Anti competitive agreements: small businesses can be caught too A recent competition law case saw a group of Dutch telecoms companies fined heavily by the European Court of Justice for anti-competitive behaviour, following nothing more than a meeting between them…

Minority shareholder wins £400,000 payoff It is rare to see a petition under the Companies Act seeking to prevent the payment of excessive remuneration to a director, but a Scottish Court had to deal with just such a case earlier…

Hidden deep in Mr Darling's PBR last week, where only sad tax advisers would find it, was a government promise to tackle banks and building societies that levy 'unfair' charges. Setting aside for a moment the natural cynicism associated with…

Share options: the low cost alternative to a pay rise When cash is short, small and medium-sized businesses should consider using share options as an alternative to a pay rise or a cash bonus. An approved share option scheme needn’t…

Controlling shareholder can be employee The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a shareholder and director of a company can also be an employee under a contract of employment with the company, even where that person has a controlling interest…

Make Sure Your Bank Knows You Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), a bank is required to inform the authorities about any transaction that it suspects might be connected with money-laundering or the proceeds of crime. Whilst the…

Fitness for Purpose - Knowledge Critical One of the most important principles of law governing buyers and sellers is that an item sold must be fit for the purpose for which it has been supplied. It is unusual for a…