In response to the extraordinary economic and social impact of the ongoing Covid-19 public health crisis, the Government of Hong Kong has sought to provide support to the beleaguered commercial property sector. In the 2020 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the abolition of the Double Ad Valorem Stamp Duty (DSD) on non-residential property (NRP) transactions pursuant to the Public Revenue Protection (Stamp Duty) Order 2020 taking effect from 26 November 2020 ...
The Pennsylvania General Assembly has concluded the legislative session. COVID-19 significantly changed the format and content of the legislative session. The operating rules were amended to permit remote voting, and the legislative focus centered on the impact of COVID-19 on schools, communities, businesses and the Pennsylvania budget for the FY 2020-2021. Below is a snapshot of some of the key areas addressed during this session ...
On November 19, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to adopt additional amendments to Regulation S-K for public companies, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A). These amendments reflect the latest development in the SEC’s ongoing disclosure effectiveness initiative, which seeks to modernize and streamline public company disclosure requirements ...
On Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules, which implement changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) regulations (respectively the CMS Final Rule and the OIG Final Rule, collectively the Final Rules) ...
The Federal Reserve has issued amended For Profit and Non-Profit Frequently Asked Questions for the Main Street Lending Program, addressing the key dates for the end of the program in December, 2020. These dates are driven by the end of the Federal Reserve’s Special Purpose Vehicle’s authority to purchase MSLP loan participations on December 31 ...
During the 2019 legislative session, California enacted SB 908 - the Debt Collection Licensing Act, Financial Code Division 25, Sections 100000, et seq., requiring consumer debt collectors who are collecting on their own account or the account of others, including debt buyers, to be licensed beginning January 1, 2022 ...
In this report, you will find a summary of two important resolutions published in the Official Gazette. Resolution No. 191/2020 Today, Resolution No. 191/2020 of the National Institute of Industrial Property was published in the Official Gazette, by means of which it was established that all communication deadlines made by the National Patent Administration and published in the Patents Bulletin will begin to run as from thirty (30) calendar days from said publication ...
Today, the federal government introduced in Parliament Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. This blog provides some background on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the new federal bill. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP was passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007 ...
On November 12, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court extended corporate attorney-client privilege protection to appropriate ex parte communications between defendant hospitals and their non-employee agents. The court’s decision in Hermanson v. MultiCare Health Sys., Inc ...
With many medical practices and healthcare practitioners moving to telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, questions abound on legal requirements, privacy, and the future of healthcare. Schwabe’s Healthcare team has taken a closer look at the legal issues surrounding the rise of telemedicine during the pandemic and the implications for our healthcare future in the four articles below ...
Trademark owners with registrations in EU where the UK is designated should soon receive notification for treatment of registrations and applications following the Brexit transition period. The Brexit transitional period, during which EU laws and rights have continued in force in the UK, will end on December 31, 2020. Thereafter, EU Trade Mark and Design applications and registrations (and designations of the EU) will only cover the remaining 27 EU member states ...
A registered trademark in the British Virgin Islands is transmissible in the same way as other personal or moveable property. Transmission can be completed by assignment, testamentary disposition, or operation of law. When a trademark is assigned, the owner’s right, title, and interest with respect to the trademark is transferred to the new owner ...
By resolution adopted on October 7, 2020, the state of emergency has been extended until January 31, 2021 ...
Based on the Property Law[1] and the Security Law[2] of the People's Republic of China, the Property section of the Civil Code[3] has made important modifications and added some new principles to the rules of mortgage of property. In this article, we will focus primarily on the interpretation of the new system of mortgage rights in the Civil Code in the following three aspects: pactum commissorium provision, transfer of mortgaged property, and the priority order of security interests ...
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy (Board) recently issued updated guidance detailing certain conduct pharmacists and other regulated personnel (Licensees) must report to the Board ...
Law on the Management of Commercial Gambling, Royal Kram NS/RKM/1120/031 dated 14 November 2020 Overview On 14 November 2020, the Law on the Management of Commercial Gambling (“Gambling Law”), the first comprehensive legislation to regulate casinos and commercial gambling centers in Cambodia, was promulgated ...
The Federal government’s COVID emergency loan programs and credit facilities have moved into critical new phases. As highlighted by the recent media focus on the new SBA PPP Forgiveness Questionnaire for borrowers, both borrowers and lenders face new and challenging issues regarding these loan programs, particularly PPP loans and the Main Street Loan Program. PPP Loan Program – For most borrowers, the time period for spending PPP loan proceeds has expired ...
Public Law Department Report Necessity and Urgency Decree No. 956/2020: Mandatory and Preventive Social Insulation and Social Distancing Within the state of the sanitary emergency currently in force, the President issued the Necessity and Urgency Decree No ...
The legal status of CBD, a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant, is murky. Certain Member States are more restrictive about it than others. The Court of Justice of the EU has very recently provided clarification in the context of a preliminary ruling (case C-663/18 of 19 November 2020). This case revolves around CBD’s ban in France, after it had been imported from the Czech Republic where it was lawfully produced ...
The HKMA has developed a two-year roadmap to promote Regtech adoption in the Hong Kong banking sector (“Roadmap”), as set out in a White Paper entitled “Transforming Risk Management and Compliance: Harnessing the Power of Regtech” (“White Paper”). The White Paper presents the case for wider adoption of Regtech in Hong Kong, outlining a series of actions that the HKMA will take, or consider taking, to accelerate its adoption ...
On 25 November 2020, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR Carrie Lam presented her fourth Policy Address, which includes various proposals to create more jobs in both the public and private sectors through the Job Creation Scheme established under the anti-epidemic fund measures, enhance support to employees through the Love Upgrading Special Scheme for Retraining, and create employment opportunities for young people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) ...
On November 25, 2020, the Brazilian Senate approved Bill of Law No 4,458/2020 ("BL 4458"), which amends Law No 11,101/2005 ("BBL"), to update the legislation regarding the judicial reorganization, pre-packaged reorganization and bankruptcy liquidation of businessmen and companies. BL 4458, which provisions have already been approved by the House of Representatives, will now be sanctioned by the President ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the definition of close contact to now evaluate exposure cumulatively over a 24-hour period such that “15 cumulative minutes of exposure at a distance of 6 feet or less can be used as an operational definition for contact investigation,”[1] Because the newly expanded definition is not limited, it impacts many different industries (inclu
Key Points On Nov. 3, 2020, a substantial majority of California voters passed the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act (CPRA). The CPRA replaces the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), bringing California Privacy law more in line with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and considerably strengthening the privacy rights of California residents. CPRA will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 ...
On Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules, which implement changes to the Physician-Self Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) regulations. The proposed rules were released in October of 2019 ...
