Readers are reminded that on 1 October 2012, changes to the Money Laundering Regulations came into force that will affect many businesses, particularly those that engage in high-value transactions or that offer services involving the exchange of money. Broadly, the…
A man who was made bankrupt has failed in an attempt to persuade the court that, following his discharge from bankruptcy, he should be relieved of the duty to make payments due to his ex-wife. He had been ordered to…
The treasurer of a Christian charity has been jailed after he stole more than £500,000 from two charities. Accountant Steven Methuen was responsible for the finances of Amblecote Christian Centre in Stourbridge, West Midlands. A joint investigation by HM Revenue…
When considering a trade mark, it is the mark as a whole which needs to be looked at. The obviousness of this point was illustrated by a recent case in the General Court of the European Union. The Court had…
A High Court ruling has underlined the dangers inherent in purchasing property at auction without taking proper legal advice. A disabled woman is facing a financial catastrophe after she made a successful telephone bid for a substantial property, without commissioning…
There have been many cases over the years which deal with ‘family names’ in trade marks – ‘easyJet’ having brought some of the more memorable ones. Recently, US banking giant Citibank opposed a registration application by an unrelated business for…
When a Lancashire man misled the court about his finances in order to reduce the financial settlement he would have to make in favour of his ex-wife, he probably imagined that the result would be rather different from what actually…
In a case concerning redundancy dismissal (Mitchells of Lancaster (Brewers) Ltd. v Tattersall), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) dismissed the employer’s appeal against a finding of unfair dismissal, but disagreed with the finding of the Employment Tribunal (ET) that the…
The Supreme Court has ruled, by a majority of three judges to two, that 174 former employees of Birmingham City Council who left their jobs between 2004 and 2008 do have the right to pursue their equal pay claims in…
Six men who between them stole millions of pounds from a charity set up to assist asylum seekers were recently jailed for terms of up to four and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court. The six were found guilty…
