What are internet cookies? 

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers downloaded on to a device when a user accesses certain websites. Cookies allow a website to recognise a user’s device and some websites contain third party Cookies for example from their advertisers. Shopping basket systems, automatic log-ins and remember my details buttons all rely on cookies.  Cookies ability to store the browsing behaviour of users have made them attractive to advertisers and increased their use in the advertising world. Essentially a cookie sitting on your device will track the websites you have visited enabling advertisers to determine what advertisements you would find interesting.

Nearly every internet user will have hundreds of cookies and other forms of tracking on their computer and unless they are particularly internet savvy they will have no idea of this fact.  This has raised issues about privacy and prompted the changes in law. 

New law on internet cookies? 

The UK introduced amendments to the law on 26 May 2011 through The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) (Regulations). The Information Commissioner effectively granted a 12 month grace period in which websites were told to become compliant. From 26 May 2012 every website operating in the UK is required to:

• tell users that its website is using cookies,
• provide its users with ‘clear and comprehensive information’ about any cookies it is using and
• obtain the users consent to store a cookie on its device.

Consent

The consent required under the new laws must involve some form of communication where the user knowingly indicates their acceptance to the use of cookies. This may involve for example clicking an icon, sending an email or subscribing to a service. You can no longer therefore rely on providing an option for users to ‘opt out’ of cookies being used stored on their devices. 

Exemption from the requirement to provide information and obtain consent. 

There is a narrow exception to the requirement to provide users with information and obtain consent which applies in circumstances where using a cookie is ‘strictly necessary’ for the service requested by the user. This might apply, for example on a shopping website when a user has chosen goods and clicked the ‘add to basket’ or ‘proceed to checkout’ buttons and the cookie remembers what the user chose on a previous page.   

What you should do 

All website should be fully compliant with the new rules by 26 May 2012. If you have not started working on compliance it is important that you do so now. First steps to compliance should include:

• Carrying out a ‘cookie audit’- checking what types of cookies and similar technologies you use and how you use them.
• Assessing how intrusive your use of cookies is.
• Where consent is needed- deciding how best to obtain consent in your circumstances. 
• Making any consequential changes to your website and terms of business. 

Enforcement and penalties

The Information Commissioner’s Office is charged with ensuring compliance with the new rules. Where organisations fail to comply voluntarily there are a range of options available to the Information Commissioner including a monetary penalty of up to £500,000.

If you require advice on  how to make your website compliant  or any issues covered in this blog please contact John North, Head of Corporate and Commercial on 020 7583 2222 or jdn@royds.com or Sonia Mohammed smm@royds.com.

In the White Paper, Roger explains how – since most pension schemes changed their rules to observe the Barber case European Court decision in 1990 which held that the retirement age for men and women in pensions schemes had to be equal – most pensions preserve the inequality. Roger explains how a fictitious factor – “normal retirement age” – has corrupted what should be a very simple calculation so that the pensions of most female members of defined-benefit schemes have been overstated.

The White Paper goes back to Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome and explores numerous key equality and discrimination cases, decisions about pensions calculations, Pensions Acts and scheme rules that have led to the current situation. There are worked examples to show where the issue arises from simple and convoluted calculations relating to the “Barber window” and where age discrimination can take place.

Roger says “Employers are in danger of claims from disgruntled male employees who find that women are paid a higher pension for the same period of service. Furthermore, the cost to British employers could run to hundreds of billions of pounds”. 

John North, corporate partner at Royds, says “Roger has done an incredible amount of work to set out his argument with various calculations and case studies. Whilst the legal and technical details seem complex, his startling conclusion must be considered by employers, pension schemes and pension trustees”. 

If you would like a copy of the document, please email info@royds.com indicating whether you would prefer an electronic or printed version.

Pension trustees and employers may contact Roger for further information but if you are a pensioner who believes that your pension has been incorrectly calculated you should contact your pensions administrator in the first instance. 

For further information, please contact:

Roger May, Pensions Solicitor

020 7583 2222        rdm@royds.com

John North, Head of Corporate and Commercial      

020 7583 2222        jdn@royds.com 

Richard Woodman, Head of Employment

020 7583 2222        rmw@royds.com

TAX RELIEF – Corporation tax relief from April 2013 for the video games, animation and high-end television production industries. 

BROADBAND AND WIFI – £100m fund aimed at making UK’s 10 largest cities (London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle) “super-connected” with superfast broadband and wi-fi and a further £50m to improve net access in 10 unnamed “smaller cities”. By 2015 it is hoped that this investment will provide ultrafast broadband coverage to 1.7 million households and high-speed wireless broadband for three million residents.

