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 ...
TheScottish Land Commission recently published their reportinto what it describes as the issues associated with largescale and concentrated land ownership in Scotland. The report draws a number of conclusions and makes recommendations to the Scottish Government about potential future legislative change that might have far-reaching consequences for rural land ownership ...
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 ...
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 ...
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) ...
One of the few things that is becoming clearer amidst the Brexit fog is that a ‘no-deal’ is no longer a fanciful possibility. The UK Government, in itsWhite Paper on Immigration Reformpublished at the end of last year, claimed the changes it proposed would lead to the most significant changes to immigration control in 45 years. However, that historic change, scheduled for December 2021, may come sooner than anticipated ...
The Scottish Government has published its first two Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPNs) for 2019, both of which relate to public procurement in Scotland in the event that the UK exits the European Union without an agreement (a ‘no-deal’ Brexit), and has published accompanying draft legislation to implement the changes it proposes. The first policy note (SPPN 1/2019) sets out the Scottish Government’s proposed changes to public procurement legislation ...
Introduction The United Arab Emirates (the UAE) promulgated legislation to specifically address the regulation of competition (being Federal Law 4 of 2012, or the Competition Law) several years ago but until recently, it has been the case that the requisite implementing regulations and processes were not in place. This is no longer the case ...
The public rights of access on and over land, enshrined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, have now been around for almost 14 years. They allow all members of the public a responsible right of access on and across land and inland water throughout the country, often informally referred to as the right to roam. Certain parts of land may be excluded from the rights of access under the Act: restrictions may be allowed, for example, due to planned forestry operations ...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently launched a consultation on its proposed guidance on cryptoassets (CP19/3) which can be read in fullhere. The move comes as part of the UK Cryptoasset Taskforce's wider look into the regulation of the cryptoasset market. The consultation follows a report published in October 2018 by the Taskforce, which consists of the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the FCA. Our discussion of that report can be readhere ...
One of the biggest challenges that micro, small and medium enterprises face when trying to settle in and achieve success as profitable businesses is to obtain capital and sources of financing ...
In late November 2018, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) announced that they had reached agreement on facilitating the licensing of domestic funds by each authority for promotion across the UAE. This is a potentially significant development ...
“I don’t want a British passport for myself but should I get one for my child?” This is a common immigration-related enquiry, and one my team and I have been asked about by EU nationals repeatedly since the June 2016 referendum vote ...
“I don’t want a British passport for myself but should I get one for my child?” This is a common immigration-related enquiry, and onemy team and Ihave been asked about by EU nationals repeatedly since the June 2016 referendum vote ...
A new rule promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) governing the disposal of coal combustion residuals, also known as CCR or coal ash, raises the risk for civil claims and the need for insurance to cover them.1 The rule, which takes effect Aug. 29, 2018, revises regulations issued in 2015 and has the stated intent of providing utilities and states “more flexibility in how CCR is managed ...
In case C-323/17 People Over Wind and Peter Sweetman v Coillte, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that mitigation measures could not be taken into account at the screening stage of an appropriate assessment. Facts This case focused on proposed works that were necessary to lay a cable connecting a wind farm to the electricity grid and the potential effects that this would have on two special areas of conservation ...
Fossil fuels are under attack in the legislative, regulatory, and judicial arenas, and in the market place—driven by environmental concerns, especially global warming and associated climate change. The Sierra Club, for example, has launched a “Beyond Dirty Fuels Initiative,” seeking to “push back against the construction of dirty fossil fuel infrastructure that would lock America into decades more of climate-polluting oil and gas production ...
On June 12, 2018, amendments to the Federal law No. 57-FZ, dated April 29, 2008 “On Foreign Investments into Business Entities of Strategic Importance for the Country’s Security, Protection and Defense Support” (“Strategic Investments Law”) came into force ...
An executive order to eliminate the income tax withholding for interest paid abroad on bonds listed in a stock exchange, as well as to grant tax incentives to taxpayers investing in a capital market in Mexico was published in the Federal Official Gazette on January 8, 2019. The following tax incentives were created for productive investment projects: Corporate Bonds ...
President Trump recently signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill) and the cannabis industry quickly and widely celebrated passage as clearing the way to sell products containing cannabidiol (better known as CBD). But is it really? As one might expect, this lawyer’s answer is that “it depends.”CBD has become known for its purported health benefits in relation to a wide range of conditions ...
Despite a positive and active start in H12018 with high M&A activity in the Norwegian market, the total number of completed deals in Norway in 2018 will be significantly lower than in 2017. YTD it has been registered 248 completed deals in Norway compared to 346 in 2017 (full year) ...
Inland ports are of significant importance for handling of freight. Most inland ports are trimodal (road, railways and waterways) and have the necessary infrastructure to handle freight coming from all over the world. Recent State aid measures address the increasing importance of inland ports and allow subsidisation predominantly for constructing infrastructure ...
On 26 October 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved a decision to revise the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revision), with the aim of supplementing and improving the existing share repurchase regime. We have set out a brief introduction to this Revision below. Background It has only been five years since the last revision to the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China (Company Law) ...
These days more and more use is being made of the Treaty rules on State aid. The European Commission is using the State aid rules in an innovative way to take over competence from the Member States in tax regulation by challenging the selectivity of national measures or rulings, which give preferable treatment to certain taxpayers ...
