pMany development authorities and other economic or industrial development authorities in the State of Georgia (each, an “Authority”) offer “Economic Development and Incentive” programs for private companies which commit to make new capital investments that promote trade and commerce and provide new employment or retain existing employment ...
With the government’s widely publicised plan to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by the end of the decade comes a secondary issue – the need for an extensive electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to support an exponential increase in the number of EV cars on the road. Rollout of EV chargepoints is significantly behind what is needed to meet the predicted demand from 2030 ...
That’s the question Shoosmiths and Cornwall Insight’s recent report sought to answer, investigating the role the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model could play as part of the UK’s electric vehicle charging network. In a new video, Jonathan Smart, partner and head of mobility at Shoosmiths, discusses the BaaS model, which enables electric vehicle owners and business fleets to swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a service station via a subscription service ...
On 14 October 2022, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) made amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations, 2002, which will come into force on 14 November 2022. In terms of these amendments, the prescribed amount for reporting cash transactions under section 28 of FICA to the Financial Intelligence Centre has increased from ZAR24 999 to ZAR49 999.99 ...
On the 12th of July 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a Consultation Document on the reporting of major ICT-related incidents with a consultation period expiring on the 5th of August 2022. The MFSA worked on introducing an updated major ICT-related incident reporting process that replaces the previous process that was communicated on the 25th of September 2019 entitled ‘Cybersecurity – Threat Mitigation’ ...
This week, BNY Mellon (“Mellon”), the nation’s oldest bank, announced it was making good on its February 2021 plan to develop the infrastructure necessary to serve as custodian for digital assets. Mellon announced the launch of a proprietary crypto custody software developed in partnership with Fireblocks, a digital asset custody, transfer, and settlement platform. With its announcement, Mellon became the first large U.S ...
With the end of the year just around the corner, it’s a good time to reassess plans and action-items. When reviewing your year-end estate planning or business transition concerns, there are several things to contemplate and review, such as year-end gift giving and tax considerations. Below is a list of items we’ve identified that you might want to consider as you plan for the end of the year and future transitions ...
On Aug. 16, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Although it garnered headlines mostly for its $80 billion commitment to the Internal Revenue Service, the IRA went a long way toward providing tax incentives to real estate and related industries. Selecting a few primary issues from the IRA, as with any large-scale legislation, can be a challenge ...
On 30 September 2022, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (“FESC”) of the Central Bank of Myanmar (“CBM”) issued Letter No. FE-73 (23/2022) as a result of discussions held during meeting No. (53/2022). The letter has allowed fuel import entities to make repayments of financing agreements in Chinese yuan (“RMB”) in a bid to prevent delays in oil distribution to consumers in Myanmar ...
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) has published its Guidance for CIS on measures to counter the risk of greenwashing (“Guidance”) which applies to all collective investment schemes which are authorised or registered under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and to those responsible for preparing the prospectuses and other marketing materials of such schemes ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
It has been a little over a year since the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), an international initiative established to combat money laundering published its Mutual Evaluation Report (“MER”) on South Africa in which it identified major “weak spots” in our compliance processes. The FATF gave the country a deadline of February 2023 to remedy all the deficiencies or face possible grey listing ...
S African countries grapple with the measures necessary to meet their nationally determined commitments (“NDCs”) under the Paris Agreement, it is critical to be primed to attract sustainable finance, and for central banks and regulators in each country to create a fertile environment for this redirection of capital ...
This article focuses on the key aspects of the New Homes Quality Code (NHQC), which developers must consider and implement at the reservation and pre-contract stages ...
What’s happened? Pursuant to a circular issued by the Dubai Land Department on 23 September 2022, the registration of all co-occupants that reside in residential properties in the Emirate of Dubai, whether owned or rented, must be completed today. Who does this apply to? The circular issued by the Dubai Land Department applies to real estate developers, real estate leasing and management companies, real estate owners and tenants ...
On 13 September 2022, the Microfinance Supervision Committee (“Committee“) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance issued Directive No.4/2022 (“Directive“), which outlines risk-based management strategies required of microfinance institutions (“MFIs“) to combat money laundering and terrorism. The Directive also pertains to Section 69 (c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Union Parliament Law No ...
On 28 March 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 497 which introduced a large-scale bankruptcy moratorium starting 1 April. We have already written about the moratorium and the consequences of its introduction for creditors and debtors in more detail here and here. The legal regulation of the moratorium was established in accordance with Article 9.1 of the Bankruptcy Law and the clarifications set forth in Resolution No ...
Levelling up was barely mentioned in the recent “mini budget”, reports say barely any of the levelling up funds have actually been spent and figures show that since the first time then PM Boris Johnson uttered those two words “levelling up” in 2020, our regional cities continue to lag behind the capital. Investment is 23% lower, take up 12% lower and average rents a whopping 54% lower ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
The Proposed VASP Bill primarily: (i) defines the virtual assets activities that require registration; (ii) prescribes the criteria for a virtual assets service provider (“VASP”) to register; (iii) sets out the ongoing requirements and obligations of VASPs; and (iv) specifies the enforcement and general powers of the Commission as well as the penalties for contravening or failing to comply with, a provision of the Proposed VASP Bill ...
Bank Indonesia recently updated its regulation on domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions. Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 24/7/PBI/2022 on Foreign Exchange Market Transactions (“BI Reg. 24/7/2022”) replaces the previous regulation on DNDF, BI Regulation No. 20/10/PBI/2018 (as amended). BI Reg. 24/7/2022 makes some noteworthy amendments on the DNDF terms and introduces new thresholds and provisions on DNDF transactions ...
The ever-growing industry of Peer-to-Peer Lending (“P2P Lending”) has driven the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan – “OJK”) to issue OJK Regulation No. 10/POJK.05/2022 on Technology-Based Collective Financing Services, which came into force on 4 July 2022. The regulation provides more detailed and extensive provisions to cater with the rapid development of the industry ...
As part of the UK Government’s review of the UK funds regime it has included in the Finance Act 2022, (the Act) a new regime for qualifying asset-holding companies (QAHCs). This regime came into effect on 1 April 2022. The QAHC regime provides a tax efficient, UK resident vehicle through which certain types of institutional investors and funds can hold investments ...
Lauren Bowkett is a fraud and financial crime expert in the Business Crime and Compliance Team at Shoosmiths. She is an expert in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) and has successfully intervened in numerous POCA cases to assert her clients third party interest rights ...
