The Singapore Convention cements the Lion City’s reputation as a dispute resolution hub, making mediation easier to enforce globally. Clients who come to see me about commercial disputes often ask for the same thing: fast resolution. I tell them that there are two tried-and-tested ways to resolve financial claims. First, you can litigate in court and have a judge make a legal ruling on the dispute, in the full gaze of the public ...
ANGOLA: Introduction of VAT postponed The introduction of value-added tax (“VAT”), scheduled for 1 July 2019, was postponed to October following discussions between the Angolan Government and the Business Technical Group (“GTE”), which advocated implementing VAT only in January 2020 ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement enters into force The Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Ethiopian House of Representatives approved the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 14 March and 21 March 2019, respectively. The Moroccan Council of Government approved the ACFTA on 21 February 2019 ...
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”)entered into force on 30 May 2019 following the approval by the minimum required 22 countries. The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade zone formed after the World Trade Organization, covering a market of 1.2-billion people ...
ETHIOPIA: Bills amending customs and VAT proclamations endorsed by Council of Ministers On 26 May 2019, the Council of Ministers endorsed a new bill amending Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014, expected to address practical problems and create a conducive business environment. The Council of Ministers also endorsed a bill amending a number of provisions of Value Added Tax Proclamation No. 285/2002 on 18 May 2019 ...
Traditionally financial institutions have preferred litigation over international arbitration. The reasons are many, but they are mainly related to the fact that arbitrators generally lack the power to render summary judgments, to grant interim measures, and that there is no precedent in international arbitration. However, international arbitration has gain ground in the last few years, due to the fact that arbitral institutions have addressed the main criticisms to the system ...
Legislation Aligns State and Federal Laws On July 17, 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed Senate Bill (S.B.) No. 57, which decriminalizes hemp and creates licensure programs for those wanting to cultivate or process hemp and hemp byproducts. Ohio was one of the few states that did not update its statutes to align with federal regulations following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp as a controlled substance at the federal level ...
For nearly the last 20 years, states have been legalizing hemp growth, production, and products.[1] While hemp remained illegal federally and was included in the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substance Act, numerous states began exploring the validity of hemp as a viable product. Marijuana legislation was not far behind ...
The SGX has beefed up delisting rules, making it harder for controlling shareholders to privatise listed companies. Is this a victory for minority shareholders, or yet another restriction that will make us a less attractive listing venue? We all knew it was coming ...
The presidential election is over and the incumbent president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo,known familiarly as ‘Jokowi’, has officially been re-elected as the President of The Republic of Indonesia for the 2019-2024 term ...
On 13 June 2019, the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (“MPW”) issued Regulation No. 09/PRT/M/2019 on Guidelines on Licensing Services for Foreign Construction Business Entities (“Reg No. 9/2019”) replacing:(i) MPW Regulation No. 10/PRT/M/2014 on Guidelines on Issuing Licenses to Representatives of Foreign Construction Service Corporate Bodies (“Reg No. 10/2014”); and (ii) MPW Regulation No ...
On July 2, 2019, the PTO announced it will implement a rule requiring U.S. counsel for foreign-domiciled trademark applicants and registrants. The new rule is effective August 3, 2019, and applies to all trademark owners with a foreign address. We discussed the rule in ourFebruary Alert. For any new filings after the effective date, licensed U.S. counsel must be designated ...
On July 1, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 97 with the intent to reduce the illicit cannabis market by bringing more people into the legal marketplace and to ensure that persons most harmed by cannabis criminalization be offered assistance to enter into the billion-dollar cannabis industry. Below is a summary of the most important aspects of AB 97 ...
California Assembly Bill No. 205 was approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 9, 2019. Assembly Member Tom Daly, who represents California’s 69th district of Orange County cities Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Garden Grove, introduced AB-205 to expand the definition of “beer” under Business & Professions Code §23006, which is part of the Alcohol Beverage Control Act. The new law is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020 ...
Under Dutch corporate law it is possible for the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to order an inquiry into the policies and affairs of a company and to interfere with the internal organization of such legal entity in order to settle corporate disputes between shareholders, the management and supervisory boards and the works council. The present article creates an overview of these legal proceedings. 1 ...
On June 17, the Supreme Court declined to overturn the Dual Sovereign Doctrine, maintaining individuals may be prosecuted under both federal and state law for the same criminal conduct. The Court’s decision was a loss for Petitioner Terance Martez Gamble, who had been prosecuted twice for illegal possession of a firearm, first in state court and then in federal court. In 2008, Gamble pleaded guilty to felony robbery in the state of Alabama ...
As seen on Law360: The 2018 Farm Bill[1] relaxed restrictions covering hemp-based cannabis products, and it is causing a shift in business strategies in the industry. Instead of a full prohibition of trademark registrations covering cannabis goods or services, a narrow range of filings is now permitted, so long as they conform to the requirements of the Farm Bill and the latest USPTO guidelines ...
Below you will find a brief summary of the resolutions of the data protection authority uploaded on their website up until today imposing a fine under the GDPR. 1. Failure to facilitate the exercise of data subjects' rights The data subject wanted to exercise his access right, right to receive a copy, and his right to restrict processing of camera recordings of him at the reception area of a service provider ...
The Twenty-first Amendment—which repealed Prohibition—gives states broad authority to regulate alcohol within their borders. But can states impose residency requirements on alcohol retail licensees? The U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of seven to two in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas, answered no. As state alcohol regulators adjust their licensing processes to comply with the ruling, retailers and wholesalers may see changes in the alcohol market ...
Numerous corporate governance scandals over the past 15 years involving S-chips have tarred these mainland-operating, Singapore-listed companies with the same brush. But do all S-chips deserve their bad reputation?It was meant to be one of the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) success stories. One of our biggest skincare companies, Best World International saw its profits grow almost 40 fold between 2013 and 2017. It was valued at S$1.8 billion at its peak in February 2019 ...
There have been several significant U.S.-China trade developments in June. Notably, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued procedures for seeking an exclusion for parties adversely affected by the increased 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion of goods imported from China that came into effect on May 10, 2019 (List 3). The USTR also extended by two weeks the entry deadline to avoid this increased List 3 25 percent tariff ...
Beginning next month, used car dealers in West Virginia may sell vehicles directly to consumers without a single warranty that the vehicles are operational or safe to drive. The so-called “As Is” bill – approved last March by the West Virginia Legislature – will allow merchants to make sales on an “as is” basis, effectively eliminating any implied warranties about a vehicle’s merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose ...
Introduction The latest in the series of insolvency regime reformations in the Middle East is the new Dubai International Financial Centre insolvency law; DIFC Law 1 of 2019 (the New Law). Subject to article 1(4) of the New Law, the New Law repeals and replaces DIFC Insolvency Law 3 of 2013 (the Old Law). Article 3 of the New Law states that it applies in the jurisdiction of the DIFC, meaning that it applies to all DIFC incorporated entities ...
General The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“SCB’), the independent regulatory body responsible for digital assets and investor protection, has issued the draft Digital Assets and Registered Exchange Bill (“DARE Bill”) for industry consultation. The DARE Bill prescribes the legal requirements for issuance and sale of digital tokens, and the regulation of issuers and those conducting digital asset business in or from The Bahamas ...
Overruling 38 years of precedent, the NLRB has determined employers have no duty to permit union organizers to use “public space” to solicit union support on their property. UPMC and SEIU, 368 NLRB No. 2 (June 14, 2019). UPMC is a hospital system based in western Pennsylvania. SEIU organizers visited the hospital cafeteria and distributed organizing materials to employees over lunch discussing union organizing activity ...
