On September 17, 2021, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (“HKEX”) published a consultation paper (the “Consultation Paper”) to publicly seek market opinions on draft amendments to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Exchange (the “Listing Rules”). The amendments aim to promote and implement a listing regime for special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) in Hong Kong ...
October 2021 Ordinances n°2021-1192 and 2021-1193 of September 15, 2021, respectively reforming security law and amending Book VI of the French Commercial Code, implement mandates of the PACTE Law of May 22, 2019[1] to: modernize security law[2], improve the articulation of security law with collective proceedings law[3] and transpose the (EU) Directive 2019/1023 of June 20, 2019[4], known as the "Restructuring and Insolvency Directive"[5] ...
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 (the 'Act') amends the Pensions Act 2004 (the '2004 Act') in order to provide the Pensions Regulator ('TPR') with a wealth of new powers. Now that the day we have all been waiting for, 1 October 2021 (when the majority of the Act’s provisions were due to come into force) has come and gone, we’re taking a look the material provisions which came into force on that date - and what those changes mean ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, Our Employment and Administrative Law partner, Vijayan Venugopal, has authored the Law and Practice chapter (Malaysia) of the Chambers Global Practice Guides: Employment 2021. The chapter covers the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2020, terms of employment, restrictive covenants, data privacy law, foreign workers, collective relations, termination of employment, employment disputes and dispute resolution. Click here to read more ...
Regional Labor Team The recruitment and selection process is critical for companies and certain principles related to the dignity of the human person must be respected during its execution ...
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu. On Wednesday, June 9, El Salvador published in its Official Gazette a historic event worldwide, the first law in the world that provided a digital asset, specifically the bitcoin with unrestricted and unlimited clearance power in any transactions that natural persons, public or private legal entities carry out in any capacity, therefore, bitcoin became a legal tender in El Salvador ...
Preliminary concepts: Prior to conducting an analysis of the Bitcoin Law (hereinafter “BTC Law”), it is important to clarify two fundamental concepts regarding this type of digital assets: – What is bitcoin? A bitcoin is a decentralized digital asset created in 2009 by one or more people under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, with the mission of being a virtual currency or an instrument of electronic exchange to acquire products and services
Advance payment can be understood as: “… the payment made before the occurrence of the generating event that constitutes the future and uncertain event on which the legal force of the obligation depends” (Giulani Fonrouge and Susana Navarrine in “Procedimiento Tributario”, Editorial de Palma, page 159) ...
On 28 September 2021, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (“MLVT”) issued Prakas 264 on the Determination of Minimum Wage for Workers in the Garment, Textile, Footwear, Travel Product and Bag Sectors (“Prakas 264”), to set new minimum wage for 2022, which will be effective from 1 January 2022. Under Prakas 264, workers in the relevant sectors will be entitled to the following new minimum wage: For regular workers, USD 194 per month ...
On 10 February 2021, the Royal Thai Government Gazette announced the Act Amending Revenue Code No.53 (the “Act”). This Act stipulates that overseas electronic service providers and online platforms must now register for and pay VAT on electronic services, delivered over the internet or other electronic networks (“Electronic Services”) supplied to non-VAT registered consumers in Thailand. This VAT applies to such transactions from 1 September 2021 onward ...
What is litigation funding and why is it attractive? Also known as legal finance or litigation finance, third party funding – historically – was considered an improper or corrupting influence on litigation. These old offences of champerty and maintenance were first decriminalised in England in 1967 ...
In fact, the impact of the pandemic on private clients has been the opposite: many have experienced increases in their personal wealth that have been nothing short of startling. According to the Global Wealth Report published by Credit Suisse in June 2021, more than five million people became millionaires across the world in 2020 despite economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic ...
October 6, 2021 By: Jennifer Guerrero While a remote work environment can provide many benefits to all of the parties involved, it also can present significant challenges for organizations that need to remain Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) compliant ...
In 2021, warehouse distribution centers were at the forefront of California law, regulations, and environmental initiatives. These efforts seek to regulate labor practices of warehouse operators and the environmental impacts caused by the expansion and concentration of distribution centers over the last decade. This article summarizes AB 701 and other initiatives in California targeting warehouse distribution operations ...
In our final quarterly case law update for 2021, we look at some of the key cases published since July 2021 and consider the lessons we can learn from them. Furlough and redundancy As a result of the backlog within the Employment Tribunal system, we are only just starting to see the Tribunal making decisions on the actions taken by employers during the pandemic, specifically in their use of furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ...
We are often asked to opine on the status of anti-discrimination law on the island, as many believe that it does not exist. In fact it does exist, albeit to a limited extent: The Sex Discrimination (Employment) (Guernsey) Ordinance 2005 renders it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees and job applicants on grounds of sex, marriage or gender reassignment ...
Although Oregon’s 2021 legislative session turned out to be relatively quiet from a tax perspective, we did experience some changes to Oregon’s Corporate Activity Tax (“CAT”). Those changes were primarily in the form of SB 164. The enactment of SB 164 ushers in the following CAT changes. Fiscal Year Filings ...
The shift to flexible working has never been more pronounced than now as we make a steady return to the workplace following the pandemic. National headlines recently highlighted the risk for employers of failing to properly consider requests for flexible working. The case of Thompson v Scancrown Ltd t/a Manors resulted in the claimant, Mrs Thompson, being awarded just over £180,000 for indirect discrimination following the rejection of her flexible working request ...
The government has announced a series of measures to tackle ongoing shortages of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers and poultry workers in the UK. This includes relaxing immigration rules to offer over 10,000 temporary visas in the run up to Christmas. Brexit, the Coronavirus pandemic, tax changes and additional factors such as an ageing workforce have all contributed to a shortage of food processing workers and HGV drivers in the United Kingdom ...
Covering employee wages since 1 March 2020, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ("furlough") is set to end on 30 September 2021, with a deadline for final claims to be made by 14 October 2021. Employers still using the scheme should be engaging with employees about its end, and may now need to make some tough decisions that have been postponed while furlough continued ...
