The next state in our series exploring non-compete agreements is the Magnolia State, Mississippi. Unlike Texas and Louisiana, Mississippi’s noncompete laws are purely creatures of the common law. Mississippi has no statutory scheme in place governing covenants not to compete. For this chapter we are joined by my partners Justin Scott and Slates Veazey ...
SME Merger and Acquisition instruments exempt from stamp dutyThe Prime Minister announced that starting from 1 July 2020 until 30 June 2021, eligible SMEs will be exempted from paying stamp duty on instruments for Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A instruments”), including Contracts or Agreements for sale or lease of properties (including land, building, machinery and equipment); Instrument of Transfer and Memorandum of Understanding; Loans or Financing Agreement; and First Tenancy
Compounding of Offences under the Malaysian Trademarks Act 2019 and RegulationsSection 136 (2) of the Trademarks Act 2019 (“Act”) grants the Controller with the power to compound offences under the Act. In essence, compounding means payment as a settlement in lieu of prosecution of an offence.Further, section 136 (1) of the Act empowers the Minister to make regulations pertaining to compounding with the approval of the Public Prosecutor ...
A case note by Datin Jeyanthini Kannaperan and Koo Yin Soon.The Legal BackdropIndefeasibility of title is the immunity obtained by a registered proprietor or interest holder in property. This concept is encoded in Section 340 of the National Land Code 1965 (“Section 340”) which sets out both how such immunity operates and the exceptions to the immunity ...
THE POSITION BEFORE THE SEC STATEMENT The Security and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) on 14 September 2020, released their Statement on Digital Assets and their Classification and Treatment (the “Statement”) pursuant to the powers conferred on it by the Investment and Securities Act 2007[1](“ISA”) ...
In a major win for sellers of services and intangibles, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 29, 2020, that a taxpayer is entitled to Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) refunds stemming from its sale of contracts to an out-of-state buyer ...
Key Points Under the final regulations, the IRS can change the default rate of withholding applied to monthly pension or annuity payments simply by issuing new forms, instructions, or other guidance, rather than by having to issue new regulations. Plan administrators and annuity providers should consider making changes to their systems and processes to allow frequent changes to the default withholding rate for pension or annuity payments ...
For the financial services sector, 2020 was to be the year of rebuilding after the royal commission reckoning of 2018-2019. But with 2020 presenting circumstances that were previously unimaginable, the sector – like the entire Australian economy – has a whole new set of challenges to face… As 2020 ticks on, the financial services industry is grappling with new challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn ...
In Harris v. University Village Thousand Oaks, CCRC, LLC, plaintiffs, residents at Defendant’s continuing care retirement community who had previously signed binding arbitration agreements in their continuing care contracts, argued that under applicable California law, the arbitration agreements were invalid and they could therefore litigate their claims in a court of law. Defendant University Village sought to enforce the arbitration provisions of the continuing care contracts ...
A Florida district court recently dismissed without prejudice a False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam action, finding the action precluded by the first-to-file bar. See United States ex rel. Cho v. H.I.G. Capital, LLC, No. 8:17-cv-983-T-33AEP, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155373 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2020) ...
BAG, ruling dated May 13, 2020, 4 AZR 528/19 The employee's remuneration, referred to in an employment contract as "collectively agreed salary" is to be understood as a "dynamic reference clause". If a reference "to the collective agreements applicable for the Company" has been agreed upon in the employment contract, this reference is limited to the binding collective agreements applicable for the employer at the time the contract is concluded ...
As courts cautiously resume in-person hearings across the country, there is looming uncertainty about when—or if—civil jury trials will ever resume. For instance, B.C. and some regions in Ontario have announced that civil jury trials are suspended until at least 2021—and Ontario is considering whether to abolish them altogether ...
The Tax Court of Canada (the “Court”) recently upheld the deductibility of carrying charges incurred in connection with an issuance of shares. In so doing, the court upheld the tax benefits arising from a common financing practice. In addition, the Court reiterated the principle in tax matters according to which, save in exceptional cases, the legal relationships established by one or more taxpayers must be respected ...
A company’s need for substantial amounts of capital is intensified when looking to grow quickly, or develop an innovative product that will disrupt the market in a meaningful way. This is true to any company, and is especially true to innovative and disruptive startups, which aim at creating new markets, revolutionizing existing ones and prevailing over traditional market participants ...
Law 58/2020 of 31 August implemented Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 and Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23October 2018 into Portuguese law. The new law entered into force on 1 September 2020 and introduced considerable changes to the existing rules in order to implement new measures to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the Portuguese legal system ...
Law 58/2020 came into force on 1 September 2020 and it implements into Portuguese law: Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing, commonly known as the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive; and Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2018 on combating money laundering by cr
Law 50/2020 of 25 August transposed into Portuguese national law Directive (EU) 2017/828 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 May 2017 as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement. This directive is known as the Shareholder Rights Directive II and it amends the previous Directive 2007/36/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 July 2007 ...
BUSINESS STABILIZATION AND RESTRUCTURING ACT (STARUG) On 18 September 2020, the German Federal Department of Justice published a first draft bill for the implementation of the EU Directive 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks of 20 June 2019 (the „Draft Bill“) ...
Since 2017, the courts in Hong Kong have recognised various rights of same-sex couples, including the right to be granted a dependent visa, spousal benefits, and tax benefits. In 2020, two more cases went before the court seeking determination on issues relating to foreign same-sex marriage ...
Businesses that open their doors to customers, guests, and other visitors during the pandemic must be vigilant, not only to keep their premises safe to those who enter, but also to avoid lawsuits by individuals who claim they contracted COVID-19 on business premises ...
When a company is faced with defending itself against a large claim, it often requires the availability of insurance proceeds from not just the company’s primary insurer, but also from its excess insurance layers. In this scenario, however, excess insurers sometimes will refuse to step in after exhaustion of the underlying insurance layers, arguing that the exhaustion of those underlying layers was wrongful due to payments for uncovered claims ...
There a number of reasons why Hong Kong banks freeze a customer’s bank account but this article is limited to exploring why Hong Kong banks may be required to do so for money laundering reasons. The money laundering offence in Hong Kong law The offence of “money laundering” is prosecuted in Hong Kong under section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 455 (“OSCO”) ...
