Tag: International Developments
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Fiduciary Duties and the Nature of an LLP
While the position of law in relation to the inter-se relationship between partners of a firm is fairly well-settled, there is no great clarity on similar issues arising in the context of LLPs. It is clear that the “double agency” rule of partnerships does not apply to LLPs: but, if LLPs are seen as a…
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CSX/TCI: Appellate Court on Disclosures and Takeover Law
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”;} Sometime ago, we had the opportunity to discuss a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York pertaining to the use of cash-settled total-return equity swaps by…
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Enforceability of “Side Letters”
Background It is customary for parties to enter into “side letters” in corporate and commercial transactions. Side letters are documents which are ancillary to the principal transaction documentation. There are a number of reasons why parties could potentially enter into side letters, rather than include their subject matter in the principal documentation. Side letters are…
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UK Bribery Act: Impact on Indian Companies
The UK Bribery Act 2010 is scheduled to become effective July 1, 2011 following the issuance of detailed guidance in March. This is expected to have a significant impact on Indian companies having a demonstrable business presence in the UK. In this behalf, an article in the VC Circle by Saionton Basu and Tom Clark…
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Rule 10b-5 and the “Maker” of a statement: Janus Capital v. First Derivative
Last week, in a 5-4 verdict, the US Supreme Court once again narrowly interpreted Rule 10b-5, this time holding that only the “maker” of a false statement could incur 10b-5 liability: “maker” in this context being defined as “person or entity with ultimate authority over the statement.” The case, Janus Capital Group Inc. v. First…
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Globalisation: Myth and Reality
A new study asserts that the importance and virtues of globalization, including cross-border trade and foreign investment, may have been overplayed. The Economist has a column discussing Pankaj Ghemawat’s book World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It. It points to some astonishing data and conclusions that emerge from the book: Mr Ghemawat points out…
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Poison Pill Lives on in Corporate America
(Mihir had earlier highlighted the importance of a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision in the Airgas case. We now have a post by Karan Singh Tyagi, who succinctly analyzes the impact of the decision under Delaware law and goes to the nub of the issue involving the role of the board of directors of a…
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Developments in Delaware: poison pill upheld
Readers may find this decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery, Air Products v. Airgas (judgment dated 15th February, 2011) interesting. The Court has discussed in detail the (Delaware) law on the legality of the ‘poison pill’. The Court summarised its ruling thus: “This case poses the following fundamental question: Can a board of directors, acting…
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Dealing With the Anti-IPO Sentiment
We usually come across reports of companies preparing or filing for IPOs in order to take advantage of listings on stock exchanges. On the other hand, companies also often display resistance for undertaking IPOs as they are accompanied by costs such as full-blown regulatory oversight and public scrutiny. This is so even when the companies…
