SME Merger and Acquisition instruments exempt from stamp dutyThe Prime Minister announced that starting from 1 July 2020 until 30 June 2021, eligible SMEs will be exempted from paying stamp duty on instruments for Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A instruments”), including Contracts or Agreements for sale or lease of properties (including land, building, machinery and equipment); Instrument of Transfer and Memorandum of Understanding; Loans or Financing Agreement; and First Tenancy
THE POSITION BEFORE THE SEC STATEMENT The Security and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) on 14 September 2020, released their Statement on Digital Assets and their Classification and Treatment (the “Statement”) pursuant to the powers conferred on it by the Investment and Securities Act 2007[1](“ISA”) ...
Key Points Under the final regulations, the IRS can change the default rate of withholding applied to monthly pension or annuity payments simply by issuing new forms, instructions, or other guidance, rather than by having to issue new regulations. Plan administrators and annuity providers should consider making changes to their systems and processes to allow frequent changes to the default withholding rate for pension or annuity payments ...
For the financial services sector, 2020 was to be the year of rebuilding after the royal commission reckoning of 2018-2019. But with 2020 presenting circumstances that were previously unimaginable, the sector – like the entire Australian economy – has a whole new set of challenges to face… As 2020 ticks on, the financial services industry is grappling with new challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn ...
This briefing provides an overview of the salient points of Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Circular No. 016 (Rules Implementing the Criminal Provisions of Republic Act No. 10667, Otherwise Known As the Philippine Competition Act)1 (“PCA Rules on Criminal Provisions”). A ...
In Harris v. University Village Thousand Oaks, CCRC, LLC, plaintiffs, residents at Defendant’s continuing care retirement community who had previously signed binding arbitration agreements in their continuing care contracts, argued that under applicable California law, the arbitration agreements were invalid and they could therefore litigate their claims in a court of law. Defendant University Village sought to enforce the arbitration provisions of the continuing care contracts ...
BAG, ruling dated May 13, 2020, 4 AZR 528/19 The employee's remuneration, referred to in an employment contract as "collectively agreed salary" is to be understood as a "dynamic reference clause". If a reference "to the collective agreements applicable for the Company" has been agreed upon in the employment contract, this reference is limited to the binding collective agreements applicable for the employer at the time the contract is concluded ...
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the media has repeatedly reported about terminations by the employer, which are based on the fact that employees did not adhere to corona measures during their leisure time, for example because they took part in large anti-corona demonstrations and disregarded the distance rule or were associated with anti-constitutional ideas ...
On September 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its first-ever proposed rule outlining a test for when a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In its proposed rule, the DOL has created a new framework for the well-established “economic reality” independent contractor test ...
The Tax Court of Canada (the “Court”) recently upheld the deductibility of carrying charges incurred in connection with an issuance of shares. In so doing, the court upheld the tax benefits arising from a common financing practice. In addition, the Court reiterated the principle in tax matters according to which, save in exceptional cases, the legal relationships established by one or more taxpayers must be respected ...
In order to follow its task of reducing bureaucratization of the sale process of federal real estate properties, the Secretariat for the Coordination and Governance of the Federal Government’s Assets (SCGPU) edited three ordinances intended to regulate instruments brought by Law no. 14 ...
A company’s need for substantial amounts of capital is intensified when looking to grow quickly, or develop an innovative product that will disrupt the market in a meaningful way. This is true to any company, and is especially true to innovative and disruptive startups, which aim at creating new markets, revolutionizing existing ones and prevailing over traditional market participants ...
Law 50/2020 of 25 August transposed into Portuguese national law Directive (EU) 2017/828 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 May 2017 as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement. This directive is known as the Shareholder Rights Directive II and it amends the previous Directive 2007/36/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 July 2007 ...
I. Portuguese Competition Authority Portuguese Competition Authority publishes final version of its analysis of loyalty policies in telecommunication contracts In April 2020, the Portuguese Competition Authority (PCA) published the final version of its report on "Loyalty policies in telecommunication services" ...
Law 58/2020 of 31 August implemented Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 and Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23October 2018 into Portuguese law. The new law entered into force on 1 September 2020 and introduced considerable changes to the existing rules in order to implement new measures to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the Portuguese legal system ...
BUSINESS STABILIZATION AND RESTRUCTURING ACT (STARUG) On 18 September 2020, the German Federal Department of Justice published a first draft bill for the implementation of the EU Directive 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks of 20 June 2019 (the „Draft Bill“) ...
The issue is not foreign talent but transparency in the process. DBS was last week named world’s best bank – the third consecutive year it has received such accolade. It was thus more than a little ironic that in the same week, its chief executive Piyush Gupta was cited by a Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) as a disappointing example of a non “home-grown” CEO. Mr Gupta has been a Singapore citizen since 2009 and has helmed DBS for more than a decade ...
On Sept. 14, 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed into law a bill, which provides significant protections against tort claims arising from COVID-19 to all entities, including individuals, businesses, health care providers, property owners, government entities, churches, and schools. Amended Sub ...
There a number of reasons why Hong Kong banks freeze a customer’s bank account but this article is limited to exploring why Hong Kong banks may be required to do so for money laundering reasons. The money laundering offence in Hong Kong law The offence of “money laundering” is prosecuted in Hong Kong under section 25(1) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, Cap. 455 (“OSCO”) ...
The Covid-19 pandemic has swept the globe like a tsunami and it continues to impact countries and their economies worldwide. The UAE is no exception. Businesses have come under increased cost pressure as revenues decline. Such cost pressure primarily involves real estate leasing costs. In this inBrief, we look at the impact Covid-19 has had on commercial leases ...
On Sept. 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced revisions to the regulations implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), following the New York federal court’s decision that invalidated some of the prior regulations as either inconsistent with the text of the FFCRA or insufficiently explained by the DOL in its original regulations ...
For the last several months, local and national economies have struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate the downturn, the federal government reduced interest rates to near zero. This reduced rate has created a unique estate planning opportunity for individuals who hold assets they expect will appreciate, who wish to make lifetime gifts to their lineal descendants, and who wish to make such gifts without incurring annual or lifetime gift tax liability ...
