Europe

The Irish legislature is considering draft legislation which would regulate purchasers of non-performing loans (NPLs). The draft legislation is at an advanced stage in the parliamentary process. While credit servicers are regulated in Ireland, credit owners (in the main, entities that have purchased loans and loan portfolios from banks looking to reduce their exposure to NPLs) are not. However, the regulation of owners of credit would be a substantial extension of the regime. Furthermore, it would run contrary to EU policy in this area which proposes to regulate credit servicers (as is the existing position in Ireland) but deliberately stops short of regulating loan owners because such an extension is neither necessary nor desirable.

Occupational accidents can occur for many reasons. They can arise because of short-term inattention, lack of caution or even inconsistency. It is important to take the strongest possible measures to minimise the risk of occupational accidents. Legal regulations governing the duties of employers in the field of health and safety at work state directly that sometimes it is not possible to fully eliminate the risk of occupational accidents. However, it is important to take all possible steps to limit them and to prepare measures to eliminate them.

In just a matter of minutes, anyone can use the internet to download or stream copyrighted content for free. Unfortunately, most of that content is posted and distributed without the consent of the author – the exclusive holder of the rights to the work. In other words, it is illegal. The practice of accessing copyright-protected work in just a few minutes, without paying for it, is very widespread.