On December 27, the President signed the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Act) addressing changes to the rules regarding PPP loans, including making a supplemental PPP loan available to many PPP borrowers and increasing the types of business expenses that can be forgiven ...
While the calling restrictions are sure to get the most publicity from the CFPB’s new debt collection rule, a number of the less discussed aspects of the rule may present just as many operational challenges. For instance, the CFPB’s prohibition on the sale or transfer of certain types of debt, as well as the record retention requirements in the rule will likely present a number of hurdles of their own ...
On Dec. 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act), which provides additional COVID-19 relief to individuals and businesses. The long-anticipated COVID-19 relief bill will now head to President Trump for approval or veto. The Act does not extend requirements for employers to provide emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) past the original Dec ...
Congress reached agreement on the third round of coronavirus-related relief measures (totaling approximately $900 Billion) as this issue was being written. The relevant statutory language is part of the massive Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) and was released on December 21, 2020. Passage by the House and Senate was swift, and approval by the President is expected ...
Charities need many things to make a difference, including good people and sufficient funding, but effective leadership underpins everything and the recently refreshed Charity Governance Code is a valuable tool in striving to practise good governance ...
The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act ("FFCRA") was passed by Congress this spring to mandate two weeks of paid sick leave for COVID-19 reasons and to extend the FMLA by creating a new reason for FMLA leave relating to the need for child care because of COVID-19. The details of the FFCRA were covered by the Spilman COVID-19 Task Force at the time of passage here ...
In a small victory for landlords of bankrupt tenants, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has ruled that the Chuck E. Cheese parent company may not use its bankruptcy filing to avoid paying its rent. The COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-at-home orders have prompted numerous retailers and restaurants to seek bankruptcy protection. Many of those companies successfully used the bankruptcy process to obtain relief from their rental obligations ...
On 24 September 2020, Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik ─ “BPS”) issued BPS Regulation No. 2 of 2020 on Indonesian Standard Business Classifications (Klasifikasi Baku Lapangan Usaha Indonesia ─ “KBLI”), which is known as the 2020 KBLI. The 2020 KBLI came into force on its issuance date and revoked BPS Regulation No. 95 of 2015 on the KBLIs, as amended by BPS Regulation No. 19 of 2017, which is known as the 2017 KBLI ...
With the rapid development of technology and the rise of new finance products and players in the fintech industry, banks are pushed to produce new products and innovative services in order to serve their customers and keep abreast of the behaviour of consumers who appreciate the convenience of digital services. In response to this, the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan -- OJK) has issued OJK Regulation No. 12/POJK ...
It is clear that government restrictions and trading difficulties have created an environment in which existing transfer pricing policies will not always be appropriate. The OECD has done well to reach rapid consensus among its members on four key transfer pricing topics, namely: comparability analysis, losses and the allocation of COVID-19-specific costs, government assistance programmes and advance pricing agreements (APAs) ...
With the growing popularity of the Hong Kong open-ended fund company (OFC) structure following revisions to the OFC Code in September 2020, fund managers are increasingly looking at practical considerations when planning ahead on the establishment of new OFCs. One of the key areas is the appointment of the OFC’s board of directors. The key operators of an OFC are the directors, the investment manager and the custodian ...
So called ‘direct agreements’ in the context of debt financing, has the main purpose of establishing a direct contractual relationship between a lender and the borrower’s counterparties for the purpose of enabling the lender to gain control over the borrower’s contracts. Direct agreements are most common for project financings and other facilities where the value of the assets being financed at large depend on the borrower’s contracts. Examples are e.g ...
Changes are coming in 2021 to the eligibility requirements for “Qualified Mortgage” or “QM” loans. The Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule administered by CFPB (“ATR/QM Rule”) requires a creditor to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay a residential mortgage loan according to its terms ...
The new Inheritance Act enters into force on 1 January 2021. The law was passed on 15 May 2019 and replaces the current law from 1972. The most important change is pedagogical, as the law has a better language and a clearer structure. The language has been simplified, and terms such as «landowner» and «legatee» have been replaced by the common term «heir» ...
In November, California voters narrowly passed Proposition 19, which makes significant changes to existing real property tax reassessment rules. Effective after Feb. 15, 2021, Proposition 19 significantly restricts property owners' ability to preserve the current assessed value of California real property transferred between parents and children. Effective Apr ...
On 10th December 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular on “New License Categorisations for the Nigerian Payments System”. The introduction of the policies highlighted in the circular may impact significantly on the fintech landscape in Nigeria as the CBN now clearly sets out the activities that can be carried out by fintechs that operate in the electronic payments system space in Nigeria ...
With ‘financial assistance’ in this context, we refer to assistance granted by a company in connection with the purchase of the shares in that company or its parent company. The most common example is that a company grants a guarantee or security in connection with the purchaser’s financing of the purchase price for the acquisition of shares in the company ...
The CFPB’s debt collection rule goes a long way towards resolving a long standing FDCPA question: How often can I call a debtor? Rather than institute a bright line rule, the CFPB adopted a rebuttable presumption which effectively limits debt collectors (including loan servicers subject to the FDCPA) to placing seven calls in a seven-day period. To further complicate matters, the rule also effectively prohibits calls for seven days after you actually reach a debtor ...
I Banking and Finance The Government of Latvia has approved a business support program that provides for financial measures ensured in cooperation with state development agency Altum. The program is planned to continue until mid-2021. Depending on individual needs, companies, regardless of industry, can use six crisis alleviation programs: Working capital loan – a liquidity support for companies, whose activities have been affected by Covid-19 ...
On November 19, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3-2 to adopt additional amendments to Regulation S-K for public companies, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A). These amendments reflect the latest development in the SEC’s ongoing disclosure effectiveness initiative, which seeks to modernize and streamline public company disclosure requirements ...
In response to the extraordinary economic and social impact of the ongoing Covid-19 public health crisis, the Government of Hong Kong has sought to provide support to the beleaguered commercial property sector. In the 2020 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the abolition of the Double Ad Valorem Stamp Duty (DSD) on non-residential property (NRP) transactions pursuant to the Public Revenue Protection (Stamp Duty) Order 2020 taking effect from 26 November 2020 ...
The Federal Reserve has issued amended For Profit and Non-Profit Frequently Asked Questions for the Main Street Lending Program, addressing the key dates for the end of the program in December, 2020. These dates are driven by the end of the Federal Reserve’s Special Purpose Vehicle’s authority to purchase MSLP loan participations on December 31 ...
ICE Benchmark Administration, the British-based LIBOR administrator, announced that it intends to cease the publication of the one-week and two month U.S. Dollar LIBOR settings immediately after December 31, 2021, and the other U.S. Dollar LIBOR settings immediately after June 20, 2023. Accordingly, on November 30, the U.S ...
During the 2019 legislative session, California enacted SB 908 - the Debt Collection Licensing Act, Financial Code Division 25, Sections 100000, et seq., requiring consumer debt collectors who are collecting on their own account or the account of others, including debt buyers, to be licensed beginning January 1, 2022 ...
