Barristers warned not to store confidential information in the cloud as US authorities can access it, putting UK legal privilege at risk February 26, 2016 Barristers are being urged to think twice about where they store their data, as the Bar Council has warned that information in cloud storage could be accessed without their permission. In a note to Bar Council members last night, the Bar Council IT panel advised that certain pieces of US legislation had the potential to allow [...]
City Living: Kenmont Gardens in Kensal Rise is the most impressive church conversion you’ve ever seen February 25, 2016 A lot can change in ten years. Chamberlayne Road, the jugular vein of Kensal Rise that pumps all life between Ladbroke Grove and Willesden Green, was once the drive-by-shooting capital of London. Now, it’s packed with pubs, music venues, boutiques and restaurants and the surrounding streets are populated by a host of celebrity admirers and [...]
Centralbankism encounters strong resistance. Why in the light of lacklustre results the faith in central banks is fading away February 25, 2016 The great monetary experiment, as Brendan Brown calls the Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) programme, is under only minimal intellectual pressure in the US, despite modest results. The upswing in the US economy seems robust, in stark contrast with the poor performance of its European disciple the ECB. The Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) as its first [...]
High Court dismisses application from Mishcon de Reya over KPMG’s handling of Barclays’s mis-selling of interest rate swaps compensation scheme February 25, 2016 Britain's biggest banks narrowly avoided a major legal challenge today, when a High Court judge dismissed a case relating to the mis-selling of rate swap products. The case could have had far-reaching implications for a multi-billion pound scheme to compensate victims of mis-sold interest rate swaps. But the High Court today dismissed an application from Mishcon de Reya to look [...]
Why firms need to plan ahead to limit damage by association, as the BBC may have found out with Jeremy Clarkson February 25, 2016 The career-ending and potentially life-threatening injuries suffered by celebrities taking part in The Jump recently has raised some questions around whether the continuation of the TV series is in good taste. If the broadcaster were forced to cut short the production, lucrative advertising and sponsorship deals could be left exposed, not to mention committed production costs. [...]
Coca-Cola loses Community trademark case, as European court decides the bottle design does not have distinctive character February 25, 2016 The Coca-Cola Company has today lost a legal battle to trademark for its bottle design. The General Court of the European Union rejected the soft drink brand's request to register a contour bottle without fluting as a Community trademark because the design does not have any characteristics to make it stand out from other products in [...]
West End residential sales jump despite stamp duty fears, says CBRE February 22, 2016 CBRE said it has seen no let-up in demand for homes in London’s West End despite concerns over stamp duty reforms and that overseas demand may be slowing. A third of homes (33 per cent) sold by CBRE in the fourth quarter reached prices of more than £2,250 per square feet, which was 23 per [...]
EU referendum: Could a Brexit vote lead to a second Scottish independence referendum? February 20, 2016 If the polls are to be trusted, Scotland overwhelmingly wants to stay in the European Union while England is growing increasingly uncertain about what it wants to do. Why does that matter? Because if England takes Scotland out of the EU against its wishes, the move would spark calls for a Scottish independence referendum 2.0, [...]
As London Fashion Week AW16 nears, designers must pay attention to the increasing problem of copycat rip-offs February 18, 2016 As London Fashion Week gets underway, it's another reminder that designers must be vigilant to ensure their coveted designs aren’t copied by high-street retailers. Today’s copyists are quicker and better than ever before. The minute a model sets foot on the catwalk, a copycat design is already being sketched and, within a matter of weeks, or sometimes days, the [...]
Ukraine vows to “vigorously” defend itself after Russia takes it to London court over unpaid €3bn bond February 18, 2016 Ukraine has vowed to vigorously defend its interests as it gears up for a London legal battle with Russia over unpaid debt. Ukraine failed to repay a €3bn (£2.3bn) loan in December. The country argues it cannot repay the loan as it would favour Russia over other investors – Russia did not take part in a [...]