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The Netherlands to Introduce Possibility for Damages Claims Under Class Action System

As explained in my latest contribution in Business Law International (“Fortis’s Settlement: A comparative case-study of (securities) class action mechanisms in Europe and in the United States“), the Netherlands presently offer one of the most friendly regimes in Europe for collective actions. Unlike the U.S. class action system, however, the Netherlands does not offer the possibility to obtain monetary damages under the current class action rules.

Nevertheless, a new bill (the Bill) recently put before the Dutch legislature suggests that this significant limitation could be on the way out. I therefore wanted to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you to the future changes that might be brought to the class action regime in the Netherlands.READ MORE

Spanish Supreme Court Holds Arbitrators Liable for Breach of Arbitral Collegiality

On 15 February 2017, the Spanish Supreme Court (the Supreme Court) dismissed an appeal brought by two arbitrators against a decision of the lower courts ordering them to pay EUR 1.5 million to the German athletic product manufacturer Puma (Puma) for violating the principle of arbitral collegiality.READ MORE

European Cross-Border Debt Recovery: European Account Preservation Order Procedure Enters into Force

On 18 January 2017, Regulation 655/2014 of 15 May 2014 establishing a European Account Preservation Order procedure to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters (the EAPO Regulation) entered into force.

The EAPO Regulation allows a creditor, domiciled in one Member State, to request the courts of a Member State to issue a European Account Preservation Order (the EAPO). This order preserves the funds held by a debtor in a bank account located in another Member State and prevents a debtor from jeopardising the creditor’s claim by transferring or withdrawing those funds.READ MORE