The ABI has published a report on improving corporate governance and shareholder engagement. The report is a critical evaluation of the roles and responsibilities of the main elements of corporate governance, including: • The role of the non-executive in providing constructive challenge. • How institutional investors hold companies to account. • The relationships between, and responsibilities of, asset managers and asset owners ...
Decree-Law 2/2005 of 27 December, which approved the Mozambican Commercial Code, makes it possible for Mozambican or foreign individuals or clients to set up business in Mozambique in one of six different ways: (i) general partnership (Sociedade em Nome Colectivo); (ii) limited partnership (Sociedade em Comandita); (iii) capital and industry partnership (Sociedade de Capital e Indústria); (iv) quota company (Sociedade por Quotas); (v) single person quota company (Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas)
Translation of the FAQ on the New Foreign Exchange Rules:What currency should be used to pay the salaries of employees in angola?The salaries of employees who are foreign exchange residents in Angola, irrespective of the sector of activity, must be paid in Kwanzas, the national currency. When Will i start to receive my salary in KWanzas?As of 1 July 2013, in accordance with the implementation calendar of Law 2/12 of 13 January, defined by Order no ...
On the 19th of July, CMVM Regulation no. 4/2013 on the corporate governance of the issuers of shares admitted to trading in Portugal (“Issuers”), and a new version of the CMVM Corporate Governance Code amending the code in effect since 2010 (“2013 Corporate Governance Code”), were published. Although the aforementioned CMVM Regulation no ...
The Pensions Regulator has issued revised codes ofpractice and guidance on reporting the late payment of contributions to ensure a system of effective monitoring of contributions in money purchase work-based and personal pension schemes. The revised codes, which are designed to support auto-enrolment, are expected to come into force this autumn ...
The financial services sector tends to define “high-net-worth individual” (HNWI) asan individual or a family possessing substantial amount of investable funds. There is no generally accepted prefixed denominationof the size of wealth that an individual must possess in order to fall within this category. However, high net worth is commonly used in terms of liquid assets exceeding a certain amount while precise figures differ by financial institution and region ...
Although non-compliance with the Consumer Protection Act (the “CPA”) is generally sanctioned by the nullity of the CPA non-compliant clauses, or of the contract in its entirety, in cases involving written notices of forfeiture of the benefit of the term, the courts have sometimes decided to maintain the validity of the non-compliant notices if they were not prejudicial to the consumer’s rights. The following two judgment support this view ...
Banks are classified into universal banks, commercial banks, thrift banks (composed of savings and mortgage banks, stock savings, loan associations and private development banks), rural banks, cooperative banks, and Islamic banks. The General Banking Law governs primarily universal and commercial banks, as well as cooperative banks ...
The FCA’s new webpage, published on 24 July 2013, will record permissions and passports granted under the AIFM Directive. The FCA is currently updating the Financial Service Register to include firms which have been granted new permissions under the Directive, as well as any associated management passports. However, in the meantime, information will be published on the webpage. For more information in respect of the Directive, please visit our AIFMD microsite ...
The Court has now issued its written decision. This provides further analysis and confirms the position that we previously reported. Parties represented The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire Councils and the Lord Advocate on behalf of the Scottish Ministers were all represented at the hearing ...
2012 was a challenging year for Australia's loan markets. Australian loan markets were affected by continued uncertainty in global markets due to concerns over the Eurozone, the slowdown in China, a weak recovery in the US and, towards the end of the year, concerns around the US "fiscal cliff". Locally, there has been a lack of confidence among corporates, resulting in sluggish M&A activity. Certain sectors of the economy remained relatively soft, such as the retail sector ...
In September 2012, we reported that the Supreme Court of British Columbia had rendered a judgment1 confirming that a corporate policy imposing an advance nomination process for a shareholders’ meeting was reasonable and did not infringe the shareholders' rights relating to the election of the corporation's directors (“Advance Notice Policy”) ...
On 12 April 2013, the Indonesian Capital Investment Coordinating Body (BKPM) issued a new Regulation of the Head of the BKPM No. 5 of 2013 on the Guidelines and Procedures for Permit and Non-Permit Capital Investment (“Reg ...
The passion Brazilians have for football is nothing new. As children, we learn the game and argue over the rules, which are often anything but black and white and, on occasion, are difficult to apply. That’s true even for referees, who, well into the 21st century, are still barred from employing the full array of technologies available to make their work easier. In contrast to other sports, the rules governing football evolve very slowly ...
An expansion strategy doesn’t always need to be M&A driven. Hunton & Williams LLP partners Robert Acosta-Lewis and Susan Failla make the case for strategic alliances. When considering expanding into emerging markets, companies often look to traditional M&A opportunities or explore possible distribution or sales representation relationships. While both of these avenues may offer potential advantages, they also carry risks and limitations ...
On July 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia1 (the “District Court”) vacated Rule 13q-1 (the “Rule”) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) ...
Court decisions regarding company names are rare. So the recent decision of the Western Cape High Court in the case of Bloomberg’s Posterity Investments (Pty) Ltd v The Registrar of Companies and Bloomberg LLP is worth discussing. What makes company name cases interesting from an intellectual property (IP) law point of view is that they deal with issues that are very similar to the issues that are dealt with in trade mark infringement and passing-off cases ...
On July 10, 2013, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to Rule 506 of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, that will lift the ban on general solicitation for certain private offerings, including offerings of private fund interests (“New Rule 506(c)”). New Rule 506(c) will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register ...
On July 10, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the new, much-anticipated rules that lift the ban on general solicitation and advertising in connection with certain private offerings of securities ...
After the recent downturn, examiners have been placing more emphasis on reputation risk. This emphasis, however, is being applied paternalistically, in a way that is limiting legitimate transactions. I have heard of examiners advising bankers to terminate relationships with payday lenders because of reputation risk. The examiners are implicitly saying the risk of such association will so damage an institution's reputation as to jeopardize safety and soundness ...
Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, a third opinion in what is now a trilogy of cases upholding the validity of class action waiver clauses in contracts containing arbitration agreements ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized amendments to formally adopt a framework regarding the voluntary withdrawal of Hart Scott Rodino (HSR) premerger notification filings and submission without an additional filing fee to allow additional time for enforcement agency review of transactions during the initial HSR waiting period ...
On June 19, 2013, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the Court” or “WVSCA”) issued an important decision that bolsters the ability of financial institutions and other defendants to enforce arbitration agreements. Credit Acceptance Corporation v. Front, Docket Nos. 11-1646, 12-0545 (W. Va. June 19, 2013), Slip Op. Spilman consumer finance attorneys were pleased to obtain this victory on the consolidated appeal of two orders denying arbitration ...
