With an aim of improving the efficiency and competitiveness of Kenya's productive resources, the Privatisation Bill, 2023 aims to replace the current Privatisation Act, 2005. President William Ruto has to privatise six to 10 state corporations to ease the burden on the exchequer and to raise financing for government projects through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) instead of seeking financing from external markets ...
March 20, 2023 By: Manuel Fishman and Mary H. Rose What a week this has been since the closure of Silicon Valley Bank. As noted in our Client Alert of last week, California State regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday, March 10, 2023, and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) as receiver for the bank ...
Crypto assets are assets that exist on a blockchain and are represented through a token, where the keys to the token are held in a crypto wallet. The characteristics of different crypto assets vary, depending on the code of the blockchain they operate on ...
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Benjamin Franklin For tax advisors, CFOs, and finance personnel throughout Cambodia, the last few weeks of March are typically extra stressful due to the 31 March deadline for filing annual Tax on Income (TOI) declarations with the General Department of Taxation (GDT). Cambodia’s tax system operates on the principle of self-assessment, meaning taxpayers declare and pay taxes based on their reading of tax regulations ...
On January 30, 2023, the Court of Appeal of Quebec rendered a decision in Commission scolaire De La Jonquière c. Intact Compagnie d?assurance.1 The key issues in this case are the potential for conflicts arising from liability insurance policies and the obligation to disclose documents where insurers? duty to defend conflicts with their duty to indemnify insureds ...
Following a wave of recent prosecutions in relation to cash fraudulently obtained through the various Covid-19 support schemes, we consider the criminal and civil ramifications on a legitimate business which has received cash from someone who has been prosecuted and offer some helpful tips to reduce the risk of your business inadvertently laundering the proceeds of crime ...
The immediate crisis caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (‘SVB’) in the US has been averted with US regulators stepping in to help customers there, and HSBC buying SVB’s UK subsidiary (‘SVB UK’). But the collapse of Silvergate Capital, SVB and Signature Bank in quick succession has somewhat sharpened focus on the potential risks in the finance industry (notwithstanding the increase in regulation, particularly over recent years) ...
Grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) has major implications for countries and companies alike. These implications include reputational damage, economic consequences, and increased compliance costs, which can lead to restricted foreign investment and reduced capital inflows ...
On February 1, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC") solicited public opinions on the Measures for Administration of the Registration-based Initial Public Offerings of Stocks (Draft for Comment) (《首次公开发行股票注册管理办法（征求意见稿）》) ...
March 13, 2023 By: Manuel Fishman While unexpected, the closure by California regulators of, and the appointment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) as receiver for, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) is an event that is contemplated by most leases. If you are holding a letter of credit issued by SVB, you are an unsecured creditor of the bank ...
In January 2023, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) hosted several public hearings to gather feedback from the public on the proposed draft regulations for digital assets business operation in Thailand, including, among others, Public Hearing No. AorNorDor ...
The Federal Housing Administration recently issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-23, establishing a new COVID-19 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Property Charge Repayment Plan.[1] The COVID-19 HECM Property Charge Repayment Plan would aid HECM borrowers in covering costs associated with standard property charges. As a condition of their loan, HECM borrowers are required to pay property charges such as property taxes, insurance and homeowner association fees related to their mortgaged property ...
China Business Law Journal Published March 9, 2023 With the growing importance of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and the high level of globalisation in capital and supply chains, the scope of ESG regulation is no longer confined to listed companies, the traditional targets ...
In this new podcast series "The Brexit Bonfire", colleagues discuss key elements of the legislation ranging from what it is, how it could impact businesses and key things that businesses should be aware of. In our second episode of this series of podcasts, Michelle Craven-Faulkner and Lucie Green continue their discussion concerning the Brexit Freedoms Bill but this time they consider how the current proposals could impact on commercial contracts across the board ...
Introduction The UN Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (1988) and the Convention Providing a Uniform Law for Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes (1930), on which legislation throughout the world is modelled, assert the same principle. The assignment of funds is thus rejected as the legal principle underlying the transfer of funds ...
The proposal for the temporary Windfall Tax Act for enterprises operating in the electricity and fossil fuel sectors was approved by the Finnish Parliament on 27 February 2023 in an amended form. An overview of the Government's proposal can be found in our previous article on the subject. The Windfall Tax Act will be applied retroactively to the tax assessment of tax year 2023 ...
Continuing on from our first advisory on the P2SK Law, we delve deeper into its provisions with a specific focus on Chapter X, which covers finance services businesses. This chapter applies to a variety of entities involved in finance services, including those providing peer-to-peer lending services, and aligns with the P2SK Law's aim of promoting technological innovation in finance services while protecting consumers ...
On the 1st March, the FCA issued the remaining portfolio letters in respect of the implementation of consumer duty. For this summary, I have focussed on the motor finance portfolio letter. I had a look at what words were being used in the letter and their frequency (see the word cloud graphic). Whilst this is not a detailed analysis, it’s interesting to note the prominence of “products”, and “information” in the context of the motor finance letter ...
Financial services companies, such as banks, credit unions, lenders, finance companies, loan servicers, broker-dealers, and securities firms, often receive subpoenas from parties in litigation involving their customers, employees, and business partners. They may also receive subpoenas from regulatory organizations, government agencies, and grand juries ...
In the ‘Proposal for a Regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence’ (the “draft EU AI Act”), transparency is regulated by Article 13 and Article 52 thereof. The former applies to systems of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) which are classified as high-risk and the latter applies to limited-risk AI systems ...
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” — Bilbo Baggins For those embarking on the process of obtaining a Value Added Tax (VAT) refund in Cambodia – it may feel at times like a perilous journey ...
Although admittedly still in its early phase, the metaverse, a virtual world where users can interact with each other and digital objects in a 3D environment, provides exciting new opportunities with a multitude of implications for rights management and the Fintech sector. Facebook’s head-first charge into this new landscape attests to the importance of the metaverse. Last year, the tech giant rebranded its corporate identity to Meta to signal its commitment to the metaverse ...
Blockchain litigation lead, Matt Green will be hosting our latest podcast series, 'In Early - The Crypto Podcast' - Listen to episode 8. This week is about Bitcoin and the Tulip Trading case (recently in the Court of Appeal), in which a claimant seeks to transfer his Bitcoin without a private key, looking for the blockchain’s software developers to transfer them for him ...
