In this article we outline 12 key elements that are critical components of a rock-solid compliance program for participants in commodity markets. We start with creating a “culture of regulatory compliance,” which pervades a company from top to bottom, and then work our way through day-to-day policies and steps you can take to minimize your company’s risk of non-compliance ...
An overview of mergers and acquisitions in Poland. The process, structure and parties to M&A deals, legal restrictions and tax aspects, discussed clearly and accessibly. What to bear in mind, and what details require special focus. The M&A practice at Wardynski & Partners has prepared a guide to mergers and acquisitions in Poland. In less than 60 pages, we highlight the issues vital to the success of the deal ...
The Battleground: On one side of the battlefield, positioned on the lofty heights of moral superiority, the asset managers (and academics) lob propaganda leaflets pointing out their greater firepower in the form of smug principle and the dollar value of their total assets under management. Their opponents are a motley crew. There are the Startup Upstarts, whose uniform is expensive sneakers and untidy man-buns ...
The recent storm in the UK about Scottish craft brewing company BrewDog’s decision to invoke its trade mark rights against much smaller rivals highlights the difficulties and negative repercussions that can arise when it comes to enforcing trade mark rights. BrewDog has been extraordinarily successful ...
Recent developments in the UK regarding plain-packaging requirements for cigarettes have again shone the spotlight on this contentious issue. A while back, we reported on developments in Australia, where the country’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, 2011 requires tobacco companies to sell their products in identical olive green packs, with graphic images reflecting the possible health consequences of smoking, and the brand name (sans logo) in very small script ...
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We would like to inform you that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (hereinafter - "FAS Russia") proposes to exempt from inspections such companies that have effective antimonopoly compliance systems. FAS Russia also intends to implement a risk-oriented approach and develops criteria for the companies to be included in the list of scheduled inspections. According to the Deputy Head of FAS Russia Mr ...
Competition authority imposes fines on ViktoriaOil and Vital, the leading producers of cooking oil in Serbia. The authority stated in its decision that the two companies entered into a joint production agreement that featured restrictive provisions. In particular, the authority claims that the provisions effected the exchange of information and joint production and sales in a way that led to increased prices to end consumers ...
In February, in an article on the 2017 South African budget review, we wrote that the government had proposed that companies and individuals no longer required approval from the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”) for “standard intellectual property transactions” and that the “loop structure restriction for all intellectual property transactions” be lifted, provided that such transactions are arm's length and at a fair market price ...
The recent South African Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) decision of Herbal Zone v Infitech Technologies doesn’t contain ground-breaking law. However, the SCA’s passing-off judgments are rare, so it is a case worth discussing. The lessons to be learnt from this decision are that it’s important to get the basics right – make sure that a trade mark is registered and ensure that there is a clear agreement between the trade mark owner and the distributor ...
There have been some encouraging developments following Mauritius’ announcement that it planned to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights (“IPR”), amid global concerns. For example, much-awaited amendments to industrial property law, including incorporating international treaties, have been effected. As a result, the government’s vision of an efficient and equitable IP system may come to fruition this year ...
Post-arbitral award procedures in Tanzania are governed by a number of pieces of legislation, including the Arbitration Act, the Arbitration Rules, 1957 and the Civil Procedure Code (the “CPC”). The High Court of Tanzania is the only forum for the enforcement of arbitral awards. Below, we summarise the process for the filing, registration, enforcement and possible challenge to post-arbitral awards ...
The South African Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) Commission recently issued a non-binding practice guide regarding the enhanced recognition status for exempted micro-enterprises (“EMEs”) and qualifying small enterprises (“QSEs”) through the application of the modified flow-through principle ...
On 31 March 2017, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“ICASA”) published Government Gazette no. 40759 for comment, a discussion document in relation to equity ownership by historically disadvantaged groups and application of the ICT Sector Code in terms of section 4(b) of the ICASA Act, 2000 ...
On April 17, 2017 the President of the Russian Federation signed a draft law setting a differentiation of penalties for conclusion of anticompetitive agreements. The draft law will come into force on April 28, 2017. The draft law provides different administrative fines for conclusion of different types of anticompetitive agreements depending on degree of social danger: as the social danger of the anticompetitive agreement decreases, the administrative penalty will be reduced ...
For several years now, a leniency model exists in Macedonia and it is shaped in line with the EU leniency model. Nevertheless, theMacedonian Competition Commission("Commission") decided to refine the existing rules (contained in the Law on Protection of Competition and the accompanying Leniency Regulation) by recently adopting the Leniency Guidelines ("Guidelines") ...
A team led by Dr. Guido Hoffmann, LL.M., has been involved in structuring the transaction, corporate, labor and commercial law in a takeover offer for the German wheel manufacturer Uniwheheels Questions and due diligence. The takeover offer is valid for 100 percent of the outstanding Uniwheheels shares and takes place with the consent of the owner of 61 percent of the shares. The takeover is conditional on Superior acquiring at least 75 percent of the shares in Uniwheels AG ...
When startup founders get together to form a new company, one of the first steps after actually incorporating the entity is to issue the founders their initial equity in the company. This is commonly referred to as “founders stock.” Most initial cap tables target the issuance to founders of around 8 million shares, so that combined with a 2 million share option pool, the initial “fully diluted” capitalization is 10 million shares ...
On March 1, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted final rules that will require registrants to include a hyperlink to each exhibit identified in nearly all of the registration statements and reports subject to Item 601 of Regulation S-K or under Form F-10 or Form 20-F (the “Final Rule”) ...
The UAE has embarked on an ambitious undertaking by introducing new business friendly mutual funds regulations to stimulate the UAE funds industry and provide the foundation for a more developed regional funds regime in the Gulf Cooperation Council (the “GCC”) ...
2017 is a year of opportunity and challenge for the Australian food and agribusiness sector. We anticipate an uplift in food and agribusiness M&A activity, and have identified 6 key themes that are likely to play out in the remainder of 2017. Download our report: Australian Food and Agribusiness 2017: Key themes Opportunities and Challenges – 6 key themes Three key opportunities 1 ...
The Idea of Using Whistleblowers to Uncover and Combat Anticompetitive Arrangements is Spreading Ever Wider. Recently the European Commission Announced Introduction of Such a Tool. In a press release issued on 16 March 2017, the European Commission announced that it has launched a new tool of antitrust policy. It is an anonymous channel through which individuals can notify the Commission of cartels and other anticompetitive practices ...
