We are in unprecedented times. The Covid-19 pandemic has swept the globe like a tsunami and it continues to wreak havoc on countries, people and economies. The effects of the pandemic are evident now. For example, the US unemployment rate is presently at 14.7%. In the peak of the financial crisis of 2008, the unemployment rate was 10% ...
The Amendments to the Agreement on Trade in Services of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Amendment) which was signed on 21 November 2019 has come into force on 1 June 2020. Trade in Services is one of the four major areas covered by the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), under which Hong Kong service suppliers enjoy preferential treatment when entering certain service sectors in the Mainland ...
States’ responses to the global pandemic may, however well-intended, harm the interests of inward investors. Under international public law, those investors have rights and so a spate of investor-State arbitral claims may well be a legacy of the pandemic. Across the world, governments have responded to Covid-19 by introducing emergency measures, which have inhibited social interaction and hampered economic activity ...
As corporate policyholders continue to submit claims to their insurers for business interruption and related losses sustained from the COVID-19 pandemic, insurers appear to be denying such claims routinely where the policies at issue contain exclusionary language specific to viruses — whether in stand-alone virus exclusions or other types of exclusions ...
The Canadian government, concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on corporate valuations, has issued guidance that it will pay particular attention to foreign direct investments of any value (meaning, even investments that are not subject to review under the Investment Canada Act (the “ICA”)). The government’s announcement does not amend the ICA, nor any thresholds for review ...
Business interruption insurance claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic have raised numerous questions for practitioners, businesses, and insurers ...
I. Background On March 4, 2020, Supreme Decree (the “SD”) Nr. 183, issued by the Ministry of National Defense, Undersecretary for the Armed Forces, was published in the Official Gazette (the “Amendment”), which amended SD Nr. 9, the New Regulation on Maritime Concessions (the “New Regulation”), which in turn substituted the previous regulation contained in SD Nr. 2 of 2005, issued by the former Undersecretary of Navy. II ...
Two new bills, the Insurance Amendment Bill and the Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Bill have recently been gazetted making significant changes to the regulatory regime for insurance companies. Insurance Amendment Bill Special purpose insurer An amendment is made to allow registration of an insurance company which engages in special purpose business only ...
Following the global trend for tax transparency and fighting harmful tax practices, Ukraine finally adopted its ownanti-BEPS package law, known by businesses and tax practitioners as "tax bill 1210". Asters selected the key takeaways for businesses operating across the borders. The law is in effect starting from 23 May 2020 with some provisions taking effect later. I ...
The last two years have seen an expansion of regulations related to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), both in the United States and abroad. COVID-19 is driving further expansion of FDI in the U.S. and elsewhere. Owners and investors need to know — expansion of regulations gaps closed in national security reviews new inclusion of medical supplies and food non-controlling investments also scrutinized Whether by intent or coincidence, the U.S ...
On 18 May 2020, the UAE government announced the following timings with effect from today, 20 May 2020: the National Disinfection Programme will take place between 08:00pm (not 10:00pm) to 06:00am the following day. working hours of butchers, mills and cafes will be from 06:00am to 08:00pm. commercial centres and malls will be open from 09:00am to 07:00pm (with new opening hours to be announced after the upcoming Eid ...
The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority has released several documents related to the merger notification regime that was effectively implemented on 15 May 2020, the effective date of Decree 35. As the National Competition Committee has not yet been appointed, the documents clarify that, in accordance with its responsibility under Article 7 ...
The Abu Dhabi Global Market has announced amendments to its Companies Regulations. The Companies Regulations 2020 (2020 Regulations) repeal the Companies Regulations 2015 (as amended). We have summarised below the key changes under the 2020 Regulations.Companies Regulations 2020 Effect of amendmentSection 3One of the ways in which a restricted scope company can be incorporated is if the founding members are a group of people who are from the same family (as approved by the Registrar) ...
The DMCC Authority recently passed DMCC Guidelines 1 of 2020 (DMCC Guidelines) setting out what actions DMCC employers can take with respect to their employees during the COVID-19 Precautionary Measures Period. DMCC entities can: • Request employees to work remotely and implement means to monitor them (without infringing their privacy). Working remotely does not however apply to key employees working in Vital Industries ...
On Monday, 4 May 2020, the government submitted an amendment to the Compensation Bonus Act to the Chamber of Deputies. The amendment should support, in addition to self-employed individuals (sole proprietors), certain shareholders in limited liability companies. This article provides details on the requirements, forms of application, and the amount of compensation ...
At its meeting on April 30, 2020, the government approved the abolition of the 4% real estate acquisition tax and related changes in the Income Tax Act. The content of the proposal of the Ministry of Finance is described below. However, there are likely to be some adjustments to this wording as a result of the coalition agreement. According to the media, the change should concern the maintenance of the tax deduction of interest on real estate acquired until the end of 2021 ...
The government has started to announce the dismantling of certain Covid19 measures and from Monday, April 27, 2020, it now allows business trips for foreigners to the Czech Republic, in respect of which business people were mounting pressure therefore. However, it set out a number of conditions and rules, which are further modified. The original Government Crisis Measure No. 443 was repealed on 1 May 2020 and replaced by Government Crisis Measure No. 495 ...
The European Commission recently issued guidelines on mobile applications supporting the fight against COVID-19 in relation to data protection. Mobile applications commonly installed on smartphones can act as a support mechanism for health authorities at the national and EU level in monitoring and managing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are particularly important in easing measures to reduce the spread of the disease ...
Price moratorium on rent from apartments - rents cannot be increased! On 24 April 2020, a moratorium on rental prices of apartments, issued by the Ministry of Finance (“MF”) came into force, which was adopted in the form of Government Decree No. 202/2020 Coll. This is a protective measure for tenants, which stipulates that the rent for an apartment cannot be increased for a limited period of time. This price moratorium is related also to Act No. 209/2020 Coll ...
The state of emergency in the Czech Republic was extended until May 17, 2020. What does this mean? At its meeting held on 28 April 2020, the Chamber of Deputies decided to extend the state of emergency until 17 May 2020. By Resolution No. 194 (published in the Collection of Laws under No ...
An increasing number of captives have been looking at writing business interruption coverage for their owners. They should tread carefully, as doing so without following the correct procedures could have adverse tax implications. The outbreak of COVID-19 has caught many businesses off guard and in need of cash. Some hope their business interruption insurance policies will provide coverage for a loss of income suffered from a slowdown or suspension of operations ...
Key Points Cafeteria plans may permit mid-year election changes prospectively, including health and dependent care FSA contributions, to address effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Grace period for health and dependent care FSAs may be extended through 2020, even for plans that allow carryovers. Employers must notify eligible employees of temporary plan changes, and adopt plan amendments by the end of 2021 ...
“We continue to work closely with Member States to ensure that European businesses have access to urgently needed liquidity”, said the vice-president of the European Commission (“Commission”) Margrethe Vestager in connection with the amendment to the Temporary Framework on State aid adopted on 8 May 2020 ...
Below is a summary of key new measures that have been implemented by various UAE authorities since 30 April 2020 and the time of this inBrief, 12:00 noon on Thursday, 7 May 2020. I. Economic Relief Measures A ...
Legislative Decree No 1476 (hereinafter referred to as the Legislative Decree) was published on May 05 2020. This Legislative Decree, through which - as expressly established - the aim would be to guarantee the transparency of information in the provision of services provided by private educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as Schools), to enable users of said services to make an appropriate and timely decision on such services ...
