The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”; the Philippine Central Bank) issued BSP Circular No. 1149, series of 2022 (Guidelines on the Integration of Sustainability Principles in Investment Activities of Banks). The Circular sets expectations on the prudent conduct of investment activities, as well as minimum practices that banks must establish for the management and control of investment-related risks ...
Loan facilities and bond loans usually include financial covenants, which are financial metrics the borrower/issuer need to comply with during the term of the financing agreement. The Norwegian market is dominated by maintenance covenants, which means the covenants must be complied with at all times. Over the course of a few months, geopolitical unrest, high inflation and prolonged supply chain issues have led central banks to increase interest rates and lenders to increase their risk margins ...
The Supreme Court's judgment is a landmark decision of significant importance in the arena of company law and directors' duties ...
Investment Zones are a lot like Freeport tax sites, arguably with more benefits, so are they friend or foe to Freeports? Background Liz Truss pledged to boost growth with “full-fat” Freeports as part of her leadership campaign in July 2022 and it sounded like all systems were finally go for Freeports ...
pMany development authorities and other economic or industrial development authorities in the State of Georgia (each, an “Authority”) offer “Economic Development and Incentive” programs for private companies which commit to make new capital investments that promote trade and commerce and provide new employment or retain existing employment ...
According to news reports issued on October 16, 2022, to further facilitate foreign capital investment in China A shares, the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC") is considering formulating a special exemption rule for the short swing profit rule ("SSPR")[1] for foreign investors (e.g. qualified foreign investors/QFIs and foreign investors under the Stock Connect scheme) ...
On 14 October 2022, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) made amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations, 2002, which will come into force on 14 November 2022. In terms of these amendments, the prescribed amount for reporting cash transactions under section 28 of FICA to the Financial Intelligence Centre has increased from ZAR24 999 to ZAR49 999.99 ...
This week, BNY Mellon (“Mellon”), the nation’s oldest bank, announced it was making good on its February 2021 plan to develop the infrastructure necessary to serve as custodian for digital assets. Mellon announced the launch of a proprietary crypto custody software developed in partnership with Fireblocks, a digital asset custody, transfer, and settlement platform. With its announcement, Mellon became the first large U.S ...
On the 12th of July 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a Consultation Document on the reporting of major ICT-related incidents with a consultation period expiring on the 5th of August 2022. The MFSA worked on introducing an updated major ICT-related incident reporting process that replaces the previous process that was communicated on the 25th of September 2019 entitled ‘Cybersecurity – Threat Mitigation’ ...
On 30 September 2022, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) of the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Letter No. FE-73 (23/2022) as a result of discussions held during meeting No. (53/2022). The letter has allowed fuel import entities to make repayments of financing agreements in Chinese yuan (“RMB”) in a bid to prevent delays in oil distribution to consumers in Myanmar ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) has published its Guidance for CIS on measures to counter the risk of greenwashing (“Guidance”) which applies to all collective investment schemes which are authorised or registered under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and to those responsible for preparing the prospectuses and other marketing materials of such schemes ...
It has been a little over a year since the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), an international initiative established to combat money laundering published its Mutual Evaluation Report (“MER”) on South Africa in which it identified major “weak spots” in our compliance processes. The FATF gave the country a deadline of February 2023 to remedy all the deficiencies or face possible grey listing ...
S African countries grapple with the measures necessary to meet their nationally determined commitments (“NDCs”) under the Paris Agreement, it is critical to be primed to attract sustainable finance, and for central banks and regulators in each country to create a fertile environment for this redirection of capital ...
Kudun and Partners was invited by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Thailand branch to host and provide the opening remarks for CIArb’s first in-person event in several years featuring guest speakers, Kevin Nash, SIAC Registrar and Dr. Vanina Sucharitkul, Chair of the CIArb Thailand Branch ...
On 13 September 2022, the Microfinance Supervision Committee (“Committee“) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance issued Directive No.4/2022 (“Directive“), which outlines risk-based management strategies required of microfinance institutions (“MFIs“) to combat money laundering and terrorism. The Directive also pertains to Section 69 (c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Union Parliament Law No ...
On 28 March 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 497 which introduced a large-scale bankruptcy moratorium starting 1 April. We have already written about the moratorium and the consequences of its introduction for creditors and debtors in more detail here and here. The legal regulation of the moratorium was established in accordance with Article 9.1 of the Bankruptcy Law and the clarifications set forth in Resolution No ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
The Proposed VASP Bill primarily: (i) defines the virtual assets activities that require registration; (ii) prescribes the criteria for a virtual assets service provider (“VASP”) to register; (iii) sets out the ongoing requirements and obligations of VASPs; and (iv) specifies the enforcement and general powers of the Commission as well as the penalties for contravening or failing to comply with, a provision of the Proposed VASP Bill ...
Bank Indonesia recently updated its regulation on domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions. Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 24/7/PBI/2022 on Foreign Exchange Market Transactions (“BI Reg. 24/7/2022”) replaces the previous regulation on DNDF, BI Regulation No. 20/10/PBI/2018 (as amended). BI Reg. 24/7/2022 makes some noteworthy amendments on the DNDF terms and introduces new thresholds and provisions on DNDF transactions ...
The ever-growing industry of Peer-to-Peer Lending (“P2P Lending”) has driven the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan – “OJK”) to issue OJK Regulation No. 10/POJK.05/2022 on Technology-Based Collective Financing Services, which came into force on 4 July 2022. The regulation provides more detailed and extensive provisions to cater with the rapid development of the industry ...
As part of the UK Government’s review of the UK funds regime it has included in the Finance Act 2022, (the Act) a new regime for qualifying asset-holding companies (QAHCs). This regime came into effect on 1 April 2022. The QAHC regime provides a tax efficient, UK resident vehicle through which certain types of institutional investors and funds can hold investments ...
Lauren Bowkett is a fraud and financial crime expert in the Business Crime and Compliance Team at Shoosmiths. She is an expert in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and has successfully intervened in numerous POCA cases to assert her clients third party interest rights ...
