In a third and final round of settlements with underwriters, the SEC announced on February 2, 2016 enforcement actions against 14 firms for alleged misstatements and omissions in municipal bond offerings ...
NewLegislation Enables the Public Offering of Foreign Fund Units in Israel for theFirst Time On February 10, 2016, the IsraeliParliamentary Finance Committee approved regulations ("Regulations")which will enable the public offering of foreign mutual fund units inIsrael. The Regulations will take effectwithin six months from the date of publication. Prior to the enactment of theRegulations, the Israeli Joint Investment Trust Law permitted the offering offoreign funds in Israel ...
Dear Clients and Colleagues, We write to inform you about amendments tothe "Angels Law" that were recently enacted with the aim ofencouraging private investment in new start-ups in the seed stage (the "Amendment").The "Angels Law" refers to theprovisions of section 20 of the 2011-2012 Economic Policy Law, which was passedas a temporary order and was in force during 2011-2015 (the "Law") ...
The first set of commissioners to constitute the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has just been appointed. The PCC, a five member body created by the Philippine Competition Act (passed into law in July 21, 2015), is mandated to implement the national competition policy. Vested with a broad range of powers, it can conduct administrative inquiries, institute civil or criminal proceedings before the courts, and review proposed mergers and acquisitions ...
The jurisdictional thresholds for premerger notification filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”) will increase February 25, 2016, and will apply to any transaction closing on or after that date. The revised thresholds will remain in effect until the next annual adjustment, expected in the first quarter of 2017.To read the full alert, click here ...
Lavery closely monitors new developments in consumer law and is committed to keeping the business community informed of the latest developments in this area of the law by regularly publishing newsletters dealing with new case law or legislative changes which may impact, influence, or even transform practices in the retail sector ...
The South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has published a public notice (“the Notice”) setting out reportable arrangements and excluded arrangements for purposes of sections 35(2) and 36(4) of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (“TAA”). The Notice was released and became effective on 3 February 2016, replacing all notices previously issued under sections 35(2) and 36(4) of the TAA ...
Less than two days after an enforcement moratorium expired, U.S. and EU officials in transatlantic data transfer talks have reached a new “Privacy Shield” framework to replace the Safe Harbor regime struck down in the Schrems case last year. The new framework, also known as Safe Harbor 2.0, is expected to increase obligations on U.S. companies that handle the personal data of Europeans, while bringing stronger privacy enforcement by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) ...
There has been a lot of talk recently about launching of the EU’s procedure for monitoring compliance with the rule of law in Poland, but not much about what exactly the procedure is. Observing the rule of law is a condition for joining and being a member of the European Union. Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are also enshrined in the preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights. Because the rule of law is one of the fundamental values of the EU defined in Art ...
On January 1, 2016 Law No. 20,848 which sets forth a new legal framework for foreign direct investment in Chile (the “New Law”) was enacted. The New Law also regulates the effects of contracts entered into during the term of Decree Law No. 600 of 1974 (“DL 600”), in order to guarantee the full validity of the rights and duties acquired by foreign investors under said legal regime ...
Times are tough, very tough, for many mid-cap and small-cap exploration and production (“E&P”) companies. Crude oil prices have fallen from more than $100/barrel in July 2014 to a twelve-year low of less than $30/barrel in January 2016. Natural gas prices are at a three-year low. The growing consensus is that depressed prices will experience a slow recovery that may continue into the 2020s ...
To give effect to the constitutional right to privacy, on 20 August 2013, the National Assembly passed the Protection of Personal Information Bill (B9D of 2009), which is largely based on the European Data Protection Directive (to be replaced in due course by the stricter General Data Protection Regulation). The Bill was signed into law by the President on 19 November 2013 and was gazetted as the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPI”) on 26 November 2013 ...
The Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2015 (“Amendment Act”) was promulgated on 8 January 2016 and contains a number of legislative changes to the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 (“the Act”). The Amendment Act contains some long awaited amendments to the provisions which regulate the interest withholding tax (“IWT”). This article examines two of the more important changes which should be borne in mind by parties affected by the IWT ...
The rules regarding the levying of interest on the late payment of value added tax (“VAT”) are often confusing, and the introduction of the Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011 (the “TAA”) has contributed to the uncertainty as to the rules that are applicable. Levying of interest The TAA introduced a new interest regime for the levying of interest on unpaid taxes to ensure that the levying of interest is aligned across all taxes ...
Section 99 of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (“Tax Admin Act”), which regulates prescription in relation to tax assessments, provides that a three-year prescription period applies where the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has had a previous opportunity to assess a taxpayer (e.g. income tax) and a five-year prescription period applies in the case of self-assessment (e.g. value added tax and employees’ tax) ...
On February 12, 2016, the recently constituted Philippine Competition Commission (“PCC”), which was created under the Philippine Competition Act (Republic Act 10667 or the “PCA”), issued Memorandum Circular No ...
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its decision in the closely-watched case of Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 577 U.S. __ (2016) ...
For years, the South African securities lending industry has been lobbying for an exemption from securities transfer tax (“STT”) for the outright transfer of listed equity securities as collateral. On 8 January 2016, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 25 of 2015 was promulgated, which includes the long-awaited introduction to the Securities Transfer Tax Act 25 of 2007 (the “STT Act”) of such an exemption ...
On 11 December 2015, shortly before the holiday season began, the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services published an amendment to the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations (“the regulations”) in the Government Gazette. The amendment states that Internet domain names registered in the .co.za, .net.za, .web.za and .org.za are open to alternative dispute resolution under the regulations ...
A recent Trade Mark Registry decision confirms that well-known global brands are well protected in Mauritius. The case involved an application by a Mauritian company called Exparel Limited to register the trade mark JSP-JUST SAFETY PROFESSIONAL in classes 25 (the clothing class) and 35 (the business services class) in Mauritius. The application was opposed by a UK company called JSP Limited. JSP Limited is based in Oxford and was established in 1964 ...
In South Africa, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) is often used as a forum for trade mark-style disputes. As a recent decision shows, however, success isn’t guaranteed. Regular readers of our IP ENSight newsletters will know that companies are quite fond of using the ASA for what are essentially trade mark or passing off-type disputes. One reason for this is that ASA proceedings are far cheaper and quicker than court proceedings ...
As part of the nuclear arrangement reached with Iran, the United States rescinded its nuclear-related sanctions imposed on entities outside the United States on January 16, 2016, which is the so-called “Implementation Day” under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”). At the same time, the United States also lifted sanctions on foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies. Apart from a few specific exceptions, however, including new exceptions for U.S ...
loration and production (“E&P”) companies are confronting the harshest industry environment in decades. E&P companies experienced a drastic deterioration in prices for their oil and natural gas production during the second half of 2014, which remained at depressed levels throughout 2015. The velocity and steepness of the decline has resulted in deteriorating operating cash flows, results of operations and financial condition for many E&P companies ...
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The election of a majority Liberal government last October 19 signaled that there would be numerous changes to Canadian tax policy, particularly for individuals. One of these changes which has made waves in the business community is the reform of the tax regime applicable to stock options. Under section 7 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) in its current form, the benefit realized by an employee on exercising stock options is treated as employment income ...
