July was a busy month for the FCA in publishing guidance, policy and rules which have a significant impact on a firm’s relationships with its senior managers and staff. On 30 June, and towards the beginning of the “crypto winter”, Sarah Pritchard, Executive Director of Markets at the FCA gave a speech to the City UK Annual Conference entitled “Finding Opportunity in a World of Uncertainty” ...
The Pre-Insolvency Bill (‘the Bill’) is at its second reading in Parliament. The Bill is being proposed as an Act to partially transpose EU Directive 2019/1023 (‘the Directive’) on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications, and on measures to increase the efficiency of procedures concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt ...
Whilst generational wealth from around the world has commonly been held, in some form, via Cayman trusts, the client base of the local trust industry has in recent years expanded greatly to include a wider range of global family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and entrepreneurs keen to take advantage of the modern and flexible options on offer ...
On 7 October 2022, Federal Law No. 377-FZ (the “Law”) came into force. The Law granted mobilized citizens and their family members the right to receive preferential payment holidays on loans (including mortgages). Follow the link to learn more. Newsletter_Payment_holidays_for_mobilized_citizens.pdf (alrud ...
Classification as a security is an omnipresent concern for issuers of digital assets. When offering or selling securities in the United States, securities must either be registered or exempt from registration ...
The concept of “natural capital” seeks to recognise the role of nature as an asset which is key to the sustained functioning of human social and economic activity. Examples of natural capital include clean air, water supply, plant life, animals, soil and minerals ...
Last Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the CFPB's automatic funding structure violates the Constitution. Because the decision calls into question virtually all of the CFPB’s actions since its creation, it has wide-ranging potential implications for all financial services industries. Please join us for a lunch-time webinar as we unpack the Fifth Circuit’s decision and what it means for your business ...
The Government of Malta reaffirmed its commitment to establishing Malta as a go-to jurisdiction for start-ups in its Budget for 2023. During the budget speech that was delivered on 24th October 2022, the Minister for Finance and Employment, Hon. Clyde Caruana announced that a one-stop shop for start-ups is set to be launched within the “Start in Malta” programme currently run by the Malta Enterprise ...
Three bills are being read in Parliament proposing new insolvency-related legislation and amendments: The Pre-Insolvency Bill; The Insolvency Practitioners Bill; and The Commercial Code (Amendment) Bill ...
On 6 October 2022, as part of the ongoing work of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework (“IF”) on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) to implement the Two-Pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, the OECD released its progress report for comment. Background The report was prepared for the purposes of obtaining further input from stakeholders on the administration and tax certainty aspects of Amount A ...
All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working which is done by undertaking simple right to work checks before an employee commences employment. 1. Why do employers need to know what IDSPs are? All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working which is done by undertaking simple right to work checks before an employee commences employment ...
Loan facilities and bond loans usually include financial covenants, which are financial metrics the borrower/issuer need to comply with during the term of the financing agreement. The Norwegian market is dominated by maintenance covenants, which means the covenants must be complied with at all times. Over the course of a few months, geopolitical unrest, high inflation and prolonged supply chain issues have led central banks to increase interest rates and lenders to increase their risk margins ...
Investment Zones are a lot like Freeport tax sites, arguably with more benefits, so are they friend or foe to Freeports? Background Liz Truss pledged to boost growth with “full-fat” Freeports as part of her leadership campaign in July 2022 and it sounded like all systems were finally go for Freeports ...
The Supreme Court's judgment is a landmark decision of significant importance in the arena of company law and directors' duties ...
pMany development authorities and other economic or industrial development authorities in the State of Georgia (each, an “Authority”) offer “Economic Development and Incentive” programs for private companies which commit to make new capital investments that promote trade and commerce and provide new employment or retain existing employment ...
On 14 October 2022, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) made amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations, 2002, which will come into force on 14 November 2022. In terms of these amendments, the prescribed amount for reporting cash transactions under section 28 of FICA to the Financial Intelligence Centre has increased from ZAR24 999 to ZAR49 999.99 ...
This week, BNY Mellon (“Mellon”), the nation’s oldest bank, announced it was making good on its February 2021 plan to develop the infrastructure necessary to serve as custodian for digital assets. Mellon announced the launch of a proprietary crypto custody software developed in partnership with Fireblocks, a digital asset custody, transfer, and settlement platform. With its announcement, Mellon became the first large U.S ...
On the 12th of July 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a Consultation Document on the reporting of major ICT-related incidents with a consultation period expiring on the 5th of August 2022. The MFSA worked on introducing an updated major ICT-related incident reporting process that replaces the previous process that was communicated on the 25th of September 2019 entitled ‘Cybersecurity – Threat Mitigation’ ...
On 30 September 2022, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) of the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Letter No. FE-73 (23/2022) as a result of discussions held during meeting No. (53/2022). The letter has allowed fuel import entities to make repayments of financing agreements in Chinese yuan (“RMB”) in a bid to prevent delays in oil distribution to consumers in Myanmar ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) has published its Guidance for CIS on measures to counter the risk of greenwashing (“Guidance”) which applies to all collective investment schemes which are authorised or registered under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and to those responsible for preparing the prospectuses and other marketing materials of such schemes ...
It has been a little over a year since the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), an international initiative established to combat money laundering published its Mutual Evaluation Report (“MER”) on South Africa in which it identified major “weak spots” in our compliance processes. The FATF gave the country a deadline of February 2023 to remedy all the deficiencies or face possible grey listing ...
