Savings and Credit Entities (SCEs) are regulated financial institutions of private capital authorised to develop lending activities. The operation of SCEs is governed by the Law of Cooperative Banks and Savings and Credit Entities, which came into force on July 1 2001, amended in January 1 2009 to its current regime ...
It is still possible to regain property expropriated by the state after the Second World War, and in some cases compensation is awarded instead. Real estate in Poland was expropriated by the state on a massive scale. This was done by operation of law or through administrative orders, which in most cases were issued in violation of the law in force at that time ...
On February 12, 2013, in conjunction with the release of the Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the Executive Order), President Obama signed a Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-21 on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience. The PPD revokes the 2003 Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (issued by President George W ...
On January 23, 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)1 issued a notice for comment on its proposed guidance, Social Media: Consumer Compliance Risk Management Guidance2 (the “Guidance”) ...
After several years of legislative effort in Mexico, particularly in the area of tax, a structure has been established that now makes it attractive for companies to issue, and investors to acquire, securities based on a beneficial interest in an Infrastructure and Real Estate Trust (known by its Spanish acronym “FIBRA”) ...
Here are select December 2012 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on civil law: Civil Code Damages; When Applicable. It is essential that for damages to be awarded, a claimant must satisfactorily prove during the trial that they have a factual basis, and that the defendant’s acts have a causal connection to them ...
The CorporateGovernance Code of the Portuguese Corporate Governance Institute (Instituto Português de Corporate Governance – “IPCG”) waspublished on 30 January 2013. For the first time, commercial companies haveaccess to a corporate governance best practice code prepared by civil societywhich is an alternative to the existing corporate governance code of the SecuritiesMarket Commission (CMVM) ...
On February 12, 2013, the Obama Administration released an executive order, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the "Executive Order"), which is focused primarily on government actions to support critical infrastructure owners and operators in protecting their systems and networks from cyber threats ...
On Septemner 21, 2012, Justice Babin of the Superior Court of Quebec rendered a decision which denotes the effect of bad faith of the registrant on damages awards in the context of the unjustified publication of legal hypothec for construction ...
Bare trusts are increasingly being used when investors acquire investment properties as they provide a number of significant advantages. Anyone considering purchasing an apartment building should fully examine the potential use of a bare trust arrangement. What is a bare trust? A bare trust is a legal structure that facilitates the division of the beneficial and legal ownership ...
The decision Mrs X v. Rothschild, rendered on 26 September 2012 by the French Cour de cassation1. called into question the practice of asymmetrical jurisdiction clauses, frequently included in international financial contracts ...
Revised EPC regulations: Where commercial premises larger than 500m² are frequently visited by the public and have an EPC, it must now be displayed at the premises. This new requirement was introduced by the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, which came into force on 9 January 2013. They replace all existing regulations on energy performance certificates, display energy certificates and air conditioning inspections ...
On January 6, 2013, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced that it was relaxing the liquidity rules that will be applied to banks beginning in 2015. The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (“GHOS”), the oversight body of the Basel Committee, then unanimously adopted the last changes made by the Basel Committee to the liquidity coverage ratio (“LCR”), which were presented in the version published in December 2010 ...
On January 17, 2013, the Treasury Department ("Treasury") and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") issued final regulations with respect to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA"). The legislation applies to payments to foreign financial institutions ("FFIs") and nonfinancial foreign entities ("NFFEs"). In general, FATCA requires certain persons making payments to FFIs and NFFEs to withhold 30 percent of any payment (a "Withholdable Payment") consisting of either (1) U.S ...
In 2007, companies completed more than 12,000 M&A deals globally, with values totaling over $3.5 trillion.1 Butthose volume and dollar records have since been buried under years of bad news. Dykema’s 2012 Mergers &Acquisitions Outlook Survey indicates that the mortgage meltdown, the recession, the European debt crisis, theaftereffects of the presidential election and now the “fiscal cliff” have pushed expectations for 2013 to a near recordlow ...
The Finance Bill 2013 makes changes to the rules applying entrepreneurs' relief (ER) to the disposal by an employee or officer of a company, on or after 6 April 2013, of shares meeting the requirements of the enterprise management incentive (EMI) scheme. Details ER enables shareholders of companies to sell their shares at a capital gains tax rate of only 10% for lifetime gains of up to £10m ...
One of the “Thirteen Presidential Goals” announced by President Peña Nieto when he took office last December is to promote competitiveness in the telecommunications sector. He said: “It is essential to increase the economic competitiveness, specifically, in the telecommunications sector ...
With the Commercial Tenancy (Retail Shops) Agreements Regulations (No. 2) 2012 (WA) (Regulations) being gazetted on Friday 30 November 2012, the amendments to the Commercial Tenancy (Retail Shops) Agreements Act 1985 (WA) (Act) and the Regulations will now both come into effect on 1 January 2013.The Act and Regulations aim to 'improve the tenancy rights of small business and to enhance the clarity and effectiveness of the legislation' ...
Some favourable news on the global economic front has been trickling in. Markets around the world rallied as the US avoided the fiscal cliff-dive by a nanosecond; China's economy is showing signs of renewed strength, with the powerful manufacturing sector now performing at its best levels in almost two years; and share prices in most of Europe, Britain and even Japan have been trading solidly higher over the past few months ...
The North Carolina construction world was abuzz during 2012 about new legislation bringing significant changes to North Carolina’s mechanic’s lien and payment bond laws. Governor Perdue signed SB 42 and HB 1052 into law this past summer. Key provisions of the laws are set to take effect on January 1, 2013, with other changes coming on April 1, 2013 ...
In September, the National Customs and Tax Authority - DIAN - presented the third draft of the new Customs Statute, which will regulate most of Colombia’s customs law. Although scholars and business associations have presented their comments to the project, the draft seems to be definitive for the most part ...
The Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (IFCPA), enacted this week by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, further ratchets up U.S. economic sanctions against Iran. U.S. persons or entities (hereafter "persons"), including their foreign subsidiaries, or persons in the U.S., are already prohibited from virtually all transactions involving Iran. Under IFCPA, U.S ...
In a Federal Register notice dated December 26, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Dept. of the Treasury updated its regulations to include prohibitions on foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations from doing business with Iran. 77 F.R. 75848. The amended regulations also make clear that penalties for trading with Iran by a foreign subsidiary can be imposed on its U.S. parent. Such penalties will not be applied if the U.S ...
Earlier this year, I wrote an article entitled “Why you should choose the BVI for your next Fund.” Since then new regulations ushering in an “Approved Managers” regime have been published and as of December 10, 2012 are now in force. The effect of these new regulations is to make the BVI an attractive option for setting up as an investment manager ...
It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 active companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and that more than half of those companies are used in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. While, traditionally, many of these companies have been used as asset holding vehicles, the robust Chinese economy has led to the increased use of BVI companies in China and Hong Kong as hedge funds and other types of investment vehicles. This is no surprise ...
