The Norwegian Bar Association’s law committees are appointed by the association’s executive board. The committees consist of members with particular expertise within the selected field. The committees follow legislation developments closely and advise within their special field of expertise. With a focus on the rule of law and quality in legislation the Bar Association’s law committees deliver around 80 statements every year ...
Renewable energy developers and contractors have been anticipating the Treasury Department and IRS’s initial guidance on what is required to satisfy the prevailing wage and apprentice requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ...
On December 13th, 2022, Decree No. 84 was published in the Official Gazette approving the Regulations governing mediation, conciliation, and arbitration in consumer matters, which will enter into force six months after publication, that is, on June 23rd, 2023. The issuance of this regulation is framed in the recent entry into force of the Pro-Consumer Law that seeks to encourage consumer protection ...
On 5 December 2022, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (“MLVT”) issued Notification 045/22 on Extending the Deadline for the 2023 Foreign Employee Quota Application (“Notification”). Through the Notification, the MLVT has delayed the submission deadline for 2023 foreign employee quota applications until 31 January 2023, being two months after the original deadline ...
On the twelfth day of Christmas, HR asked with heavy hearts “should we delay dismissing an employee until the New Year starts?" After much deliberation, they decided … no Dealing with redundancies or other dismissals is challenging at any time of the year, never mind in the run up to Christmas when everyone is already feeling the pinch of their purse strings whilst trying to stay afloat with festive joy ...
Kudun and Partners represented Altitude Development Co., Ltd., one of Thailand’s leading real estate development, in the offering of newly issued shares to Lotus Global Investment, a foreign PE fund, representing 12.49 percent of its total issued share capital, with a transaction value of THB 500 million (approximately USD 13.8 million). This transaction is an important milestone prior to the client’s initial public offering in the Stock Exchange of Thailand ...
In a Pre-Budget Report (PBR) announced to Parliament last week, the Government has set out its priorities for next year's budget. These include proposals to increase revenues via significant changes to the current employment tax regime. Perhaps the most headline-grabbing aspect of these potential reforms is the proposal to increase the employer portion of payroll tax for exempted companies, from 10.25% to 10.75% ...
Companies face the loss of a major tax break on research and experimental ("R&E") costs for 2022, absent Congressional action. Since 1954, Internal Revenue Code section 174 has allowed taxpayers to immediately deduct R&E costs. Effective January 1, 2022, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("TCJA") amended section 174 to eliminate the deduction of R&E costs. Instead, costs for R&E activities in the U.S ...
With office attendance down and face to face events less frequent, the ability to meet and network with industry peers has been somewhat stymied in recent years. This is particularly true for the in-house lawyer community who, having worked through a period of sustained legislative, societal, economic and regulatory change, have arguably been one of the groups to have suffered the most from the inability hear how other IHLs across the industry have managed these challenges ...
Here’s the Scenario: After months of working with a new developer client (and providing hours of unreimbursed value engineering) and hard negotiations over the cost plus GMP contract (fighting over indemnity/escalation/savings/liquidated damage clauses), you have a deal. You pop a cork with all involved since the developer has said this is one of many future projects. Your very patient subcontractors have held their prices ...
The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) [1] entered into force on 1 November 2022. A business that considers the platform it uses will likely be designated as a ‘gatekeeper’ and that the platform’s rules/behaviour are unfair can take certain steps now [2]. Q1 2023 to Q2 2023 - Engage with the platform to change its rules/behaviour ...
On the 11th day of Christmas, HR heard management say…“if they all work at Christmas, how much must we pay”? A weary HR team replied - whatever the contract says! Once again employers should initially turn to the contract of employment for the answer, which will vary from employer to employer and could include any of the following: You will receive normal salary for any time worked on a public holiday but will be rewarded with an equivalent day off in lieu to be taken at a
With an estimated 3.5 million people suffering from fertility issues in the UK, and with fertility treatment involving an emotionally draining not to mention a long, costly and risky process, it is unsurprising that Nickie Aiken MP has begun a campaign for change and better employment rights for individuals and couples undergoing fertility treatment ...
On 23 September 2021, the government published a consultation paper on ‘making flexible working the default’. The response to this consultation has now been published (on 5 December 2022). Overall, the responses to the consultation were broadly in favour of the proposed change ...
Meta continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons in the data protection field as this week the Irish data regulator, the DPC fined the tech company €265 million ($275 million) for infringements of Articles 25(1) and 25(2) GDPR. It is nothing new that Meta pushes data protection boundaries ...
As the Procurement Bill has made its way through Parliament, there has been much talk of giving 'smaller companies a bigger slice of the procurement pie'. It remains to be seen if, and to what extent, the relevant proposed amendments to the Bill are retained in the final version of the legislation. However, what is striking is the significant challenges many SMEs would continue to face in the event of a breach (or suspected breach) of the procurement rules ...
On the tenth day of Christmas, HR were again dismayed… ”Can we make everyone work the Christmas bank holidays? In response to this question most employers will be able to turn to the contract of employment to find the answer. The contract will typically state whether or not the annual leave allowance is in addition to the usual statutory bank holidays ...
The EU revenue cap which limits certain electricity generators' revenues has raised many questions within the energy sector. In Finland, the revenue cap will likely be implemented in the form of a temporary windfall tax which would apply to profits made in 2023. Our energy team's associate Nelli Rönkkö has summarised the key points regarding the implementation of the EU revenue cap in Finland ...
After two years of navigating COVID-19, the end of 2022 will be an opportunity for employers to organise larger activities for their employees, such as Christmas parties. The purpose of this newsletter is to make employers aware of their obligations during the holiday season festivities. Below, we will address the following three issues: industrial accidents, disciplinary measures and psychological harassment ...
Looking back on 2022, what were some of the major events/trends that impacted the work you did as an offshore law firm? Do you see these impacts being felt going into 2023? Anthony McKenzie (AM): 2021 was a blockbuster year for many offshore law firms in Asia. Booming deal flow saw revenues and profits surge. In order to service their clients, law firms increased their headcount. Fast forward to 2022 and beyond and the economic outlook is very different ...
On 1 January 2023, the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 will be amended by the: (1) BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act, 2022; and (2) the BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 (together the “Amendments”). The Amendments will impact all companies incorporated or registered in the BVI (“Companies”) ...
