taxation of...

Haixin Jiang v Koninklijke Philips Electronics N. V. - Shanghai Court Hears Appeal From WIPO Decision.
April 8, 2004... Background The case concerns a dispute of the domain name "philipscis.com". The plaintiff is an individual, Haixin Jiang ("Jiang"), from Shanghai, PRC and the defendant is Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. ("Philips"), the Dutch...

Get it Right the First Time.(outsourcing)
April 8, 2004... Outsourcing-once an obscure idea considered to be the domain of information technology professionals-has now arrived as a mainstream business strategy that is on the agenda of all senior management. Industry analysts continue to predict...

A Primer on Health Savings Accounts And Recent IRS Guidance.
April 8, 2004... The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 established a new type of tax-favored individual account health plan, known as a health savings account (HSA), effective for tax years beginning on or after December 31,...

Massachusetts Appeals Court Decision Casts Doubt on The Tax-Exempt Status of Hospital Affiliated Medical Practices.(Sturdy Memorial Foundation, Inc.)(tax exemptions related to hospital-affiliated medical practices)
April 8, 2004... In a troubling decision, on March 4, 2004 the Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld the Appellate Tax BoardEs (ATB) denial of a charitable foundationEs application for a property tax abatement on land owned by the foundation and leased to an...

Pinsents Advises Omega on Flotation.(Omega International PLC)(Brief Article)
April 8, 2004... Omega International PLC, a leading UK manufacturer of branded kitchen furniture, is being advised by leading law firm, Pinsents, on its admission to trading on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange plc. At the...

Court of Appeal Empowers Trade Unions on Receiverships and Bankruptcies.
April 8, 2004... On Friday, April 2, 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal released a decision that may have a significant effect on how receivers and trustees in bankruptcy realize on the assets of a business where a trade union holds bargaining rights for...

ICSA Guidance on Board Committees.
April 8, 2004... The Combined Code on Corporate Governance (the "Combined Code") stipulates that certain matters should be delegated to board committees, principally nomination, remuneration and audit committees. The Combined Code has recently been revised...