MOBILE COVERAGE – The chancellor also announced plans to extend mobile coverage to 60,000 rural homes and along at least 10 key roads by 2015, including the A2 and A29 in Northern Ireland, the A57, A143, A169, A352, A360 and A591 in England, the A82(T) in Scotland and the A470(T) in Wales, subject to planning permission. Funding would come out of the £150m investment announced in the Autumn Statement. The Government will also consider whether intervention is required to improve mobile coverage for rail passengers.

PATENTS – The chancellor confirmed that the level of corporation tax applied to income from patents will be reduced from 24% to an effective rate of 10% on profits from worldwide sales of products protected by UK patents. The regime will cover technology and manufacturing patents as well as other intellectual property rights. Although this will be phased in over 5 years it appears to have produced an immediate dividend in investment and jobs with today’s announcement that GlaxoSmithKline will invest £500m in manufacturing in the UK which will create 1,000 jobs.

R&D – In a further effort to encourage R&D spending an above the line (ATL) credit will be introduced from April 2013 with a minimum rate of 9.1% before tax and a payable credit for loss making companies. 

There are other blogs addressing the impact on private individuals and businesses generally. 

BBC News Budget Special Coverage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17372581

INCOME TAX – From April 2013, the 50p top rate of tax will be cut to 45p 

PERSONAL INCOME TAX ALLOWANCE – Raised to £9,205 from April 2013

 PENSIONS – Age-related allowances to be removed for new pensioners from April 2013 to be replaced with a single personal allowance. Allowances for those of pension age to be frozen. Automatic review of state pension age so that it keeps pace with increasing lifespans. New single-tier state pension for future pensioners to be set at about £140 and based on contributions. No significant change to pensions relief.

CHILD BENEFIT – Phased out when a household has one person earning more than £50,000. It will fall by 1% for every £100 earned over £50,000. Those earning more than £60,000 will lose the entirety of the benefit.

STAMP DUTY – Immediate new stamp duty level of 7% on residential property purchases of more than £2m. Any such homes bought through companies will pay 15%. And don’t forget – on 24 March, 1% stamp duty tax will return on transactions between £125k to £250k

AVOIDANCE – New general anti-tax avoidance rule to be introduced. We will keep an eye on this!

ARMED FORCES – There were a number of announcements relating to financial support for families of the Armed Forces

There are other blogs addressing the issues for businesses

BBC News Budget Special Coverage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17372581

ECONOMY – Most of the OBR’s growth indicators for UK have been revised up and inflation figures down. Unemployment to peak this year and decline each year to 6.3% by 2016 – a million jobs to be created over five years. 

CORPORATION TAX – Cut to 24% from April and by 2014 it will fall to 22%.

VAT – Loopholes and anomalies to be removed – including removing exemptions for sports nutrition drinks and hot takeaway products in supermarkets. Existing exemptions will remain for food, children’s clothes, books and newspapers. 

STAMP DUTY – Stamp duty on any homes bought through companies will be 15%. 

ENTERPRISE LOANS – Government considering them for young people to start their own business. 

ENTERPRISE ZONES – Better capital allowances for businesses setting up in new Scottish and Welsh enterprise zones. 

RETAIL/SUNDAY TRADING – Relaxation of Sunday trading laws on eight Sundays during Olympics and Paralympics, starting July 22. 

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR – Extra funding to help construction firms building new homes. 

ENERGY – “Major package of tax changes” aimed at boosting oil and gas extraction in North Sea, and  £3bn new field allowance west of Shetland. 

AIRLINES – The expected increases in Air Passenger Duty were outlined in papers released by the Treasury. It was also confirmed that APD will rise again in April 2013, in line with inflation. Report on the future of aviation in south-east England to be published in the summer. 

TRANSPORT – No change to existing plans on fuel duty. Vehicle excise duty to rise by inflation, but frozen for road hauliers. Existing fair fuel stabiliser means that above-inflation rises in fuel duty will return only if price of oil falls below £45 ($70) a barrel. Extend electrification of the Transpennine route between Manchester and Sheffield. Further improvements to the lines between Manchester and Preston, and Manchester and Blackpool. 

BANKING – Bank levy to be increased to 0.105% from January 2013 “to ensure that corporation tax cuts do not benefit the banks”. The levy will raise £2.5bn a year. 

There is a separate blog addressing the changes affecting the technology, telecoms and creative industries sectors. 

