Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NUCLEAR energy industry is losing a key ally in the European Commission, with the impending departure of energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. She will be replaced in the Commission from November by Hungary’s current foreign minister László Kovacs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GREEK government is being taken to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for allowing sludge from a new wastewater treatment to leach into the environment, polluting the air and water supplies. The European Commission alleges that Greece is breaking European Union (EU) urban wastewater directive by failing to treat and safely transport sludge from a sewage works in Psitallia near Athens.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CAMPAIGN to reduce the growing number of collisions between road vehicles and deer on Britain’s roads has called on both drivers and highways officials to deal with this potentially deadly risk.

The Deer Initiative estimates that between 30,000 and 50,000 deer are hit by cars, vans and lorries in the UK annually, with 10-20 people being killed in such accidents.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
The fact that some member states have now missed the deadline for implementation coupled with variation in the measures passed means that there will be “an imbalance of obligations on lawyers across the EU” said the American Bar Association’s Section on Business Law (SBL).…

BY ALAN OSBORN
If a lawyer in Germany suspects that a client engages in money laundering, there is no obligation to report this if the information is obtained in the context of judicial proceedings or in the course of ascertaining the legal position for the client.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
In France, lawyers do not have to report when information is received from clients or obtained on them “either within the framework of a legal consultation unless this aims to launder money (SAME AS THE UK SURELY?) or if these persons carry them out (SORRY, DON’T UNDERSTAND THE GRAMMAR HERE – ARE ‘THESE PERSONS’ THE LAWYERS AND TO WHAT DOES ‘CARRY THEM OUT’ REFER?)…

BY ALAN OSBORN
POCA also contains “freestanding” reporting obligations. At present, offences arising from failure to disclose apply only to a limited number of lawyers in the “regulated sector” who give advice on financial services.

Implementation of the second directive will mean that lawyers conducting any of the activities listed in the directive will fall within its reach.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE LEGAL web being cast by the European Union (EU) in the fight against money laundering is being tightened still further. A third directive has now been proposed by the European Commission that, among other things, will broaden the definition of money laundering to include not only the concealment or disguise of the proceeds of serious crimes but also the financing of terrorism with either criminal or legally acquired money.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
IT might be one of the world’s smallest countries but you could hardly ask for a more emphatic turnaround from villain to hero in the fight against money laundering than Liechtenstein has managed over the last five years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE is Europe’s laggard for implementing European Union (EU) environmental law, the European Commission has concluded. Its latest assessment of compliance with EU green regulations and directives notes 38 cases of France being censured by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) or threatened with legal action by the Commission over non-compliance with environmental legislation in 2003.…