Introduction The Dutch Civil Code provides for several nominate contracts, for example: contractor agreements, purchase agreements, lease contracts, agency agreements and employment contracts. For these nominate contracts, the Dutch legislator has formulated specific legal rules in the Dutch Civil Code. In some cases, these legal rules are mandatory; i.e. the contracting parties cannot derogate from these legal rules. The purpose … Read more
Since 1 January 2021, EU regulations simplifying cross-border litigation no longer apply in relation to the UK and – in most cases – to parties based in the UK. While some may have expected the way ahead to have cleared by now, the opposite is in fact true: at the time of writing this blog, the EU and UK (or … Read more
On 1 January 2021, the Act on confirmation of private restructuring plans (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord, also known as the “WHOA”, hereinafter: the “Dutch Scheme”) came into effect. We discussed several aspects of the Dutch Scheme in our previous blogs. In order to come to a successful scheme, it is important to consider tax aspects at an early stage of … Read more
Introduction In Dutch legal practice, contracting parties often agree on exoneration clauses in commercial contracts in which liability for indirect damage is excluded. However, the term indirect damage does not exist in the Dutch Civil Code, and in the Dutch language there is no generally accepted meaning for indirect damage. Conflicts therefore quite frequently arise between contracting parties in relation … Read more
Introduction Under Dutch law, the general principle is that contracts only have legal effects for the contracting parties themselves. In principle, contracts have no legal effects for third parties. If contracting parties agree on exoneration clauses in commercial contracts, the exoneration clauses will thus only have legal effects between those parties. Based on settled case law and pursuant to Dutch … Read more
Introduction In Dutch legal practice, contracting parties often agree on exoneration clauses in commercial contracts. Exoneration clauses limit or exclude the debtor’s liability. In most cases, it is not possible to conclude an agreement without exoneration clauses, as commercial transactions often result in a high risk. Under certain circumstances, however, exoneration clauses may be unreasonable to the other party to … Read more
On 9 December 2020, the Amsterdam District Court (the “Court”) declared a foundation inadmissible in a collective action regarding alleged manipulation of LIBOR, EURIBOR and other interest rate benchmarks. The foundation sought declaratory judgments that Rabobank, UBS, Lloyds Bank and ICAP (the “defendants”) had engaged in wrongful conduct and unjust enrichment vis-à-vis the class members. The Court ruled that that … Read more
On 1 January 2021, the Act on confirmation of private restructuring plans (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord, the “Dutch Scheme“) came into effect. At time of writing (25 February 2021), the Dutch courts have rendered 10 judgments in connection with the Dutch Scheme. This blog provides you with the highlights of this case law. 1. General observations Based on the information … Read more
Introduction In the pre-contractual phase, Dutch professional contracting parties often negotiate a financing arrangement clause or a “subject to finance” clause. A subject to finance clause provides a condition under which an agreement will be concluded (totstandkomingsvoorwaarde), a suspensive condition (opschortende voorwaarde) or a resolutive condition (ontbindende voorwaarde). This depends on the wording of the clause and the circumstances of … Read more
Introduction In Dutch legal practice, one of the most common conditions is the reservation of approval or the “subject to approval” clause. A “subject to approval” clause provides a condition under which an agreement will be concluded (totstandkomingsvoorwaarde), a suspensive condition (opschortende voorwaarde) or a resolutive condition (ontbindende voorwaarde). This depends on the wording of the clause and the circumstances … Read more