BBC News Budget Special Coverage http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17372581

The company of which David was secretary was a household name international public company. He was getting paid a good salary and was also entitled to significant share options. He was in his mid fifties. He and Mavis had married relatively late in life – his pipe smoking went with the confirmed bachelor image. They had no children. He had an aged mother who has already in a nursing home and a married sister with two daughters at university. Mavis had no family.

One evening David was having his normal postprandial bath, Mavis went into see him – and was horrified to discover that he had died from a massive heart attack. He had died intestate (without making a Will).

The semi-detached house had been David’s before the marriage. It was still in his name. It was valued at £450,000 and on intestacy, this (together with his personal chattels) equated to the entitlement that Mavis had as his surviving spouse.

The remainder of his estate, which was the order of the sum of £1,000,000, passed as to one half to Mavis on a life interest only-after her death the capital of that half passed to David’s mother (if she was still alive or, if not, to David’s sister). As to the other half of the excess over the initial £450,000 – that passed to David’s mother outright.

By the time of David’s death, David’s mother’s dementia had reached such a stage that she did not understand that David had died. A few months later she herself had passed away. It being a family tradition, she also had not made a Will. The whole of her estate, including the half a million or so pounds she was about inherit from David’s estate passed to David’s sister.

David’s sister was embarrassed about this all and believed that morally the money was Mavis’s. Accordingly, because the deaths had taken place in fairly swift order, she was able to enter into a Deed of Variation relating to Mavis of her mother’s half share of David’s estate to the effect that that passed back to Mavis – incidentally it also saved something like £70,000 in Inheritance Tax.

It is not entirely clear what the moral of this tale is. It is rare in my experience for families to ‘do the right thing’ when money is involved. David’s sister certainly did the right thing. Mavis has done her best, particularly for David’s nieces, ever since. 

However, this issue that was left to chance could easily have been dealt with by David having made a proper Will. There should also have been a Power of Attorney for his mother. Whilst the characters in this story are fictional, we do have to deal with situations like this – and sometimes even more upsetting – on a regular basis. You do not need to be rich for it to be important to make a Will.

The focus of concern is the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) for carbon dioxide and the possibility of trade struggles with China, the US and Russia. 

Airbus argues that the proposals would reduce competitiveness and wants the scheme to be postponed until a global plan on airline carbon emissions is agreed. There are concerns that charges would be due even when flying outside European airspace. There are indications that Chinese airlines are delaying decisions to buy planes because of concerns over the plans. 

The EU ETS is one of the policies introduced across the European Union (EU) to help it meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. The EU has to make an eight per cent reduction on 1990 levels by the first Kyoto Protocol commitment period (2008 – 2012). Further information about the scheme can be found at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/pollution/32232.aspx. But note that aviation activities are excluded from the “How to Comply with your Greenhouse Gas Emissions Permit” guide there.

“Mountains, chocolate and clocks – it has to be Switzerland” 

Clocks, watches and more watches.  This week I attended the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Trade Fair, Basel (or Basle to those of a more Gallic than Teutonic persuasion). 

As big and glamorous as ever; Baselworld showcased the top end market in quality time pieces and fine jewellery.  Tradition counts for a lot in Switzerland with famous brands such as Rolex, Bulova, Versace and Tissot to the fore as ever, but it is not just Europe that provides luxury goods of course.  Baselworld 2012 has exhibitors from across the world, in keeping with the global market of today. 

The show is located in Central Europe but this was no European affair, with 1815 exhibitors from a total of 41 countries.  The number of visitors has been estimated at around 100,000 from 100 countries.  Interest in attracting buyers from Asia, in particular Hong Kong, was very notable.  

Last month I attended the Jewellery Trade Fair in Hong Kong Please Follow Link and I commented on the purchasing power of the Chinese.  There can be no doubt about the increase in significance of Hong Kong in the luxury goods industry.  In 2011 Hong Kong welcomed more than 28 million visitors from mainland China, with spending set to exceed US $32 billion, an increase of 21% on 2010.  

Taking your luxury goods to that market has to be a strategic objective for every European manufacturer.  Royds’ client, Rotary Watches, understands this.  Robert Dreyfuss, Group Chairman, has been quoted as saying “For 2012, our goal is to launch in Hong Kong, China and Macau …For China, we are doing our research here at Baselworld and meeting the relevant people.  After the show, we will assess our findings and decide who to work with.”  

Baselworld is where you find the best in luxury jewellery, as well as watches.  There is exhibited quality of design and the finest quality of craftsmanship.  

