In a recent article published in écho, WSG Member Astrid Wagner, Partner, IP Communication & Technology at Arendt & Medernach, provides insight on the growing risk of damage to information systems in cyber attacks and what cyber protection measures should be taken ...
The National Security and Investment Bill will allow government intervention in transactions raising national security concerns. It will require investors in UK real estate to consider whether the regime applies and factor in any timetabling implications. The Bill is currently being examined in the House of Lords. It will introduce an independent screening regime in the UK where a transaction gives rise to national security concerns ...
On March 31, 2021, the Biden Administration released a Fact Sheet for its proposed American Jobs Plan (the “AJP”). The full text of the AJP can be found here. Although the AJP is primarily a proposal for rebuilding our country’s infrastructure, positioning the U.S. to compete with China and creating millions of jobs, it also proposes important corporate tax changes necessary to fund the AJP ...
In Facebook v. Duguid, (Case No. 19-511) on April 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that equipment without the capacity to randomly or sequentially store or produce numbers is not an autodialer for TCPA purposes. The Facebook ruling focuses on text messages, which many institutions are using as a primary method of customer contact, but it is also a victory for those using predictive dialers and preview dialers without random and sequential source codes ...
It was only a matter of time – following the election of President Biden and Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress – before the Biden administration and legislative leaders would turn their attention to changing the tax code. While it is early in what promises to be a loud and lengthy legislative debate in Congress, tax proposals introduced by high-profile senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) designed to raise $5 ...
In its highly anticipated judgment, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada found the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional in a split 6-3 decision. The key issue before the court was whether the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“GGPPA”) was constitutional. The majority decided that it was, because Parliament has jurisdiction to enact this law as a matter of national concern ...
Those in the CBD sector should be mindful of their marketing tactics, as the FDA continues to police the industry. Manufacturers of CBD products must also evaluate their quality-control procedures to ensure safe products are hitting the marketplace. As we forecasted this past December in a previous legal alert, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to referee the emerging cannabidiol (CBD) product market ...
What is the CTA? The CTA was enacted on January 1st, 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the use of companies to evade anti-money laundering rules or to hide other illegal activities. Under the CTA companies will be required to report information regarding its beneficial owners with a beneficial ownership registry maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ...
The SyCipLaw T.I.P.S. International Edition covers the following tax issues: 1. What are the salient provisions on income tax under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, or CREATE Act? On March 26, 2021, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the “Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act” (Republic Act No. 11534, the CREATE Act) into law ...
There has been a growing expectation that in order to fill the COVID sized hole in the Treasury's finances focus and ultimately action would be brought to bear on pension tax relief across defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. However, "Tax Day" has seen cuts to higher rate tax relief fail to materialise ...
As of today, March 31, 2021, no longer may public bodies take advantage of the “any reason” remote meeting provisions of the Open Meetings Act. When the Legislature extended the circumstances under which public bodies could meet remotely, it provided for limited circumstances after the “any reason” provision sunsets ...
FINANCIAL SERVICESRelaxation of FEP requirements on interest rate swapBank Negara Malaysia has announced that nonresident banks may trade ringgit denominated interest rate swap without any underlying commitment with any participating onshore licensed banks and their appointed overseas offices (“AOOs”) with effect from 15th March 2021 ...
FINANCIAL SERVICESFurther extension on short selling banThe Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad announced a further extension, until 29 August 2021, of the existing suspension of Intraday Short Selling (IDSS) and Short Selling by Proprietary Day Traders on the stock exchange of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The scope of the ban remains the same.Pepared by:Christina S. C ...
Canada’s tax system is very complex and tends to become more complex over time. Amendments to tax laws in recent years have not simplified our tax system, quite the contrary. The introduction of various intention tests in tax laws has also further increased tax authorities’ discretion as to the application of such laws ...
No one can escape the basic rules of contracting, even the federal government. If the contract is clear and unambiguous, then the four corners of the agreement set the rules for the project and the parties – and there’s not much room for interpretation. The government was recently reminded of this cold, hard truth after it refused to grant a contractor an equitable adjustment of the contract price for purchasing wetland mitigation credits. In Kiewit Infrastructure W. Co. v ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in BGT Holdings LLC v. United States, recently held that the government does not have the discretion to deny a contractor’s request for equitable adjustment (REA) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.245-1 (Government Property) where the conditions specified in that clause are present and the contractor is able to show financial loss ...
In a December 2020 opinion, the United States Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (the “Board”) reviewed and reversed a Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”) Contracting Officer’s (“CO”) decision to terminate for default Eagle Peak Rock & Paving, Inc.’s thirty-six million dollar contract (the “Contract”) for work on a project in Yellowstone National Park (the “Project”) ...
In the context of a growing transition to a digital economy, the possibility of working anywhere in the world as a remote worker is gaining more and more supporters, and this trend has been encouraged and promoted by many global companies. The concept of digital nomadism focuses on a lifestyle and work that can be considered nomadic in the sense that it does not depend on a fixed location and allows freedom to move around for extended periods of time ...
UAE Federal Decree Law 19 of 2020 Regarding Trusts (the UAE Trusts Law) was issued in September of 2020. As there was no comparable law previously, the UAE Trusts Law opened the door to trusts in the UAE for the first time (not including DIFC and ADGM trusts, the UAE’s two financial free zones). This is a potentially significant development that holds great promise, although some key questions remain ...
Since the consultation document on Proposed Security of Payment Legislation (SOPL) for the Construction Industry in June 2015 and the report of the consultation in April 2016, the SOPL Bill has yet to be put before the Legislative Council for consideration. The Government released a draft Technical Circular on the Implementation of the Spirit of Security of Payment Legislation in Public Works Contracts (Draft Circular) and a reference document in mid-March 2021 ...
The Charity Commission focuses on charities meeting “public expectation”, but they also need to remain true to their stated purpose, even when doing so may prove controversial. A report on our colonial past The National Trust has acted in accordance with its charitable objects. This shouldn’t be headline news, but it has been for the last six months ...
