More and more frequently the following question arises: “What do we do about personal, sensitive, and business information owned by or residing with a financially troubled company?” Information is an intangible asset and often has significant value. Information increasingly resides with a party other than the owner and may need to be transferred in unexpected ways. Unfortunately, the thinking about this question often arises after financial distress is readily apparent, such as after a bankruptcy filing.
In this exciting age of startups, the market is brimming with opportunities for individuals and entities alike to invest in emerging companies. Today’s rapid rate of technology development justifies investors’ eagerness to take an interest in innovative companies, hoping to find the next “unicorn.” Notwithstanding the fast pace of the tech industry, it remains important for investors to conduct due diligence before kicking funds into any business, especially when bargaining for a security interest or license.
Commercial Litigation
When can you be deprived of costs where you better your Part 36 offer?
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The amendments to the Insolvency Act 1986 will extend the protection of essential supplies on insolvency to most private utility suppliers. They will also extend protection to I.T. supplies, including data storage and processing and website hosting. Further protection is introduced where contracts are entered into from 1 October 2015, so that insolvency related terms which allow higher supply charges in the event of administration or company voluntary arrangement will be prohibited.
Why is the law changing?
The Insolvency (Protection of Essential Supplies) Order 2015 which comes in to force on 1 October 2015 significantly changes the options available for suppliers of IT services in relation to their rights against insolvent customers. Any IT supplier caught within the definition of the new legislation will need to beware that they can no longer insist on payment of outstanding invoices as a condition of continued supply to an insolvent business, nor rely on clauses applying automatic price rises upon insolvency of the customer.
Summary
English insolvency law is about to change, making it harder for IT suppliers to stop supplying when a customer goes into an insolvency procedure. The aim is to help administrators and others to secure the supply of IT products and services that might be needed to rescue failing businesses.
Dealing with subject access requests (“SAR”s) under the Data Protection Act 1998 is becoming a regular occurrence for many organisations, particularly banks and their advisors. Processing such requests can take up significant manpower and the costs can be substantial. Whilst designed to allow individuals to access personal data, determine its source, why it is held and who it is shared with, in reality SARs are frequently being used as a fishing exercise for prospective litigation and complaints against institutions such as banks. The recent case of
UK LEGAL HIGHLIGHTS 2014 AND BEYOND Welcome to our 2014 edition of UK Legal Highlights. This publication is a reminder of some of the most important and significant developments DLA Piper reported in 2014, along with some forthcoming developments to look out for in 2015 and beyond.
The UK Government has released a long awaited consultation document proposing new controls on IT suppliers’ dealings with customers facing insolvency.
To a degree this brings the termination provisions of the UK’s insolvency rescue regimes (administration and company voluntary arrangements) in line with some other jurisdictions, such as the US, which, broadly, do not allow supplier termination for customer insolvency.