Dating back to the historical conquests of Alexander the Great in the years 300 B.C., which provided an unprecedented foundation for commercial exchanges between Macedonia, Persia and Egypt, along with the Mongolian Empire’s ambitious Silk Road that ensured, since 130 B.C ...
In May 2019, the South African Proposed Regulations Pertaining to the Financial Provision for the Rehabilitation and Remediation of Environmental Damage caused by Reconnaissance, Prospecting, Exploration, Mining or Production Operations, 2019 (the “2019 Regulations”) were released for public comment ...
The Dubai Development Authority (DDA) (previously known as the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (TECOM) and the Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA)) is the regulator of entities licensed to conduct business in Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Knowledge Park, Dubai Outsource City, and other clusters regulated by the DDA ...
As seen on Law360: The 2018 Farm Bill[1] relaxed restrictions covering hemp-based cannabis products, and it is causing a shift in business strategies in the industry. Instead of a full prohibition of trademark registrations covering cannabis goods or services, a narrow range of filings is now permitted, so long as they conform to the requirements of the Farm Bill and the latest USPTO guidelines ...
A previous inBrief dated 30 April 2019 discussed a law recently enacted in the BVI, the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018, which introduced economic substance requirements in the BVI. This article will discuss a similar measure recently promulgated in the UAE ...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently released its opinion inNorth Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, largely vindicating the understanding of most estate planners: A state cannot tax the income of a trust where the only connection to the state is the presence of the trust’s discretionary beneficiary. Facts inKaestner The facts inKaestner, in brief, are as follows ...
Numerous corporate governance scandals over the past 15 years involving S-chips have tarred these mainland-operating, Singapore-listed companies with the same brush. But do all S-chips deserve their bad reputation?It was meant to be one of the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) success stories. One of our biggest skincare companies, Best World International saw its profits grow almost 40 fold between 2013 and 2017. It was valued at S$1.8 billion at its peak in February 2019 ...
On Monday, June 3, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced MDARD’s decision to allow for commercial solar energy development on land currently enrolled in the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program, commonly known as PA 116. PA 116 was established in 1975 and is designed to preserve farmland and open space in Michigan ...
Introduction The latest in the series of insolvency regime reformations in the Middle East is the new Dubai International Financial Centre insolvency law; DIFC Law 1 of 2019 (the New Law). Subject to article 1(4) of the New Law, the New Law repeals and replaces DIFC Insolvency Law 3 of 2013 (the Old Law). Article 3 of the New Law states that it applies in the jurisdiction of the DIFC, meaning that it applies to all DIFC incorporated entities ...
There have been several significant U.S.-China trade developments in June. Notably, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued procedures for seeking an exclusion for parties adversely affected by the increased 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion of goods imported from China that came into effect on May 10, 2019 (List 3). The USTR also extended by two weeks the entry deadline to avoid this increased List 3 25 percent tariff ...
General The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (“SCB’), the independent regulatory body responsible for digital assets and investor protection, has issued the draft Digital Assets and Registered Exchange Bill (“DARE Bill”) for industry consultation. The DARE Bill prescribes the legal requirements for issuance and sale of digital tokens, and the regulation of issuers and those conducting digital asset business in or from The Bahamas ...
On 18 June 2019, the Council for Arbitration Development at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, authorized Vienna International Arbitral Centre («VIAC») to administer arbitration disputes with the seat (place of the arbitration) in Russia. According to Secretary General of VIAC, Dr. Alice Fremuth-Wolf, the arbitration institution receives approximately 60 – 70 claims per year, with 5 – 7 involving Russian parties ...
On 18 June 2019, the Council for Arbitration Development at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, authorized Vienna International Arbitral Centre (“VIAC”) to administer arbitration disputes with the seat (place of the arbitration) in Russia. According to Secretary General of VIAC, Dr. Alice Fremuth-Wolf, the arbitration institution receives approximately 60 – 70 claims per year, with 5 – 7 involving Russian parties ...
Executive Decree No. 238 of June 10, 2019 Requirements to apply for permanent residency for executives of Multinational Headquarters offices (“SEM” for its acronym in Spanish) As of June 11th, 2019, the requirements to apply for the Permanent Resident Permit for Executives of SEM companies who i) continue working at a SEM company, and ii) no longer work for a SEM company ...
This article is written byMarko Ketlerand originally published in Issue 6.4 of theCEE Legal Matters Magazine. After a few troublesome years during the global financial crisis, it seems like Slovenia is on a positive economic route again. On December 14, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed an “A+/A-1” credit rating for Slovenia with a positive outlook ...
The Government of North Macedonia announced an open call for awarding a contract for the use of a feed-in premium for electricity produced in photovoltaic power plants (“PVPPs”) on state land in North Macedonia, with total installed capacity of 35 MW. Two locations are envisaged for construction of the PVPPs – Azambegovo (Sveti Nikole) and Manastirec (Makedonski Brod) ...
A few years ago artificial intelligence was a concept applied to nothing else but science fiction films, nowadays, it has become a reality for many companies and industries in the development of their commercial, corporate and industrial activities. Before we start to understand the strengths or weaknesses of artificial intelligence and its perspective from the right of intellectual property, it is considered convenient to conceptualize it ...
For businesses who care about their brands, Pofma may be not be such a bad idea after all.Beyond Meat Inc. makes cows happy and cardiologists sad. Its Beyond Burger uses no meat and has no cholesterol, and contains less fat, fewer calories and more protein than a typical burger ...
Graham Thompson Partner Ryan Pinder authors a comprehensive review of Investment Funds in The Bahamas. Arranged in a Q&A stlyed format to address some of the queries and issues that frequently come up. The review is structured around the components: Fund Formation Fund Investment Regulatory Environment Fund Finance Tax Environment A ...
The Financial Transactions Reporting Act 2018 (FTRA), which was enacted on May 25, 2018, imposed a mandatory requirement on land developers to register with the Compliance Commission (the Commission) ...
At the end of March, UK Visas and Immigration closed both the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes, replacing them with two new visa categories, the ‘Start-up’ and the ‘Innovator’, which are contained within a new Appendix W of the Immigration Rules ...
Zodwa Ntuli, Commissioner of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) Commission, indicated earlier this week that the commission has declared that the vast majority of transactions involving broad-based trusts are not compliant with the law and do not constitute genuine and effective Black ownership ...
There was a highly unusual trade mark opposition matter in the USA recently. The case of In re Coscentra B.Vinvolved a comparison of two perfume bottles in the shape of a male torso. A company applied to register a male torso-shaped perfume bottle as a trade mark for perfumery. The application was refused on the basis of an existing trade mark registration for a male torso-shaped perfume bottle covering perfumery ...
Donald Trump comes up in our articles from time to time, as does the issue of bad faith. Both come up in this one. In a recent case in the UK, a company called Trump International, which is owned by a German by the name of Michael Gleissner, filed applications to register the trade mark Trump TV in the communications and entertainment categories (classes 38 and 41). The US President, via a rights management company, opposed these applications ...
We have written before about the case concerning the look-a-like Range Rover Evoque on sale in China for a fraction of the price of the real thing. In this case, Jaguar Land Rover ("JLR") sued the makers of the copycat Land Wind X for copyright infringement. JLR have now won, with the court finding that five features of the vehicle were copied and that damages should be paid. According to one report, other car manufacturers are now considering similar actions ...
