LEX is a member of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. At the General Meeting that was held on the 13th of February, Hulda Árnadóttir, partner at LEX was elected as a board member. LEX celebrates having a representative on the board and congratulates Hulda for her board membership.

LEX celebrates the publishing of the book „Eignarréttur I“ (Property Law I). Víðir Smári Petersen, partner at LEX co-authors the book with Þorgeir Örlygsson and Karl Axelsson. The book is the first of three in series about Icelandic Property Law and is published by Fons Juris

Arnar Þór Stefánsson, partner at LEX published an article in the business section of the Icelandic news  paper Morgunblaðið on the need for Small Claims Court in Iceland. The article can be viewed here

Birgir Már Björnsson, attorney at LEX published an article in the icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið on composition as an overlooked recourse. The article can be viewed here

On the 7th-8th of February „UTmessan“ will take place in Harpa Concert Hall. UTmessan is one of the largest IT events in Iceland and is both a conference and exhibition. The purpose of UTmessan is to highlight the importance of information technology and its effects on individuals, businesses and Icelandic society alike.

LEX will have a booth at the exhibition where our top lawyers in IP and technology will welcome visitors.

On Friday the 7th at 10:05 – Lára Herborg Ólafsdóttir, attorney at LEX will be a speaker at the conference where she will talk about „the storm in the clouds“ and problems regarding conflicting laws, as the U.S. CLOUD Act enables US authorities to access data, even when located in Europe, in specific cases.

Associate María Kristjánsdóttir wrote an article in the Icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið about the trademark Sussex Royal and the effect the decision of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, to step back from royal duties could have on the trademark.

Erla S. Arnadottir, partner, and associates Maria Kristjansdottir and Lena Markusdottir just published a Guidance Note on the OneTrust DataGuidance Platform that provides an overview of the interaction between privacy legislation and health and pharma legislation in Iceland. The Guidance Note can be viewed here.

In a lawsuit brought by the Icelandic State against clients of LEX, the District Court of the Western Iceland, has upheld the ruling of the Wilderness Committee in favour of LEX’s clients.

In the case, the Icelandic state demanded that the decision of the Wilderness Committee in the case 4/2014; Arnarvatnsheiði, Geitland and Langjökull, in so far as it concerns Arnarvatnsheiði and the jointly owned land of Kalmanstunga I and II to be annulled. In addition, the Icelandic state demanded that a particular territory within given boundaries should be considered public land.

The clients of LEX objected to the demands of the Icelandic state and their claims were upheld, on the grounds that the land in question had been substantially claimed at settlement. No arguments had been put forth to the contrary and the land in question been regarded over the centuries, both by the owners of neighbouring properties and public authorities, that the area in question was all a part of the property Kalmanstunga. Moreover, it was found that as the boundary documents were executed with consent by the owners and holders of adjoining properties and properly registered with the Property Registry, they provided due evidence to the fact that the area in question was subject to private ownership.

The land in question was vastly extensive, or approximately 1,500 km2, and the interests of LEX’s clients accordingly high.

The Appeal Court of Iceland pronounced a judgement in a case brought by Birgir Már Björnsson, Attorney at LEX, on behalf of International Seafood Holdings S.á.r.l. against the state.

In the case, it was argued whether the ruling of the Director of Internal Revenue, upheld in the District Court in Reykjavík, should by annulled. The case concerned the legitimacy of dividends paid by parent company based on net income from subsidiaries cf. paragraph 1 Article 73 cf. paragraph 1. Article 74 in Act. no. 138/1998 on Private Limited Companies.

Until now, the opinion of the Director of Internal Revenue and the Internal Revenue Committee, as confirmed by the District Courts, was that dividend payment of a parent company under these circumstances was unlawful since the dividend payment was not based on distributed and received dividends from a subsidiary.

In the case, the Appeal Court agreed with arguments made by Icelandic Seafood International S.á.r.l. that the net income from subsidiaries were properly recognized as a parent company’s profit under the Act on Accounts no. 3/2006 and as such formed a free funds of the parent company cf. paragraph 1 Article 74 in Act. no. 138/1998 on Private Limited Companies. At the same time, the Appeal Court agreed that any restrictions on the disposal of such funds in the form of dividends to shareholders, which did not receive direct legal reference in the provisions of Act. no. 138/1998 on Private Limited Companies, were prohibited. Furthermore, the Appeal Court stated that amending Act no. 73/2016 did not entail the legalization of an earlier rule stating that net income of subsidiaries should be considered restricted equity in the parent company´s annual accounts, but rather that the amending Act no. 73/2016 was an introduction of a new legal rule based on a European Directive. Thus, the Appeal Court revoked the decision of the Director of Internal Revenue and ordered the state to reimburse paid capital income tax in addition to paying legal cost.

According to the judgment of the Appeal Court, other parties who have been subject to taxation in similar circumstances may be entitled to a claim against the Icelandic state.

Iceland Seafood International hf. (“Iceland Seafood”), a customer of LEX, announced today that its shares will start trading on the main market of Nasdaq Iceland. Iceland Seafood was previously listed on Nasdaq First North Iceland and is the 48th company to list on Nasdaq’s Nordic markets in 2019. In the weeks before the listing Iceland Seafood held an IPO where 225,000,000 new shares in the company were offered to investors.

In a statement by Mr. Bjarni Ármannsson the CEO of Iceland Seafood it says: “We are very pleased to have reached this important milestone in Iceland Seafood’s journey and I would like to thank our staff and shareholders for their continuous support. There are considerable growth opportunities ahead of us and we are very grateful for the good reception our public share offering received from investors, enabling us to further act on these opportunities. We welcome new investors and look forward to working with them in the future.”

Magnus Hardarson, President of Nasdaq Iceland said. “Iceland Seafood has set a great example when it comes realizing its business strategies through making use of the opportunities the equity market has to offer. The company was listed on First North in 2016 and since that time its market value has grown by 250%. We congratulate the company and its staff on this great success, its transition to the Main market and look forward to continuing working with them towards further growth and visibility”.

LEX law offices advised Iceland Seafood on legal matters regarding the IPO and the listing process.