The leading political parties have now published their manifestos, and we have outlined below the key policy statements and pledges relating to pensions law. We will be publishing a more in depth analysis as our May 2017 briefing. Click here for more.

On Friday 31 March 2017, a draft bill on the registration of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) in the Netherlands was published for consultation purposes. The introduction of the UBO register is required pursuant to the Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Although this is not mandatory under the directive, the Netherlands has chosen to make the register publicly accessible. The UBO register will be part of the Trade Register and will therefore be maintained by the Chamber of Commerce.

The European Commission Directive (the Proposal) is part of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan and the Single Market Strategy that announced a legislative initiative on business insolvency, including early restructuring and second chance which aims at removing key barriers to the development of capital markets in the EU by providing legal certainty to crossborder investors and companies operating across the EU.

Moving the centre of main interests (hereafter, ‘COMI’) from one Member State to another may have a significant impact on both the extent and the contents of the directors’ duties and liabilities, as well as on the enforcement of these duties. This situation could result in uncertainty for the creditors and the directors alike. In my view, these difficulties could be resolved by a minimum degree of harmonisation regarding the directors’ duties. The issue that I want to focus on refers to what could be the starting point for the common rules.

During the last thirty years there has been something resembling a firestorm of international activity, taking place at both regional and global levels, that has brought about an enormous proliferation of texts of a legislative or quasilegislative type (including the so-called “soft law”) in the International Insolvency Law field.

2016 has been chosen by the EU Commission as the year to study, analyse and eventually determine if and how the harmonisation of European insolvency laws could eventually be achieved.

UPrime Minister,David Cameron, has announced a referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union, to be held on Thursday 23 June 2016. Indeed, in January 2013, David Cameron promised that, should the Conservatives win a parliamentary majority at the 2015 general election, the UK Government would renegotiate the terms of the UK’s EU membership, before holding a referendum.

The recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Komu & Others v Komu & Another serves as a reminder that it is essential to choose the correct jurisdiction in which to commence proceedings concerning the sale of a property in Europe, knowing that normally the jurisdiction is that of the country in which the property is situated.

As from today the reuse of financial instruments received under a financial collateral arrangement ("FCA") is subject to new rules. These rules stem from Regulation (EU) 2015/2365 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on transparency of securities financing transactions and of reuse (the "Regulation"). Below you will find a summary of these rules.

Essential Pensions News covers the latest pensions developments each month. Read more.