The current legislation in relation to data protection in England and Wales is the Data Protection Act 1998 which was derived from the European wide Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC). The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into force in May 2018. Whilst many of the provisions are already covered by the Data Protection Act, there are important new provisions of which businesses need to be aware.
Bermans recently held an exclusive “Ladies Evening” at Boodles, Lord Street in Liverpool.
The night was a great success, with guests admiring Boodles’ stunning collections whilst drinking champagne and mixing with other female professionals.
Dom Raban is the MD of Corporation Pop, a digital innovation agency. He has been creating ‘stuff’ for nearly 40 years, from punk fanzines in the 1970s to content for emerging technology platforms now. Currently Corporation Pop are working on several Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) projects, including an app for child patients that helps reduce the stress associated with hospitalisation by increasing familiarisation with staff, environments and procedures.
The Supreme Court has recently issued a decision in the case of Ilott v Mitson turning on the interpretation of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the Act ). In England and Wales a testator can choose to distribute their estate to anyone subject to the possibility of an excluded person bringing a claim under the Act.
The Court may decide to make financial provision for a dependent of the deceased be it a child, spouse, or former spouse if the Court concludes that the testator failed to make adequate financial provision for them. Such a claim is more likely to succeed if the Claimant is receiving state benefits.
Whilst it is too early to predict the likely effects of Brexit on legal issues in the asset finance industry, it is worth noting that much of the current legislation affecting consumer credit derives from EU Directives.
A difficult point of consumer credit law has for some years been the extent to which a one-off or occasional series of transactions may be subject to the need for licensing or authorisation. The issue arose in the recent High Court case of Newmafruit Farms Ltd v Pither [2016] EWHC 2205.
The FCA has now published its finalised guidance (FG17/1) concerning default notices and guarantors under regulated consumer credit and consumer hire agreements.
The FCA previously consulted on its draft guidance twice during 2016, resulting in revised draft guidance in October which took a more burdensome view of funders’ obligations. The Final Guidance is largely unchanged from the October revised draft.
We recently successfully represented a funder at a High Court trial which reaffirmed a number of interesting points for asset financiers involved in funding parts of the motor trade.
The funder had arranged for one of its motor dealer clients to look after vehicles which had been provided by the dealer with finance from the funder but had subsequently been repossessed. There was a verbal agreement for payment of a commission for sales which the dealer achieved in respect of these vehicles.
The FCA has published revised consumer credit information sheets to accompany arrears and default notices, which must be used by funders from 14 April 2017. Until then, the current versions (which have been in force since 2014) must be used after the initial draft of the new versions intended to come into effect this January were found to be defective and had to be withdrawn.
We will shortly be publishing the fourth edition of our popular Guide to Asset Finance Law , which brings the previous third edition published in 2012 right up-to-date with relevant legislative and case law developments, setting out differences between English and Scots law.
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