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 ...
Ecuador is no stranger to the “State Capitalism” economic stream which prevailed in South America in the last two decades. This way to directly involve the central government to the country’s economy has triggered deep changes to the commercial relationships ...
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 ...
Following President Obama’s announcement on December 17, 2014 of a policy to normalize relations with Cuba,the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended its Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) amended its Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) on January 16, 2015, to implement the policy change ...
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 ...
Download a free copy of the Philippine section of The Public-Private Partnership Law Review edition 1, which was contributed by the SyCipLaw Partners Marievic G. Ramos-Añonuevo and Arlene M. Maneja.Aside from the Philippines, other jurisdictions covered include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Japan, Mozambique, Paraguay, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States ...
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 ...
In a judgment handed down on January 30, 2015, the Court of Québec held that the failure to respect the prescribed time limits or the violation of a patient’s fundamental rights and freedoms does not lead to the automatic exclusion of a psychiatric examination report concluding that the patient should be confined ...
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 ...
Indonesia’s Currency Law came into effect on 28 June 2011 as Law No. 7 of 2011 on Currency (“Currency Law”). The Currency Law is the implementation of Article 23B of the 1945 Constitution which states that the types and value of the currency are to be further regulated under a law. Bank Indonesia issued on 31 March 2015 as an implementing regulation for the Currency Law, Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 17/3/PBI/2015 on the Obligation to Use Rupiah in the Indonesian Territory (“PBI 17/3/2015”) ...
The April issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Anthony W. Dee and associate Ma. Patricia B. Paz entitled “Philippines: Complaints mechanism concerns.”Download a PDF copy of the article or read the article online at the IFLR website ...
On April 10, 2015, the Texas Medical Board (“TMB”) voted in favor of adopting amendments to the rules governing telemedicine. The revised rules, which will significantly limit the ability to treat patients via telephone and video consultation, take effect June 3, 2015. TMB took its first steps to curb telemedicine in January 2015 by passing an emergency measure that prohibited prescribing drugs without an initial in-person visit ...
In several recent years, Hong Kong’s equity capital market has raised the most new funds from IPOs, in some of those years raising more than London and New York combined. A global finance centre There were a number of massive listings in the market before the financial crisis, notably of state owned Chinese banks. These gave a strong impetus to the emergence of Hong Kong as a key financial centre ...
The Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) has launched its new research report entitled “Asia’s Financial Services: Ready for the Cloud—A Report on FSI Regulations Impacting Cloud in Asia-Pacific Markets.” SyCipLaw Partner Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez with Senior Associate Ruben P. Acebedo II contributed the information on the Philippines ...
MMF Regulation: The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published its report (which includes the draft regulation) (dated 4 March 2015) on the proposed Regulation on Money Market Funds (MMF Regulation). The EU Parliament is scheduled to consider the legislative proposal on 27 to 30 April 2015. ESMA AIFMD Q&AESMA has published updated AIFMD Q&A with new reporting issues and some additional guidance on marketing ...
The Chambers Asia-Pacific 2015 Guide is now available online and features an overview of the Philippinescontributed by SyCipLaw Managing Partner Rafael A. Morales.The guide is distributed to corporate counsel worldwide and is accessible through the Chambers website: www.chambersandpartners.com/guide/asia/8/172/1 ...
In recent remarks to a compliance conference for the pharmaceutical industry, the SEC’s Director of Enforcement, Andrew Ceresney, addressed FCPA issues that commonly arise in the industry. According to Ceresney, the SEC is continuing to focus on pharmaceutical companies because their operations typically pose a high risk for FCPA violations ...
Understanding the Texas Attorney General’s efforts on enforcement of healthcare fraud and abuse matters often is challenging. Recent activities, however, give physicians and other providers insight into the agency’s priorities ...
On March 10, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center released its newest model in alternative care delivery: the Next Generation ACO Model. This new version of accountable care organization (ACO) builds upon the experiences from the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) to set more predictable financial targets, enable providers and beneficiaries to better coordinate care, and provide overall high quality care ...
In an opinion that will certainly cause Texas hospitals, physicians, nursing home operators and other healthcare providers to consider whether they should insert standard arbitration clauses into their pre-treatment agreements, the Texas Supreme Court held last week that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts the more stringent arbitration requirements set forth in the Texas Medical Liability Act (“TMLA”).The Fredericksburg Care Co., L.P. v. Juanita Perez et al, No. 13-0573, 2015 Tex ...
On December 17, 2014, New York Assembly Bill 9933, which amends the Uniform Commercial Code in effect in the state of New York (the “NYUCC”), was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and took effect immediately. This new law (the “UCC Revisions Law”) includes several changes to Article 9 of the NYUCC (“Article 9”), that governs the creation and perfection of security interests in personal property under New York law ...
What changed? Resolution 0572/2015 completely replaced Resolution 6588/2013, which regulates restricted and non-restricted nationals. What does this change mean? Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese citizens may now enter Colombia without previously requesting a visa as long as they hold a Shenghen C o D visa type or USA visa with the exception of transit C-1 visa ...
