The risks of not having one range from petty annoyance to
major breaches of confidentiality to costly sexual harassment lawsuits.
Not exact matches
The scenarios ran the gamut
of clinic woes: missing Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) drugs; a
breach of client
confidentiality when photographs
of a patient are posted on the Internet; a long - term employee who develops physical problems and a toxic attitude; the pros and cons
of major equipment purchases; a new specialist who takes advantage
of training funded by the clinic, then accepts a new job; a veterinarian who suffers fatal injuries on the job; an emergency call from a client who has not paid bills in the past.
Arbitration matters in which we have been involved include the enforcement in England
of an international award resulting from a
major construction contract in Africa (the awards involved five different currencies), the performance
of an English domestic construction contract and the alleged
breach of a
major international consulting contract (all subject to
confidentiality).
The
major implications for banks targeted by HMRC will be the administrative burden
of producing the information requested; the risk
of breaching confidentiality laws in the countries where the offshore accounts are held — for example under Swiss and Cayman Islands law there are criminal sanctions for
breaching client
confidentiality — and other conflict
of laws issues; and the risk
of Financial Services Authority investigations if it seems that the bank had encouraged the use
of offshore accounts in a misleading way, eg by advertising them as tax - free, or by suggesting that HMRC would never know about the income earned on sums in the accounts.