On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus which first originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the death toll from which has reportedly surpassed 1,000 on mainland China, while confirmed infections have passed 40,000 globally ...
Summary On January 13, 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issued final regulations to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA)1 (the “Regulations”2). The Regulations go into effect on February 13, 2020. CFIUS’s existing regulations (the “Pilot Program”) will continue to apply to transactions that close prior to February 13, 2020 ...
The False Claims Act (FCA) was enacted to punish and deter fraud against the United States, and to recover moneys obtained through such fraud. Whether an alleged fraud was actually against the United States is a threshold question not posed in the typical FCA case, where allegations usually involve claims for payment submitted to the Army, Navy, Medicare, or other entity clearly part of the federal government. But some cases are not so clear ...
Thailand is at a powerful crossroads in its economic development. After several decades of consistent growth, it is now preparing to finally break through and become a high-income nation. To do this, it is focusing on smart industry. A high-income Thailand is one driven by technological progress, so the government has begun pouring money into robotics and automation ...
NEWSFLASH The commencement date of POPIA is no April Fool’s joke. the Chairperson of the Information Regulator, Advocate Pansy Tlakula, recently sent a request to President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare that the remaining provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) commence on 1 April 2020 (“commencement date”). it is expected that the president will act on this request ...
Case Law The Tax Court of South Africa, Cape Town IT 24819 whether insufficiency of funds was not reasonably foreseeable, and therefore constitutes reasonable grounds for non-payment of employees tax, considered. correct interpretation of the number of days for payment of employees tax considered as a point in limine. find a copy of this judgment here ...
Following the presentation of the 2020 Budget proposal and Finance Bill, 2019 to the National Assembly in October 2019, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, MR. Muhammadu Buhari, signed the Bill into law on 13 January 2020. The Finance Act, 2019 (the “Act”) introduces amendments to the Companies Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Petroleum Profits Tax Act, Personal Income Tax Act, Capital Gains Tax Act, Customs and Excise Tariff Act and Stamp Duties Act ...
On 11th August, Federal Law dated 31.07.2020, No. 305-FZ, introducing a new type of visa for entering Russia, came into force. This unified electronic visa is a single-entry visa for the following purposes: guest, business, tourism, scientific, cultural, social and political, economic, and sports, or corresponding ties and contacts ...
Following our previous general Q&As on labor management issues that may arise during the novel coronavirus pneumonia (“2019-nCOV”) epidemic prevention and control period, we have compiled for your reference additional issues that are of interest to enterprises and prepared interpretations of the policies newly promulgated by the local governments ...
The 2020 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature just reached the 30th day, or its half way point. As of today, the House has introduced 1289 bills, while the Senate introduced 725. We will continue reporting on and tracking the progress of significant legislation during the course of the session. During the legislative process, certain critical deadlines are imposed by the Legislature that impact the consideration of pending bills and their chances of success ...
In another step in President Trump's ongoing efforts to relax environmental restrictions impacting economic development, on January 10, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality published its proposed rulemaking to update its regulations for implementing procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") ("Proposed Rule"). The deadline for filing comments on the Proposed Rule is March 10, 2020 ...
Majoritarianism, South African courts have acknowledged, is the concept that the will of the majority is favoured over the will of the minority in serving the legislative purpose of advancing labour peace, orderly collective bargaining and the democratisation of the workplace. But a fundamental pitfall of majoritarianism is the possibility that the rights of the minority could be infringed pursuant to the will of the majority ...
In 2000, Jennifer Lopez debuted the much-publicised and spoken about Versace jungle pattern dress at the Grammy Awards. The dress offered surprisingly little coverage for a garment that comprised so much material. Some 20 years on, Versace is suing a company called Fashion Nova for selling a jungle pattern look-a-like. Versace’s complaint is that Fashion Nova’s dress will cause confusion, in the sense that the public will assume that it is connected with Versace ...
In South Africa, copyright judgments are few and far between, especially judgments of the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”). This makes the recent case of Tellytrack v Marshalls World of Sport (Pty) Ltd and others, worth noting, even if it does deal with a somewhat esoteric issue. The case concerned the world of horse racing ...
You know what it’s like – you have a cushy job, you’re earning well, you’re travelling the world. Yet, you’re still not happy. The head honcho stubbornly refuses to retire, the designated successor clearly isn’t right for the job, and you have this somewhat awkward relationship with the next-in-line ...
Following our previous general Q&As on labor management issues that may arise during the novel coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) epidemic prevention and control period, we have compiled for your reference additional issues identified in the regulatory documents promulgated by central and local governments and human resources and social security bureaus ...
The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has recently issued two technical advisories with helpful California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidance on two prominent California land use topics. The first advisory outlines potential CEQA exemptions for immediate-term disaster recovery, with the goal of helping communities and public agencies prepare their climate change adaptation and resilience strategies ...
A flurry of regulatory documents has been promulgated in response to the recent large-scale spread of the novel coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”), many of which substantially impact the rights and interests of enterprises and their employees ...
In last quarter’s issue, we discussed the rise of digital currencies and the blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology that supports them. We now turn our focus to how the financial industry and governments have embraced this technology and are working to adapt it to traditional banking services and applications as far ranging as recording property transfers and safeguarding nuclear missiles ...
Near the end of 2007, the United States was hit by the subprime mortgage market meltdown. For years before, the public had experienced a steady increase in home prices and a seemingly never-ending supply of mortgage lending. Homeowners were able to enjoy ever-increasing home equity and mortgage products, virtually guaranteeing that anyone who wanted to get financed could ...
As we enter into a new decade, we cannot over emphasize the importance of protecting your brands. In this digital age, trademarks are becoming more vulnerable to infringement. Mass production and counterfeit products are swamping the market ...
