For over five years, the Russian merger control landscape has been a quiet place, occasionally disturbed by high-profile mergers which required a king-sized approach and the use of international cooperation tools. In 2021, following a change in the Federal Antimonopoly Service’s (“FAS Russia”) senior management, decisions have been taken which signal a shift within Russian merger control legislation and practice ...
Since March 2020, the United States and Canada have agreed upon mutually reciprocal COVID-19 related travel restrictions. U.S. and Canadian officials mutually determined that “non-essential” travel between the U.S. and Canada “poses additional risk of transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID-19 and places the populace of both nations at increased risk of contracting the virus associated with COVID-19 ...
The Scottish Government has published its route map out of lockdown, legislating five levels, each imposing increasingly tougher restrictions. As at 19 July, the whole of Scotland moved to Level 0, with cautious optimism that most legal restrictions might be removed entirely in August. However, in the meantime, the move to Level 0 does not mean that everything returns to how it was pre-pandemic – there will remain a level of restrictions and compliance points that must be met ...
Following July 8, 2021’s Client Alert, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) posted its CFL Transition Checklist for existing California Financing Law licensees to begin the license administration transition over to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) portal. The deadline for submitting CFL transition applications through the NMLS portal is December 31, 2021 ...
We have this year assisted with numerous new financings, covering everything from new bank syndicates, refinancings, direct lending and bond loans. It has in periods been especially hectic within the shipping, aviation and renewable energy sectors. On the regulatory side, we have had a particular focus on the LIBOR transition ...
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a wide-ranging executive order entitled “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.” One key element of the executive order is to address noncompete covenants that the White House characterized as stifling competition between companies. Section 5(g) encouraged the FTC to draft rules which seek to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility ...
By: Jenni Krengel and Tonie Bitseff On Friday, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30 expanding the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS")—a voluntary program for correcting errors in tax-qualified and section 403(b) plans—by adding two new methods for recouping benefit overpayments, among other changes ...
Financial ServicesRuling of Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia on QardAt its 213th meeting of the Shariah Advisory Council (“SAC”) of Bank Negara Malaysia, the SAC ruled that the method under Malaysian Financial Reporting Standard (“MFRS”) 17 Insurance Contracts and MFRS 9 Financial Instruments may be adopted to measure qard (interest free loan) for transactions between shareholders’ fund and takaful fund ...
Bill 78 was introduced in December 2020 by Minister Jean Boulet and given assent on June 8, 2021. It amends the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (the “Act”) and its regulation, the Regulation respecting the application of the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (the “Regulation”) ...
In 2013, the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, which at the time only held limited secondary patents related to certain antidepressants, was fined EUR 93.7 million by the European Commission for having entered into settlement agreements in 2002 whereby Lundbeck paid generic manufacturers for not challenging its patents. The payments corresponded to the profits that the generic manufacturers could have made if they had successfully entered the market ...
Health care practitioners are seemingly subject to a constantly growing laundry list of regulatory requirements. However, the Ohio General Assembly has reduced the administrative burden on certain professionals seeking licensure in multiple states through the enactment of interstate license compact legislation ...
Utility bills can bring unwelcome surprises: a water bill that reminds you of the extra irrigation costs incurred during a heat wave, an electric bill that makes you realize how much extra power is used when working from home or gaming nonstop, an embarrassing cable bill documenting how many shows you binge-watched last month ...
Since our 4 July inBrief on the UAE permitting 100 per cent foreign ownership for certain activities, there have been some significant developments which we will discuss below. List of Strategic Impact Activities The UAE Cabinet has now issued a list of strategic impact activities and the rules for licensing companies that engage in any of the listed strategic impact activities ...
Directors have a fiduciary duty to their companies as they hold positions of trust and confidence and as a result, have an obligation to act in good faith and in the company’s best interests. Ghana’s new Companies Act (Act 992) introduces provisions concerning amongst others, the requirement for Directors to deal transparently while handling transactions, and their obligations when managing conflict-of-interest situations ...
Canadian Patent Practice has undergone several changes in recent years, in many cases to fulfill the requirements of various international treaties / agreements, including those of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) ...
On Dec. 29, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule amending Regulation Z’s Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage (QM) requirements (the New Rule). Regulation Z requires creditors to make a reasonable, good-faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay their residential mortgage loan. Loans that comply with Regulation Z’s requirements qualify for certain protections from liability ...
As per our earlier articles, in late 2020, the SBA began requiring borrowers with First Draw PPP loans $2 million or greater to complete a PPP Loan Necessity Questionnaire (Form 3509 (For Profit Borrowers) or Form 3510 (Non-Profit Borrowers)) as part of the forgiveness process. These forms were the subject of a lawsuit in December 2020 advanced by the Associated General Contractors of America (“AGC”) ...
Starting around October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administrations (the “SBA”) asked Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) lenders to provide certain questionnaires to PPP borrowers with loans of $2 million or greater. There are two questionnaire forms on the Treasury: Form 3509 for for-profit borrowers and Form 3510 for non-profit borrowers ...
The question of insurers’ duty to defend is back in the spotlight. On March 18, 2021, the Superior Court once again considered the issue in its application of the law to facts relevant to the dispute.1 Facts In April 2016, Cégerco Inc. (“Cégerco”), a general contractor, retained the services of Construction Placo Inc ...
The UAE has introduced new administrative sanctions on all entities that fail to comply with the requirements of Cabinet Decision 58 of 2020 concerning the Regulation of Real Beneficiary Procedures (Decision 58 of 2020). Issued on 23 May 2021, Cabinet Decision 53 of 2021 (Decision 53 of 2021) empowers the Ministry of Economy and the relevant licensing authorities in the UAE to administer various penalties on violators of Decision 58 of 2020 ...
Holding companies to account: criticism of the current criminal framework Over time and bit by bit the UK’s approach to corporate criminal liability is being narrowed. The issue has long been debated with many commentators agreeing that the current criminal legal framework is far from satisfactory at holding corporate organisations to account for instances of criminality when those crimes are committed on behalf of, or in the name of, the company ...
On Friday, July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing various federal agencies to implement 72 specific actions intended broadly to increase competition in the American economy. The executive order is intended to impact a wide range of economic activity, including mergers and acquisitions, occupational licensing, anticompetitive behavior, and prices of medical devices and prescription drugs ...
The second iteration of the Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule – PTE 2020-02 (DOL Fiduciary Rule) became effective on Feb. 16, 2021. However, the Department of Labor (DOL) provided that it would not pursue enforcement actions against firms who work “diligently” to comply with the Impartial Conduct Standards ...
