Russian government rolls back intellectual property rights in response to Western sanctions March 9, 2022 The Russian government is pushing forwards with plans to undermine intellectual property rules and reverse the rights of Western patent holders, in an effort to counter the impacts of Western sanctions. The Russian government this week said Russian companies have no obligation to pay patent holders from countries that sanctioned Russia for use of their [...]
BDO follows Big Four auditors in distancing itself from Russia March 9, 2022 Belgian auditor BDO has become the latest big accountancy firm to distance itself from Russia and Belarus, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, the firm said it would cut all existing ties with sanctioned entities, including Russian and Belarusian state-owned companies and sanctioned individuals. The Belgian auditor noted that its Russian [...]
MPs slam government for ‘meagre ambition’ in plans to cut Crown Court backlog March 9, 2022 A group of MP’s tasked with overseeing government expenditure has said the government’s “meagre ambition” in its plans to cut the court backlogs will mean victims, defendants, and witnesses will continue to face “unacceptable delays” in waiting for trials. In a highly critical report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) slammed the government for its “meagre [...]
High Court says investors should have gotten their ‘own advice’ instead of relying on top QC’s opinion memo March 8, 2022 A High Court judge has said a leading barrister cannot be held responsible for any losses suffered by those invested in film financing schemes, with a view to gaining tax benefits, after reading the QC’s advice in memos used to advertise the investment schemes. Mr Justice Zacaroli said Andrew Thronhill QC cannot be held responsible [...]
Former Mishcon de Reya partner fined £17,500 for breaching anti-money laundering laws March 8, 2022 A former partner at London firm Mishcon de Reya has been ordered to pay £21,000 for his role in a money laundering scandal, which in January led to Mishcon being hit with a record £232,500 fine. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) fined former Mischon partner Michael Nouril £17,500 and told the M&A lawyer he must [...]
UK accountancy watchdog fines KPMG £1.25m over audit of bar chain Revolution March 8, 2022 Britain’s accountancy watchdog today fined KPMG £1.25m over its audit of bar chain company Revolution. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Big Four accountancy giant KPMG £1.25m and former-KPMG director Michael Neil Frankish £50,000, over failures in the audit of Revolution Bars Group’s accounts for the financial year 2015/16. The fines come after FRC [...]
Solicitors’ watchdog warns lawyers against using ‘abusive litigation tactics’ to silence valid criticism March 8, 2022 The solicitors’ watchdog has warned lawyers against working for clients seeking to use meritless lawsuits to silence criticism, in a crackdown on the use of Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPP). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said lawyers have a duty to report situations in which they suspect the “underlying intention” of putting a lawsuit [...]
Weekend Explainer: Why has Gordon Brown said Vladimir Putin should face a Nuremberg-style tribunal? March 5, 2022 Today, at an online event hosted by Chatham House, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown called on countries to set up a special tribunal, in line with the model used in the Nuremberg trials, to punish Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the Chatham House event alongside Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, [...]
German court tells ResearchGate to take down academic papers following copyright lawsuit March 4, 2022 A German court has said academic social media website ResearchGate must take down research papers that were uploaded onto its website by academics, after ruling in favour of two academic publishers, who claimed ResearchGate’s activities break copyright laws. The Munich court said ResearchGate, which has 20 million users worldwide, must take down research papers that [...]
Eversheds cuts links with Russia after denying it works for oligarchs March 4, 2022 London law firm Eversheds has said that it is not currently working for the Russian government, Russian oligarchs, or the the Russian Federation’s state-owned firms, after vowing to cut links with Russia. In a statement, Eversheds said it now intends to refuse any offers of work from “Russian entities,” as it confirmed that all of [...]
