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 ...
The reasons for the changes to the Golden visa rules: A legislative authorisation in the 2020 State Budget 2020 authorised the Government to review the rules on residence permits for investment provided for in Law 23/2007 of 4 July by the end of 2020. The aim is to encourage investment in inland areas, urban regeneration, cultural heritage, activities of high environmental or social value, and productive investment and job creation ...
Following the differences that came to light with AstraZeneca at the end of last week, the European Commission approved Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/111 of 29 January 2021, which came into force on Saturday, 30 January. The Regulation prohibits the unauthorised exportation of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 outside the European Union ...
Takeaways from webinar on 2 February 2021 hosted by Karen Howard, Matthew Stimson and Grace Mitchell from our planning & environmental team. What are public rights of way and why are they relevant? A public right of way (PROW) is a type of highway - a route across land over which the public at large has a right to pass/ repass without permission or interference ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click the link below. We all know a happy engaged employee is a productive and successful employee. Unfortunately, the UK has one of the least engaged employee populations in Europe ...
In Fishbourne Developments Limited v Stephens, the Court of Appeal emphasised the importance of applying commercial common sense and considering the relevant factual background to a case when interpreting contracts. Fishbourne, a developer, had the benefit of an option to acquire a 117 acre farm in West Sussex ...
February marks the start of the second month after Brexit materializing. The Member States have finally understood that the United Kingdom (UK) is no longer in the Europen Union (EU) so that the fairy-tale of the Single Market that has lasted for decades is now over. Although many businesses resolved various legal or regulatory issues before 1st January, new challenges inevitably keep arising now, when Brexit is a reality ...
As a developing country, Indonesia is still considered to have limited Government fiscal capacity and limited state-owned enterprise (Badan Usaha Milik Negara – “BUMN”) and financial sector funding capacity indicating that domestic capacity is not sufficient to meet what is needed to finance development and support economic growth and opportunities ...
On 4 January 2021, the President of Republic of Indonesia issued Regulation No. 2 of 2021 on the Ratification of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement to Legalize Foreign Public Documents (“PR 2/2021”) (the convention is hereinafter referred to as the “Apostille Convention”). The Apostille Convention was concluded on 5 October 1961 and is intended to simplify a series of formalities for documents signed overseas for the contracting states ...
Traditionally, Dutch mortgage lenders have always found themselves in quite a good position in the event of their borrower and mortgagor becoming insolvent. As a firm general rule, it is fair to say that the position of a secured creditor is quite secure under Dutch law. Recent insolvency and COVID related regulations have, however, made some inroads into the Dutch secured lender’s stronghold ...
Early last year the Prime Minister dropped the “E-bomb” on British motorists, announcing a ban on cars powered wholly by petrol and diesel from 2030, and on the sale of new hybrid vehicles with the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions (such as plug-in or full hybrids) from 2035. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in an unprecedented manner ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. Traditional bricks and mortar retailers, occupying premises under long leases with upwards only rent reviews, can be forgiven for looking enviously at online retailers and their flexibility and comparatively low overheads ...
In Joanne Properties Ltd v Moneything Capital Ltd and Anor [2020] EWCA Civ 1541, England’s Court of Appeal had to decide whether the parties had entered into a binding contract of compromise contained in written communications passing between their respective solicitors. The Court below had held that a binding contract had been made, despite the fact that the correspondence in question had been marked “subject to contract” ...
The recent judgment from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd [2020] UKSC 48, raised important questions about the requirement that there can not only be no actual bias, but also no apparent bias on the part of arbitrators in favour of or against any party in arbitration and also about the obligation of arbitrators in international arbitrations to make disclosure of multiple appointments concerning the same or overlapping subje
Last year, there were a number of notable developments in competition law, as detailed in this article, several of which involve or are relevant to the construction industry. The Ocean Park case concerned proceedings against a company and its director for exchanging competitively sensitive information with a co-tenderer in a bidding exercise. A number of judgments were handed down in proceedings against contractors ...
On January 25, 2021, the German federal Cabinet introduced the draft for the new Cyber Security Act (“IT Security Act 2.0”) into the legislative process ( Draft of a Second Act to Increase the Security of Information Technology Systems, printed matter 19/26106 [draft of a second law to increase the security of information technology systems, document 19/26106] ). The new German Cyber Security Act is intended to replace the old German Cyber Security Act of July 2015 ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. One sector that has performed robustly during the pandemic is build-to-rent (BTR), with demand set to continue in the coming years as investors look to this sector to deliver long-term returns. According to a recent report, over £1 ...
The 2021 tax assessment of real and personal property will be determined by local Assessors in February, at which time a Notice of Assessment will be issued and mailed to property owners. Property owners should make sure to check the mail for a copy of the Notice in order to determine whether an appeal of their taxable value should be filed ...
Key Points Eviction protections that were set to expire January 31 have been extended to June 30, 2021 New notice requirements took effect February 1 Landlords may not charge late fees or increase rent or fees for tenants who attest to COVID-19-related financial distress State Rental Assistance Program may pay 80 percent of a qualified tenant's rent if landlord forgives the remainder On January 29, 2021, California Senate Bill 91 became law, effective immediately ...
When it comes to the general transfer of data to third countries, even, for example, intra-group data transfers, recourse to US providers such as Microsoft (Office 365), Amazon (AWS), Google or Salesforce has been ill-fated since the ECJ ruling of July 16, 2020 (C-311/18 “Schrems II”) ...
Leases often include language that gives a tenant the option to purchase the leased property during or at the end of the lease term. The Michigan Supreme Court has held that these options to purchase, or “options” as they are commonly referred, are “simply a contract by which the owner of the property agrees with another that he shall have a right to buy the property at a fixed price within a specified time ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. If somebody asked me at the start of 2020 whether I could join a meeting by video, my immediate thought would have been: “no, that sounds far too difficult and I don’t think we really have the technology to do that” ...
Some facts and figures that set out the landscape of merger control, antitrust enforcement and competition litigation in Portugal in 2020. Interim Measures The PCA ordered the Portuguese Professional Football League to suspend its decision preventing teams in the First and Second Football Leagues from signing players that have unilaterally terminated their contracts due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
