Following a short period of public consultation, the Telecommunications and Other Amendments (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 (Cth) (Bill) has been introduced into Parliament. Despite the extensive public concerns raised with the Exposure Draft version, only a small number of amendments have been made to the Bill. Following extensive submissions and much debate, the 'decryption Bill' has now been introduced into Parliament ...
In the framework of a globalized world and social networks that are established as a measure of possible interest of economic, social and political groups, data protection regulations become more relevant ...
Months into the United States’ trade dispute with China, and there is no end in sight to the dispute. There are three significant deadlines for U.S. importers to consider involving the tariffs the U.S ...
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has today published its report1 on immigration reform. As the MAC itself acknowledges, there will be “winners” and “losers” in any policy for immigration reform.On an initial reading of the report, it would appear the reforms proposed, while impacting all sectors, would be most challenging for those sectors employing a low-skilled workforce ...
After almost 13 months of negotiations, on August 27, 2018 the United States and Mexico reached a preliminary commercial understanding, which they have termed an “agreement in principle,” to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). Canada has not yet joined in the agreement, and the question of Canada’s ultimate participation will affect the substance of the deal, its posture under the U.S ...
With the ever-changing developments regarding trade policy, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide some clarity regarding the Administration's actions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, regarding products imported from China. Tariffs on Chinese Imports Section 301 of the Trade Act allows the President to take action against a foreign government that violates an international trade agreement or restricts U.S. commerce - in this case, China ...
Two significant events this week raised eyebrows in the lucrative world of live sports broadcasting. Firstly, Facebook agreed an exclusive deal to show La Liga to users in Asian territories including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will live stream all 380 matches this season for free to its 348 million users in the region. The move fits with Facebook's ambition to grow use of its social networking platform outside markets that have reached saturation ...
The Israeli Securities Law was amended (Amendment No. 63) with a goal of turning the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) into a more competitive, efficient and profitable stock exchange, by outlining an ownership structure change of the TASE. The ownership structure change allows private investors, in addition to institutional investors, to acquire means of control over the TASE ...
DJIBOUTI: International Free Trade Zone launchedThe first phase of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (“DIFTZ”), expected to be the largest free trade zone in Africa, was launched on 5 July 2018. The DIFTZ will house a variety of manufacturing plants and offer investors various incentives, including tax exemptions ...
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources ("MEMR") issued Press Release No. 00022/04/SJI/2018 to continue arranging dozens of overlapping regulations and permits ("Simplification"). So far, 90 regulations and 96 certifications/recommendation/permits ("Regulations") have started since 22 January 2018 ...
In order to implement Government Regulation No. 24 of 2018 which introduced an online system for processing and issuing certain business licenses (known as the Online Single Submission “OSS” system), earlier this year, the Investment Coordinating Board (“BKPM”) issued 2 new regulations on investment, ie BKPM Regulation No. 6 of 2018 on the Guidelines and Procedure for Capital Investment Licensing and Facilities (“Regulation 6/2018”) and Regulation No ...
The Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) recently approved (on July 18, 2018), an amendment to the Israeli Restrictive Trade Practices Law, 5748-1988 (the “Law“) regarding parallel importing (the Restrictive Trade Practices Law (Amendment 20 – Temporary Order), 5778-2018) (the “Amendment“) ...
The drastic changes in the media landscape made over the past years continue to rock the traditional TV sector. Family TV is being replaced rapidly by content online, on demand and on different mobile devices. The global internet video share by consumers is expected to increase from 64% in 2014 to 80% by 2019 (according to Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021) ...
The fast-changing landscape of competition law in AfricaAt the turn of the century, only a handful of Africa’s 54 nation states had operational competition legislation and enforcement. However, in line with developments in the rest of the world, many African countries have since enacted competition legislation and established working competition authorities ...
In a recent judgement the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluded that an administrator of a Facebook fan page has independent obligations under European data protection law, and will be considered joint controller with Facebook for some processing activities ...
As rapid technological changes in the 21st century continue to expand the types and volume of private electronic information, the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections are evolving. Originally, “Fourth Amendment jurisprudence was tied to common-law trespass” and provided protections against searches of property. See, United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 405 (2012) ...
Despite its coming into force in 2001, the courts have frequently avoided commenting on the application and interpretation of the Act to Establish a Legal Framework for Information Technologies1 (hereafter the “LFIT Act”), preferring instead to rely on the provisions in the Civil Code of Québec2. In the decision of Benisty v. Kloda3, judge Jacques J ...
The business world continues to be a multinational place, with marketplaces and supply chains that cut across national borders. Global expansion efforts have also spawned a growing desire for cross-border deal making. These mergers and acquisitions, however, are easily complicated by language and cultural differences, in addition to local politics and regulatory regimes ...
The business world continues to be a multinational place, with marketplaces and supply chains that cut across national borders. Global expansion efforts have also spawned a growing desire for cross-border deal making. These mergers and acquisitions, however, are easily complicated by language and cultural differences, in addition to local politics and regulatory regimes ...
COMOROS: Treaty with United Arab Emirates enters into forceThe income tax treaty between the Comoros Islands and the United Arab Emirates, recently entered into force. GHANA: VAT withholding agents appointed In an attempt to improve value-added tax (“VAT”) compliance, the Ghana Revenue Authority (“GRA”) announced the appointment of identified VAT withholding agents per industry on 17 May 2018 ...
Not long after President Trump announced that the U.S. would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Department of Commerce launched an investigation that may lead to additional duties on imported vehicles and automotive parts. Effective, the Department will now examine whether imports of vehicles and auto parts threaten U.S. national security ...
The political dispute between Qatar and its neighbors escalated with the announcement by Qatar that it would impose a ban on goods from the four boycotting countries, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. As we reported earlier, these four countries imposed a trade embargo on Qatar. The measures that were introduced prohibited the direct shipment of goods and the direct transport of passengers to or from Qatar and closed the land border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia ...
The Legal 500 & The In-House LawyerComparative Legal GuidePhilippines: Mergers & Acquisitions Country Author: Franco Aristotle G. Larcina, Partner, SyCip SalazarHernandez & Gatmaitan 1. What are the key rules/laws relevant to M&A and who are the key regulatory authorities? M&A activity is governed primarily by the Corporation Code of the Philippines (Batas Pambansa Blg. 68) ...
