Ukrainian banking sector reform process promotes transparency and greater accountability. The ongoing geopolitical and economic turmoil in Ukraine, which started back in 2013, has revealed the multiple drawbacks of Ukrainian banks and the vulnerability of the country's banking system as a whole. This exposure has led to a major reform effort across the banking sector that remains ongoing, with one of the key focuses being efforts to increase the transparency of Ukrainian bank ownership ...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has issued Proposed Rules (the “Proposed Rules”) to implement Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, addressing what has been commonly referred to as “pay-versus-performance ...
On June 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a rule bringing non-bank automobile finance companies under its supervisory authority. Auto finance companies were already subject to the enforcement and regulatory authority of the CFPB, but under the new rule, certain auto finance companies are also subject to routine and cause-based examinations by the CFPB. The rule goes into effect on August 31 of this year ...
1. Introduction In recent years, the Belgian Parliament hascodified substantial parts of Belgian economic legislation into a new Code ofEconomic Law (“Wetboek van economischrecht” / “Codedu droit economique”). The Code of Economic Law consists of 18Books, including one on payment and credit services (“Boek VII. – Betalings- enkredietdiensten” / “LivreVII. – Services de paiement et de crédit”, “Book VII”) ...
The Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a federal securities fraud class action on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead facts establishing that the defendants, the executives of a failed bank, were severely reckless in their overvaluation of the bank’s portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.See Owens v. Jastrow, No. 13–10928, 2015 WL 3649823 (5th Cir ...
Domestic legislation1. Domestic law.Identify your jurisdiction’s money laundering and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations. Describe the main elements of these laws. Law 25,246, enacted in 2000, was the first to regulate both criminal money laundering (by means of inclusions of specific money laundering and terrorism financing offences in the Argentine Criminal Code (ACC) and antimoney laundering provisions ...
The amendments to Chapter III.J.3 of the Compendium of Financial Regulations of the Central Bank introduced a new regulation on prepaid cards (Payment Cards with the Provision of Funds), which seeks to achieve greater financial inclusion by strengthening and promoting this payment method, which has not yet achieved the expected market penetration. The first draft of this regulation is from June of last year, which received many comments from both banks and regulators ...
Following the regulatory workshop in Shenzhen on 5 June 2015 hosted by the SFC and CSRC/SAFE on mutual recognition of funds (MRF) between Hong Kong and the PRC, Hong Kong’s SFC has issued FAQs on the topics that were discussed.In the FAQs, the SFC offered guidance on some of the requirements for authorisation in Hong Kong of PRC funds. In summary:One-year track record: Numerous Cayman unit trusts have re-domiciled to Hong Kong ...
Over the last 10 years, considerable legislative efforts have been made towards creating a favourable framework for financing agribusiness and agricultural production in Serbia. The latest piece of legislation in that sector is a law on secured pre-harvest financing. Looking back, in 2005 Serbia introduced the national strategy on agricultural development (the Strategy), which outlined obstacles and set goals with regard to financing agribusiness and agricultural production ...
FIFA Kickback and Bribery Allegations & Insurance For Related Third-Party Investigations Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash and a$10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates ...
Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash, and a $10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates. The indictment contains charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering arising out of alleged kickbacks and bribes that the defendants gave or received ...
Prolonged and torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. It is important that policyholders remain mindful of the substantial benefits that may be available to them for resulting economic and physical losses under ordinary business insurance policies ...
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has held that bank enforcement titles are contrary to the Polish Constitution because they violate the constitutional principle of equality. Pursuant to this judgment, the relevant provisions of the Banking Law—Art. 96(1) and Art. 97(1)—will cease to be in force on 1 August 2016. The ruling is fundamentally important for the entire banking sector and for bank customers ...
The September 2014 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article by then SyCipLaw senior associate and now partner Jose Florante M. Pamfilo entitled "Foreign banks gain full entry." The Philippines recently enacted a law that allows the full entry of foreign banks into the Philippines ...
In employees’ compensation or personal injuries claims, it is not uncommon for the employer or its insurers to directly settle a claim with the injured person before any legal proceedings are commenced. The recent case of Chan Kwok Man v New World First Bus Services Limited DCEC No.186 of 2013 highlights the importance of ensuring that the wording used in discharge forms is clear, unambiguous and consistent and that the discharge form is properly executed ...
The Lavery GO inc. Program team is happy to inform you that theAutorité des marchés financiers(AMF) announced yesterday the implementation of an equity crowdfunding exemption which allows startups to raise up to $500,000 in capital per year ...
Because American courts have interpreted insurance policies in some unexpected ways over the past several decades, many insurance carriers and policyholders have shied away from U.S.-based insurance coverage and have flocked to Bermuda to use what are commonly referred to as “Bermuda Form” policies. The idea is that the use of these foreign policies can mitigate some of the perceived risks posed by the American court system ...
While the worst of the housing crisis may be over, a significant number of existing foreclosures remain, and new foreclosures continue apace. According to RealtyTrac, there were 122,060 new foreclosure filings in March 2015,and there are 842,773 properties in the U.S. in some stage of foreclosure.For those properties that are subject to judicial foreclosure, many will involve borrowers, who have asserted a variety of counterclaims against the mortgagee ...
When purchasing liability insurance coverage, it is naturally important to assess the scope of the coverage offered in the various proposed policy forms. In evaluating the scope of coverage, policyholders and their counsel often focus on the scope of liability policies’ insuring agreements and any potentially applicable exclusions. However, this should not be the end of the analysis ...
The Act of 21 December 2013 concerning the financing of small and medium-sized undertakings (the “Act”) was published in the Belgian State Gazette on 31 December 2013. The Act entered into force in 2014 and applies to all Credit Agreements that have been concluded since that date. The Act applies to all Credit Agreements entered into between an Undertaking and an EEA Provider of Credit ...
Download a free copy of the Philippine section of The Tax Disputes and Litigation Review edition 3, which was contributed by the SyCipLaw Partner Carina C. Laforteza with Associate Mark Xavier D. Oyales ...
MontenegroThe Montenegrin Parliament recently enacted the new Law on Tax on Coffee and amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Real Estate Tax, the Law on Tax Administration and the Law on Mandatory Social Security. The purpose of these changes is to clarify existing provisions of these tax laws in order to improve their enforcement and to better control the tax liabilities of non-resident taxpayers ...
The Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) have announced that, on several fronts, they are implementing amendments to the disclosure requirements for venture issuers, including those listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. These amendments primarily address continuous disclosure and governance obligations, while also implementing changes to disclosure obligations for prospectuses and information circulars ...
Significant changes to the tax regulations in the Republic of Srpska (“RS”) are expected in the coming months. On March 6, the National Assembly of RS passed amendments to the Law on Fiscal Cash Registries. In addition, Parliament approved the Government’s proposals on amendments to several important tax laws, including corporate income tax, personal income tax, social security contributions and property tax ...
It is well known that insurance companies negotiate low attorney hourly rates for defense of their policyholders.1 When a conflict arises that requires policyholders to retain independent counsel, insurers frequently try to impose those same rates on the policyholders’ selected attorneys. The ensuing fight over billing rates can discourage policyholders from selecting the best attorneys for the job ...
