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Mission Statement "To be recognised as a leading specialist law firm in the capital markets, finance and commercial fields." About Us Jones Young is a specialist commercial law firm, established in 1997. Our firm has three partners who are assisted by a small number of senior associates, legal executives and outside consultants. We work in an open-plan office giving the firm the benefits of a collegial and co-operative working environment. Our culture supports diversity and informality but demands excellence in delivery of commercial outcomes for clients. We specialise in commercial, capital markets, banking and finance law, but provide full service in securities, property, trusts and sports law. Jones Young is a NZX sponsor (www.nzx.com) WHAT’S UP - NEWS UPDATE In this update we have identified some current issues which you may need to consider. Protection of your bank deposits made through our trust account Given the turmoil in the world financial markets, and following Australia’s lead, the government on 12 October 2008 announced that it would offer a Crown deposit guarantee scheme to ensure ongoing retail depositor confidence in New Zealand’s banking system. Under the scheme, the maximum liability of the Crown to each depositor is $1,000,000. Each lawyer’s trust account is a single depositor notwithstanding that the trust account is held for numerous clients. This is obviously a concern to firms like Jones Young where we can hold literally millions of dollars on trust for clients at any given time.
Treasury has advised that it has amended the scheme deed to ensure that where a depositor holds money for a number of persons under a “bare trust”, the $1m cap would apply to each beneficiary under that trust. It seems that this will protect each Jones Young client (to the $1m cap). Click here for more information (pdf 32kb) Have you protected yourself and your family with an enduring power of attorney? You may be under the impression that your family will take over in the event that you become incapable of looking after your own affairs. Unfortunately, without enduring powers of attorney in place, that is not the case. An enduring power of attorney, signed when it is not required, is a positive step towards the management of your personal affairs if old age or accident result in you being unable to attend to your own affairs. We recommend that you appoint attorneys to act for you, if you are unable to act yourself, both in relation to your property (including bank accounts), and in relation to your personal care and welfare. It means that you have peace of mind knowing that that a person whom you trust will be making important decisions for you when and if you are unable to make those decisions yourself. Click here for more information (pdf 31kb) Are you a financial adviser and/or planner? - New laws apply to you In September 2008, the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008, the Financial Advisers Act 2008 and the Reserve Bank Amendment Act 2008 were enacted with the purpose of improving the regulation of financial institutions, financial products and financial service providers. These Acts come into force in December 2010 and capture a very wide range of financial service providers including by way of example, financial advisers, banks, credit providers and insurers. All financial service providers will be required to be registered and be members of an approved dispute resolution scheme by the time the Acts come into force. In addition providers who are financial advisers will have to have submitted their applications for authorisation to act as a financial adviser to the Securities Commission and started undertaking any training necessary. An organization which is a financial adviser may elect to be licensed as an entity rather than all of its employees having to be individually registered and authorized. This entity is referred to as a Qualifying Financial Entity or "QFE". We encourage you to consider carefully whether your business is required to comply with the Acts. A useful summary of the new laws have been prepared and published by the Securities Commission and the Ministry of Economic Development. Follow these links to view the summaries: Click here for Financial Advice FAQ's (pdf 2664kb) If you need advice on any aspect of these new laws please contact us. Click here for more information (pdf 33kb) Pre-emptive rights on share transfers In a recent case, the Court had to consider whether the board of a company could refuse to register a transfer of shares from a bare trustee to the beneficial owner of the shares, where the requirements of the pre-emptive provisions of the Constitution had not been followed. We suggest that it may be worth reviewing your company Constitution to ensure that it adequately reflects the intentions of the shareholders. Click here for more information (pdf 29kb) If we can be of any help, please contact one of the partners: |