Article PDF On April 17, 2019, the Treasury Department released a second round of proposed regulations (the "4/19 Regulations") providing additional guidance on the implementation of the Opportunity Zone (“OZ”) tax incentive included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The 4/19 Regulations are taxpayer-friendly and expand upon (but in some cases modify) the guidance provided in the initial proposed regulations released on October 19, 2018 (the "10/18 Regulations") ...
This is to inform you that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation approved the new list of foreign stock exchanges by the order no. 5095-Y dated 21st of March 2019, which gives new opportunities for Russian resident individuals with regards to currency transactions ...
Recent research from the insurer Royal London found more than half of the UK adult population has not made a will, and a quarter of those have no intention of making one. Death, it seems, remains something of a taboo subject in the UK. This is in stark contrast to some other countries, such as Mexico, where each year the population celebrates Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead ...
At the end of March, UK Visas and Immigration closed both the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes, replacing them with two new visa categories, the ‘Start-up’ and the ‘Innovator’, which are contained within a new Appendix W of the Immigration Rules ...
In an increasingly global world, an organisation’s ability to recruit and retain international talent plays an ever important and potentially business critical role. In the UK, the only way in which employers can directly employ many of these talented individuals is through obtaining a sponsor licence from the Home Office ...
The Brexit referendum vote and its potential impact on free movement has already resulted in many businesses struggling to meet their labour needs; the number of EU migrants has declined markedly at a time when Scotland and the UK is enjoying record levels of employment. As a consequence, immigration has risen to the top of many organisations’ agendas to ensure they can recruit and retain the talent they need to grow their businesses and remain competitive ...
The incorporation of the Law on Security Interests in El Salvador has the objective to create a registry for security interests, that is to say, the inscription of the security interests’ creation, modification, extension, termination and execution, as well as the publicity of these instruments. The Commercial Value that some brands have, plays a very important role and represents, for some entrepreneurs, a mechanism which enables them to access credits ...
The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Chief Executive, Andrea Coscelli raised concerns in April at “seeing a lot of evidence of anti-competitive conduct in the construction industry”, adding the CMA had “already taken a number of cases in this sector…”. Recent enforcement action from the CMA, outlined below, suggests regulatory intervention is only likely to increase ...
Whatever your views on Brexit, the deferment of the UK’s leaving date from the EU provided British industry some welcome breathing space to prepare for Brexit. Given the issues that still divide the two main political parties, the UK may yet leave the EU without a deal on 31 October ...
British Virgin Islands (BVI) companies are commonly used in the UAE by investors to hold real estate properties and/or shares in UAE companies. Investors need to be aware of a recently enacted BVI law, the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018 (the Law), which introduces economic substance requirements in the BVI ...
Coordinating cross-border due diligence is a key skill that more often than not underpins complex, multi-jurisdictional merger and acquisitions (M&A) and private equity (PE)-led transactions. Where due diligence really adds value is in the early stages of the transaction, when local knowledge and expertise are vital to understanding the context of data room information ...
The European Union continues to push out new rules aimed at offshore financial centers. Specifically, the Code of Conduct Group (CCG) within the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council has determined that jurisdictions that fail to satisfy the CCG’s requirement to end “preferential treatment” for non-resident companies are to be deemed ‘non-cooperative’ and effectively blacklisted ...
The presence of a small amount of undeclared sesame in a particular product may seem trivial but, for those who are allergic, it can provoke a major reaction. Such was the predicament faced by Pret a Manger in July 2016, following the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse that same month due to the undeclared presence of sesame in a Pret baguette ...
Brexit Newsletter from AED The Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority (AED) has issued a Newsletter informing all taxpayers of VAT related consequences of a British exit from the European Union (EU) as from 29 March 2019, (in case no withdrawal agreement is agreed between the EU and the United Kingdom (UK). Click here to access to the AED Newsletter. In the meantime, the date of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU has been postponed until 12 April 2019 ...
Some brands simply seem to play a major role in our lives – Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix. These are brands that for many of us have become something of an ever present. One brand that surely belongs on that list is Amazon, one of the most important, influential and high-profile brands in the world. Brand Finance recently declared Amazon to be the world’s most valuable brand, valuing it at USD 50 billion. So, it makes sense to keep abreast of what is going on there ...
Uganda has enacted the Investment Code Act, 2019 (the “Code”). The previous Code was enacted in 1991 and was long overdue for amendment given the changes in approach to attracting investment and the glaring weaknesses in the old Code. The new Code strengthens the Uganda Investment Authority (the “Authority”), establishing it as a one-stop investment centre, and also provides for the financing and auditing of the Authority ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement developments Botswana and Zambia signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 10 February 2019 at the 32nd summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, whereas the Ethiopian Council of Ministers approved the ACFTA on 2 February 2019 and the Parliament of Senegal on 23 January 2019 ...
In the listed sector, shareholders may be presented with various elections to be made as regards the nature of distributions made by companies in which equity investments are held. Shareholders can therefore be faced with an election to receive payment of a cash dividend, or in lieu thereof, to receive capitalisation shares from the underlying company or to partake in a dividend reinvestment plan ...
Sections 113 and 115 of the Companies Act, 2008 provide for an automatic statutory merger of two companies. The transfer occurs by way of operation of law, and barring any express prohibition to the contrary in a contractual arrangement, no third party consent is generally required to implement the merger. This type of transaction may typically give effect to a desired corporate reorganisation, in terms of which an existing company is liquidated, wound up and/or deregistered ...
The reportable arrangement provisions were established by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) with the objective of obtaining information on certain types of transactions. The circumstances under which a person should report an “arrangement” to SARS, as defined in section 34 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”), are contained in sections 34 to 39 of the TAA ...
We bemoan the lacklustre stock exchange and complain that the government isn’t doing enough. We point to greener trading pastures in Hong Kong. Is it time to re-look at the role of the stock market and how we benchmark ourselves?This February,Bloombergpublished an article headlined The Incredible Shrinking Singapore Stock Market, which stated that overthe past five years, more companies had exited than joined the SGX, leading the bourse to suffer a net outflow of S$19 ...
In December 2018, Part I of this column was based on the Proposed 199A Regulations1 and included the applicable definitions and the basic concepts and mechanics of the 199A 20% deduction of Qualified Business Income (“QBI”) up to the 20% of the excess of the taxpayer’s taxable income over the taxpayer’s net capital gain ...
One of the key issues raised consistently in the discussions around a no-deal Brexit is the impact it would have on the customs duties payable on goods that are imported in to the UK. Whilst MPs have now voted against a no-deal Brexit, this does not change the legal position – that unless a deal is agreed, there will be a no-deal Brexit, (or no Brexit at all) ...
The most important corporate tax measures concern the reduction of the maximum corporate income tax (“CIT”) rate and the introduction of the option provided by the anti-tax avoidance directive (“ATAD”)[1]. This allows for the application of the interest limitation rules at the level of a fiscal unity: For the time being CIT is levied at a rate of (i) 15% in case the net profits do notexceed EUR 25,000 and (ii) 18% in case the net profits exceed EUR 30,000 ...
