Robo-Advisors (sometimes spelt as Robo-Advisers) are digital investment advisory platforms that provide automated, algorithm-driven financial planning services with little to no human supervision. In this article our Oluwapelumi Omoniyi takes a cursory look at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rules on Robo-Advisors and highlights the rationale behind the move to regulate Robo-Advisors ...
Financial ServicesGuidance document on Climate Change and Principle-based TaxonomyOn 30 April 2021, Bank Negara Malaysia issued a finalised guidance document for financial institutions to assess and classify economic activities which contribute to climate change mitigation and adaption ...
Private open-ended fund companies (OFCs) in Hong Kong are subject to regulation by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The SFC has taken a streamlined approach to regulating private OFCs. (I) High degree of flexibility No investment restrictions: Pursuant to the SFC’s revised Code on Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFC Code) all investment restrictions for private OFCs have been removed ...
Private open-ended fund companies (OFCs) in Hong Kong are subject to regulation by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The SFC has taken a streamlined approach to regulating private OFCs. High degree of flexibility No investment restrictions: Pursuant to the SFC’s revised Code on Open-Ended Fund Companies (OFC Code) all investment restrictions for private OFCs have been removed ...
On 6 May 2021, financial regulators in Mainland China, including various offices of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, jointly issued a consultation paper on the Implementation Rules for the Cross-border Wealth Management Connect Pilot Business in the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macau the Greater Bay Area, the “Consultation”, which is
This blog post highlights certain amendments to British Columbia’s Real Estate Development Marketing Act (“REDMA”) Policy Statements 5 and 6 which came into effect May 1, 2021. Policy Statement 5 sets out circumstances under which a developer is deemed to have permission to begin early marketing of a real estate development before a building permit is issued for the development ...
The Oregon Senate will soon be deciding on a bill that would allow an owner of a lot or parcel at least two acres in size in an area zoned rural residential to build an accessory dwelling unit, or “ADU,” on that lot or parcel, provided there is already a single-family dwelling on the lot or parcel ...
It is a truism to say that infill development in Oregon is fraught and expensive. This is apparently not lost on the Legislature, which over the past four years has enacted a number of laws to reduce local permitting barriers on infill projects in an attempt to provide for more affordable and middle-income housing ...
Knowing what to expect when going into the sale process and teaming up with experienced advisors is critical to making the sale of your business the crowning achievement of all of your hard work. This article discusses several steps in certain business sales, using a hypothetical company named ABC Manufacturing, and provides tips for success at each stage ...
Preface On 26 April 2021, the Futures Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Consultation) (“Futures Law (Draft)”) was deliberated at the 28th Meeting of the 13th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and was later issued for public consultation on 29 April 2021, receiving keen, widespread interest of the domestic futures industry and the over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives market ...
The government has published its much-heralded Bill to outlaw the payment of ground rents under long residential leases. Background The payment of ground rents by residential tenants of long leases has become something of a cause celebre, particularly where leases include ground rents that double every five, ten or twenty years making those leases less valuable and potentially unsaleable ...
The Court of Appeal has unanimously held that a tenant’s statutory declarations given to landlords were valid even though they did not specify the precise term commencement date of the leases to be contracted out. Landlords will be relieved that the Court of Appeal did not adopt an overly legalistic and commercially impractical interpretation of the contracting-out requirements ...
Even before the Biden Administration proposed an increase to the capital gains rate, it has been increasingly common for a seller (“Seller”) of business assets to be approached by consultants promoting a transaction structure whereby Seller can immediately receive nearly all of the cash proceeds of the sale while also deferring the corresponding tax for as long as 30 years ...
Through Decree No. 301/2021, published in the Official Gazette on May 8th, 2021 (the “Decree”), the National Executive Power provided certain modifications to the Tax on Credits and Debits in Argentine Bank Accounts and Other Operations (the “Tax”), established by Competitiveness Law No 25,413 and its amendments (the “CL”) ...
On April 20, 2021, Law No. 21,320 (the “ Law ”), which amends Law No. 19,496 on Chilean Consumer Protection Act (“ CPA ”) regarding extrajudicial collection proceedings and other consumers' rights was published in the official gazette. The Law, which shall be effective immediately, introduced several amendments to the CPA, regarding new principles that will inform the extrajudicial collection proceedings, new duties and legal limitations to suppliers ...
Below, you will find the issue of our Banking and Finance and Capital Markets newsletter for the 1st quarter of 2021, which compiles the most significant news in this area. BANKING AND FINANCE I. Banco de Portugal Banco de Portugal press release on the countercyclical capital buffer for the 2nd quarter of 2021. The countercyclical capital buffer percentage in force from 1 April 2021 will remain at 0% of the total amount of exposures (link) ...
Washington communities have a new tool to drive economic development: tax increment financing. Sometimes called “TIF,” this funding method allows local governments to self-finance public improvements that encourage development without imposing new taxes. The 2021 Washington legislature passed a TIF program and Governor Inslee signed it into law on Monday, May 10, 2021 ...
Before going into the details of the proposal it should be mentioned that the actual rules of the proposal were not presented in the revised budget. The government stated that they aim to present the rules in the budget for 2022. The rules will also be subject to a hearing round and since the scheme constitutes state aid in accordance with the rules in the EEA Agreement, they will also require notification to and approval from ESA before implementation ...
Open banking is an emerging financial services model that focuses on the portability and open availability of customer data held by financial institutions. It involves opening up banking systems, particularly customer data, to third parties to allow them provide services directly to customers ...
Following announcements during the 2021-22 Budget by the Finance Secretary Paul Chan, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued on 10 May 2021 details of the grant scheme available for Hong Kong open-ended fund companies (OFCs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) ...
Factual background The taxpayer, Dr Leung, was a medical doctor employed by the Hospital Authority (“HA”). Part of the conditions of his employment was that he was required to be ‘on call’ on certain days including Sundays and public holidays. When ‘on call’, he was obligated, among other things, to be within the physical proximity of the hospital, to be ready to render medical services if the need arose, and to abstain from drinking alcohol ...
The purpose of the amalgamation is to enhance quality and efficiency and is not intended to represent a change in the Norwegian export finance policy. The financing schemes and services currently available will therefore continue also after the amalgamation. Export Finance Norway will be a part of the Norwegian State ...
On 30 April 2021, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (“SASAC”) issued the Circular on Matters Related to Further Strengthening the Administration of Financial Derivatives Businesses (《关于进一步加强金融衍生业务管理有关事项的通知》), which follows SASAC's earlier issuance of a circular on the same topic on 13 January 2020 (namely, the Circular on Matters Related to Effectively Strengthening the Administration of Financial Derivatives Businesses (《关于切实加强金融衍生
