In Re North East Property Buyers Litigation [2010] the English High Court was asked to determine preliminary issues in nine test cases. In these cases the mortgagees were seeking possession of properties following default by borrowers. The defaulting borrowers had acquired their properties as part of sale and leaseback arrangements. The seller occupiers had never vacated the properties and were disputing the mortgagees' rights to repossess on the basis that their actual occupation of the properties was an overriding interest that had priority over any rights of the mortgagees to repossess.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has powers to make third parties liable to provide support or funding to an occupational pension scheme in certain circumstances. Briggs J had to consider how a financial support direction (FSD) should be treated if issued against a company in administration. He considered the law to be in a mess and not fit for purpose but felt obliged due to binding case law to hold that.

Government should address current insolvency laws to stop pension schemes becoming “super-creditors” following the Nortel and Lehman Brothers ruling, the Confederation of British Industry says.

On Friday 10 December Mr Justice Briggs ("Briggs J") handed down judgment in the two applications for directions made by the two sets of administrators appointed by the UK court in the Nortel and Lehman insolvencies. Hogan Lovells act for the Pension Protection Fund and the Trustees of the Nortel Networks UK Pension scheme in this case.

Standard & Poor's issued an update (the "Update") last week indicating that it could issue a de-linked, asset-based credit rating for securities issued in a securitization sponsored by an insured depository institution ("Bank") that qualifies as a sale under GAAP, even if the transaction fails to comply with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's new securitization safe harbor rule (the "Rule").

Royal Bank of Scotland was once a proud and prudent Scottish institution. It turned into a financial fool, apparently throwing money at almost anyone who came through its doors offering a dire private-equity deal or a third- rate property scheme.

On the 20 October 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, set out the Government's four year public spending plans in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2010 ("CSR 2010"). The CSR 2010 will significantly impact upon the previously understood mechanism of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme ("CRC"), with the key change that recycling payments will now be kept by the Treasury to support public finances instead of being recycled to participating organisations. Is this a stealth tax on businesses and is it fair? This article looks at the potential impact of the CSR 2010 on the CRC.

The Government provides generous tax relief to encourage individuals to take responsibility for retirement planning and to recognise that pensions are less flexible than other forms of saving. Saving through a pension scheme represents an attractive tax planning route for many high earners in the UK. Taxpayers are able to claim higher rate tax relief on all pension contributions to a registered pension scheme up to the annual limit for relief (i.e. £245,000 for the 2009/2010 tax year) provided that the total lifetime contributions do not exceed the pensions lifetime allowance (i.e.

Executive compensation arrangements and corporate governance have come under very close public scrutiny around the world in the wake of the global financial crisis. In the US, this has culminated in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank"), which was signed into law by President Obama on 21 July 2010. Dodd-Frank is primarily focussed on the regulation of banks and the financial services industry, but some of its provisions apply more generally to US listed companies.