Company & Commercial Law

Agathe Holowatinc
Jeremy Leese and Brian Holdipp, members of MJM’s Corporate Department, will be attending London International Shipping Week in early September, as part of a Bermuda delegation which includes The Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP, Minister of Transport, and Ross Webber, CEO of the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA). As part of the week’s programme, the BDA will be hosting a Bermuda Reception on the evening of Monday, 11th September 2017. If you are interested in attending, please contact Jeremy Leese (e-mail: [email protected]) for an invite to the event. In addition, if you are in London, and wish to meet Jeremy and Brian outside of such event to discuss any legal matters with which the firm may assist you, they may have time on Monday (11th Sept) or Wednesday (13th Sept) to visit your offices. Please contact Jeremy via e-mail if you would like to schedule a meeting.

Andrew A. Martin
In a recent Supreme Court decision the Chief Justice has made an important ruling with potentially wide implications. The case concerns the time limit for bringing a claim in negligence against a party with whom the claimant is also in a contractual relationship. The decision is of particular interest to Lawyers, Accountants, Architects, Doctors, and Surveyors (the “LADS”) but also anyone else who makes their living by providing professional advice to clients. The effect of the decision is that a claim can be brought against one of the LADS (or other professional) in negligence independently from any claim for (negligent) breach of contract. The time limit for bringing a claim in contract and negligence is six years, but the date on which the time starts running for each type of claim may differ significantly.

Andrew A. Martin
This Act was passed in the first quarter of 2016 but has not yet become effective. It is a lengthy Act with a number of separate and detailed statutory mechanisms which work in conjunction with one another. The purpose of the Act is to address a situation where all or part of a bank’s business encounters financial difficulty or is likely to encounter such difficulty. The Act seeks to provide a mechanism for enabling the orderly transfer of the assets of a distressed bank, and the protection of deposit holders’ interests in keeping with international standards.

Jeremy Leese
With effect from 1st October 2016, the governmental departments responsible for the oversight of the aviation and shipping sectors became “quangos” newly titled as the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority and the Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority. The aim of granting such status is to boost revenue from the registration of both vessels and aircraft, by making Bermuda more competitive in the global shipping and aviation markets.