Funders with experience in the education sector have for some time been aware of arguments that as a matter of law finance leases with local authority schools may not be enforceable on the grounds that they are ultra vires, and to compound this many schools have threatened legal action claiming repayment of sums paid under such leases. Many tens of millions of pounds are involved and the issue has led to many funders retreating from this type of business altogether.
Workplace dress codes have been hitting the headlines recently as a result of the challenging (and potentially discriminatory) demands some employers have placed on their female staff.
In late 2015 the press reported that Nicola Thorp had been sent home from her agency role as a Receptionist at PwC’s offices in London as a result of her refusal to wear high heels in the workplace. She was informed that the smart, flat shoes she was wearing were not acceptable under the dress code policy as it required heels of a specific height to be worn. The agency had a particularly detailed dress code policy which specified, amongst other things, that female staff must:
The existence of Prenuptial Agreements (pre nup) has been given a further boost by a recent Family Court decision at the end of 2016. Whilst pre nups are not legally binding, the Family Courts in England are increasingly willing to uphold pre nups as long as they were entered into freely with full understanding of their implications by both parties. Comprehensive financial disclosure is of paramount importance together with careful drafting and detailed legal advice to be provided to both parties.
Recent changes in legislation, as part of Government policy to encourage first time buyers and owner – occupier purchases, have focused on the position of buy to let landlords.
As from April 2017 the reduction of tax relief on finance costs to the basic rate of tax will begin to be phased in and this will be fully in place from April 2020. In November guidance was given on the increases in Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) which were first announced a year earlier .The position is as follows:
You are about to sue a customer for unpaid invoices, or a supplier for faulty goods or services – or maybe they are suing you. The case will be disputed.
You are confident you will win but you need to know if you can recover your legal costs.
Of course, you also need to know the position on costs should you lose the case.
The Insolvency (England & Wales) Rules 2016 will come into effect on 6 April 2017. One of the aims of the 2016 Rules is to modernise and simplify the 1986 Rules and to encourage the use of modern technology, particularly with regard to communications with creditors by email and via the use of websites and with regard to the holding of meetings.
New studies have found that Grandparents could increase the financial benefits and legally reduce the effects of Inheritance Tax of their inheritances by thousands when gifting monies before their death.
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (“BIS”) announced its intention to bring forward legislation outlawing bans on assignment in commercial contracts as long ago as December 2014.
On 12 September 2016 the Law Commission published its final report containing proposals to modernise the archaic Bills of Sale regime. The driver for reform was the increased use of logbook loans in the consumer vehicle finance market, but the registration of whole turnover invoice finance agreements with sole traders and partnerships as Bills of Sale also fell to be considered.
There remains a degree of confusion as to the extent to which invoice financiers are affected by the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 as now amended by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. This is not helped by the fact that some of the statutory provisions are amongst the most opaque anywhere on the statute book, which is largely as a result of the piecemeal way in which the various European directives have been incorporated into UK law over the last 30 years.
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