A director who channelled substantial payments from his family’s businesses to a new company he had set up on his own has been ordered by the High Court to repay the money with interest. The case involved two brothers and their extended family. One of the brothers started making unauthorised gifts and loans to his
A company’s minority shareholders have won a legal dispute with directors who refused to pay dividends yet awarded excessive payments to themselves. The shareholders were descended from the company’s founder. They owned 27% of the company. The directors, who were also the majority shareholders, owned 65%. From 1987, the directors maintained a policy of paying
The High Court has decided how two partners should divide their business after they fell out and could no longer work together. The two men were brothers who had run a jewellery business through an English limited partnership based in London, two Thai companies, a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company, and a company registered in
The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision that a £250m contract was binding based just on what was agreed in a phone call. The case involved negotiations that took place between property investors and a group of financiers. On 23 April 2015, the investors sent the financiers a letter marked “”without prejudice – subject
A company director must repay a £150,000 investment after guaranteeing that he would double the figure within eight weeks. The case involved the director of a company based in the United Arab Emirates. He was looking for an urgent investment to finance a deal. He met a potential investor and told him that the typical
An accountancy firm has been ordered to pay more than $11m damages to a developer because of the flawed advice it provided on a major project. The case involved the developers of a large holiday resort. It hired a firm of accountants to provide business advice and ensure the project progressed on a sound financial
The very same commercial lease can be both a godsend or a noose depending on the terms struck between the parties at the outset. Will it provide a good foundation with which to give the business the opportunity to prosper or will it be a drain on profit with expenditure taking away any likelihood of
Being an entrepreneur is risky business, with start-ups in particular usually adopting a “learning by doing” approach. Experience is hard earned, with success or failure requiring a measure of luck as well as business nous, especially in those early days. Thankfully, as access to information became as easy as a click of a button, business
Directors are being urged by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make sure their company practices comply with the law. Failure to do so could result in penalties and disqualification. The CMA has provided the following check list: Why should directors help companies avoid breaking competition law? Company directors have a special responsibility to
Machins Solicitors regularly advise start-up businesses on the legal aspects of their new venture. Set out below is a basic checklist of the main points for you to consider and which we are usually asked to advise on: Business Structure Choose an appropriate business structure. The most common are: Sole trader – is when you