Good news in times of crisis: The eagerly awaited draft of the Restructuring and Insolvency Directive Implementation Act (RIRL-UG) was published yesterday. The law with which Directive (EU) 2019/1023 (Restructuring Directive) is implemented in Austria is to come into force on July 17, 2021 (at the end of the implementation period). The review phase will run until April 6, 2021 ...
By Michael C. Flynn and Melissa Richards On February 5, a Buchalter Client Alert discussed CFPB Acting Director Uejio’s announcement that he was considering delaying implementation of the two new QM Final Rules (the “General QM final rule”, which creates a new definition for QMs generally, and the “Seasoned QM Final Rule”, which establishes a new “Seasoned QM”), and stated that the CFPB might consider changes to both rules ...
Bradley attorneys Aaron Chastain, Lee Gilley, Riley Key, Jonathan Kolodziej, and Robert Maddox authored Chapter 11: Debt Collection Practices in the publication of Consumer Finance Law: Understanding Consumer Financial Services Regulations. A global pandemic, ensuing economic decline, and mandated changes from the Dodd-Frank Act have provided greater challenges and opportunities in the consumer markets resulting in rapid change in the regulatory environment for businesses ...
According to the Institute for Family Business, over five million family businesses in the UK generate more than a third of UK GDP. In 2018, the family business sector paid £196 billion in tax (over a quarter of the Government's total revenue) and employed 14 million people in the UK (50% of private sector employment) ...
The UK Government has published the National Security and Investment Bill – a proposed law that will introduce a screening process for certain acquisitions and investments and which is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. The National Security and Investment Bill has now had its second reading and is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. We take a look at what it will cover ...
On 24 February 2021, the Finance Secretary Paul Chan delivered the 2021-22 Budget which highlighted upcoming government initiatives to promote the establishment of and re-domiciliation of offshore funds to Hong Kong using the Hong Kong open-ended fund company structure (OFC) ...
Earlier this month, Elon Musk revealed that Tesla, the electric car company run by the world's richest person, had bought $1.5bn (£1.1bn) in bitcoin and might soon also accept payment in the popular but controversial cryptocurrency. News of Tesla’s investment boosted bitcoin, and while lately it dropped from its record high, it appears to be rebounding. Cryptocurrency investment continues to move into the mainstream as global interest rates remain at record lows ...
Bradley attorneys Aron Beezley and Nathaniel Greeson highlight the administrative bid protest landscape in New York given the state's abundant acquisition economy. New York state's budget is the second largest in the country, and with it, New York has some of the most developed state acquisition laws and procedures in the country. Accordingly, New York provides comparatively robust bid protest rights when it comes to state-level bid protests ...
Regarding the Public Tender Process for the supply of energy and power to distribution companies that will take place this year (“2021/01 Tender Process”), please consider the following: On December 21, 2020, the National Energy Commission (CNE) approved the definitive Tender Rules for this process (the "Rules"), by means of the Exempt Resolution No. 478 ...
On 8 February 2021, The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a consultation paper on (i) the proposed code of conduct on bookbuilding and placing activities in equity capital market (ECM) and debt capital market (DCM) transactions (Proposed Code) and (ii) the “sponsor coupling” proposal (together, the Proposals) ...
This bulletin is on recent Philippine legal developments in data privacy, fintech and digital banks. PRIVACY UPDATE Caring about Sharing: New Rules on Data Sharing Agreements On December 23, 2020, the Philippine data privacy regulator, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) issued NPC Circular No. 2020-03 on data sharing agreements (2020 DSA Circular).1 The circular supersedes NPC Circular No ...
The objective of open banking is to have a payments and markets infrastructure which provides customers with the ability to review all their banking and financial information seamlessly. Open banking will lead to a situation where regardless of how many accounts and financial products a customer has with multiple institutions, he can manage them from a centralised location without having to check out from one system to another ...
The HKMA published a report titled “AML/CFT Regtech: Case Studies and Insights” highlighting the opportunities that Regtech offers to transform the effectiveness and efficiency of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT”) efforts, and sharing end-to-end approaches which worked in real-life examples ...
The FSI has published the BIS’s research paper titled “Fintech regulation: how to achieve a level playing field” in February 2021 (the “Paper”). The Paper explores how regulation should evolve to encourage fair competition between traditional banks and new fintech and big tech players ...
ASIFMA, together with the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance, published a paper entitled “Data Challenges and Opportunities for ESG and Sustainable Finance in Asia Pacific” – a result of a year-long review of sustainability data challenges facing the industry in the Asia Pacific ...
Post-Brexit, it’s now even more important for farming families to understand how changes to direct payments and valuation of farmland can affect succession, asset protection and family disputes. We explain what you need to know. Leaving the EU resulted in the UK leaving the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which paid farmers direct payments and has been a significant source of income for many farmers ...
As mentioned in our article published on 3 April 2020, the deadline for compliance with the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC’s) circular of 8 July 2019 on new measures to protect client assets (Circular) was extended to 31 January 2021. With these new measures in place, intermediaries are now required to obtain confirmation from authorised institutions (AIs) (i.e ...
On 23 December 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) relating to Open-ended Fund Companies (OFCs) on matters related to custodians and the custody of assets and records of the OFC. Appointment of multiple custodians Under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, all scheme property of an OFC must be entrusted to a custodian of the OFC for safekeeping ...
On 5 February 2021, financial authorities in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, including the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), jointly signed a memorandum of understa
With the main goal of the EU being to cut CO2 emissions in order to become carbon neutral by 2050, offshore represents valuable “available space” for the development of clean energy projects. While in some cases offshore is already a crowded place, other offshore locations are still free of significant energy infrastructure. Therefore, planning ahead is more important than ever ...
Social bonds, which raise funds for new or existing projects seeking to address social issues, continue to soar in popularity among investors – but how is “social bond” designation achieved? The primary criteria for social bond designation is established by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) ...
Following last week’s FHFA announcement extending the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosure and eviction moratoria and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, the White House announced on February 16 that FHA, VA, and USDA will extend their single-family residential foreclosure and eviction moratoria, and their deadlines for applying for COVID-related forbearance, to June 30, 2021 ...