With such luxury goods comes an expected guarantee of exclusivity and originality in the designs.  Buyers, on behalf of their discerning consumers, demand the highest integrity in the brand.  It was a serious issue therefore when my client, David Marshall, saw a copy of one of his bespoke necklace designs being exhibited on a stand of a company he had not heard of.  Please follow link 

David telephoned me and I was able to prepare the documents to take with me to the show, and pay a visit to the offenders.  In the event I secured a written undertaking to remove the copy from display and not to sell, or offer it for sale thereafter.  

There isn’t anything like the proliferation of copy products on display at International Trade Fairs that I observed 10 years ago, but even at prestigious luxury goods shows such as Baselworld, plagiarism exists and the need for Intellectual Property Rights protection remains.  Designers must remain vigilant so watch it!

Then tragedy struck on a single carriageway stretch of the A1. Sarah and Anthony were confronted by a lorry careering along the wrong side of the road; within seconds they were dead. The consequences were devastating from both a financial and personal point of view.

Grandparents Geoff and Grace were thrown into a situation which could not have been further from their minds. They applied to Court to become guardians of the children – there really was nobody else; in the short term they moved into Anthony and Sarah’s house so that the children could continue at playgroup and school, so that their lives were not disrupted any more then they had already been.

They made an application to be appointed administrators of the estates of Sarah and Anthony in dealing with their intestate estates. Sarah and Anthony’s businesses had to be sold. Fortunately, despite the assets being significant, no inheritance tax was payable. Eventually Geoff and Grace sold their own house in central London and purchased a substantial property near where Anthony and Sarah had lived to make a new home together with the children.

On the completion of the administration of the estate Grace and Geoff retired as continuing trustees and appointed two family members, a solicitor and a barrister’s clerk, in their places. Fortunately funds were relatively plentiful and the four of them were able to live relatively comfortably from then on.

However, despite the sacrifices made by Geoff and Grace, the children were resentful of them and almost blamed them for the loss of their parents. This became particularly poignant in the children’s teenage years. The children did not particularly apply themselves at school; despite their relatively comfortable material lifestyles – they did not really settle happily into the adult world of work and relationships. Nothing would have ever brought Anthony and Sarah back as far as the children were concerned.

The provision of a simple Will incorporating guardians (who could have been contemporaries of the children’s parents) could well have altered the lives of both the children and the grandparents. The children could have grown up with guardians the same age as their parents so that they could have enjoyed a more normal relationship with their grandparents. The grandparents themselves could have enjoyed their own retirement and being with the grandchildren as and when required.

Whilst the characters in this story are fictional, we do have to deal with situations like this – and sometimes even more upsetting – on a regular basis. You do not need to be rich for it to be important to make a Will.

Angela has experience in the financial services, health care, manufacturing, retail, hotels and leisure, telecommunications, construction and media sectors. She has many contacts in the insolvency arena including among insolvency practitioners, private equity and venture capital houses, turnaround companies, banks and corporate clients. She specialises in: 

• Restructuring troubled companies
• Preserving shareholder/stakeholder value
• Mitigating management risks
• Acting for office holders
• Acquiring and disposing of distressed assets
• Enforcing creditor/stakeholder rights
• Asset recovery 

Recent transactions include: 

• Advising a private equity client on the restructuring of their investment in the luxury goods arena;
• Advising on the restructuring a large, complex property development group with assets in the UK, and other overseas jurisdictions;
• Advising an Icelandic bank on the realisation of various elements of its UK investment portfolio;
• Advising upon the reorganisation and work out of a large, formerly listed, multi national group with significant legacy issues, including bondholder debt;
• Advising the administrators and liquidators of two former financial services companies regulated by the FSA
• Advising corporate clients in relation to the acquisition of the business and assets of companies on both a pre-packaged and other basis

Angela started her career at Lovells before spending three years with Ashurst and then 10 years at S J Berwin. She joins Royds from Davenport Lyons. She is a member of R3 – the association for business recovery professionals and is a member of the R3 London Region Women’s Committee. 

John North, head of corporate and commercial, commented “We are delighted that Angela is able to join us. We have been keen to bolster our specialist expertise in the area of insolvency and restructuring since Peter Wootton retired”. 

Angela studied law at the University of East Anglia and completed her legal studies at the College of Law, Guildford. 

For further information, please contact: 

John North, Head of Corporate and Commercial      

020 7583 2222        jdn@royds.com 

Angela Stallard, Insolvency Partner                            

020 7583 2222        als@royds.com