In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the business community is faced with unprecedented threats to their cyber-infrastructure and data. Sensitive data, in particular, will be vulnerable to security breaches as a result of reduced human power under emergency legislation. Moreover, criminal hackers will be looking to capitalize on such vulnerabilities at a time like this ...
We knew this year was going to be an especially bad one for the flu. In its November 2019 issue, Scientific American, one of the country's leading science publications, included a twenty-page article titled "The Influenza Outlook", which highlighted the escalating threat of influenza for the year 2020. Unfortunately, at present, the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus makes the flu pale by comparison ...
On 23 March 2020, the President of South Africa issued a statement informing the public that a nationwide lockdown would be enacted in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. The lockdown commenced at midnight yesterday, 26 March 2020, and is set to end at midnight on Thursday, 16 April 2020 ...
On 23 March 2020, South African President Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days with effect from midnight on Thursday, 26 March 2020 as part of government’s integrated measures to prevent and contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The nationwide lockdown will have a cascading effect on the operations of many South African businesses, courts and the regulators (including the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) Commission) ...
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has, due to its high rate of transmissibility, unsettled many of us, forced us to distance ourselves socially, and to make adjustments to our way of life. We are living in a time where something as mundane as sneezing or coughing may earn you a death stare. While the fear of contracting COVID-19 is a real and devastating reality, one of the consequences of this fear is that it has the potential for social stigma ...
COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. The disease has since been reported in over 190 countries. For more information on COVID-19, or for support and advice should you experience symptoms, please consult the below local resources: Angola:http://www.governo.gov.ao/ Benin:https://www.gouv ...
As the country grapples with the coronavirus (COVID-19), various directives are being issued by different authorities. It is incumbent on the authorities that the measures are issued within the law. Enterprises that endeavour to observe these measures or wish to take their own measures also need to ensure that their actions are within the law. There are many legal issues to bear in mind. We set out key issues below. The Public Health Act (Cap ...
In Michigan, additional coronavirus relief resources are available through the Michigan Small Business Relief Program established by the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) and administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) as either loans or grants. Separately from relief offered by the U.S ...
On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Senate voted to approve the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act, an economic stimulus package addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Act”). The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve the Act in its current form, with the President signing it into law shortly thereafter ...
Both houses of the United States Congress have now passed the CARES Act and sent it to the President for his expected signature. Among the provisions in the 880-page Act are critical ones dealing with aid to small businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors ...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced its temporary policy regarding environmental enforcement activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy is retroactive to March 13, 2020, and will apply for the foreseeable future, until seven days after EPA gives notice that the policy will terminate. The policy applies to actions for which EPA has federal enforcement authority ...
The Government of Colombia, using its emergency powers, issued Decree 482 on March 26, 2020, to take steps to protect the transportation industry and to ensure its viability during the COVID-19 emergency ...
Emergency Mitigation Fund (FOME, per its acronym in Spanish) is a fund without legal status of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and will aim, within the framework of Decree 417 of 2020, to meet the needs of resources for health care, the adverse effects generated on the productive activity and the need for the economy to continue providing conditions that maintain employment and growth ...
For the aviation industry, the Ministry of Transport has adopted the following measures: • To expedite the return of balances in favor of airlines that have been claimed before the tax authority. • To lay off, at the maximum level permitted by law, the air traffic controllers, firefighters, and aviation technical staff ...
On 25th March 2020,President Putin made an official COVID-19 address to the nation, in which he announced a series of measures aimed at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 and lower the negative impact on the Russian economy. Among others, President Putin stated that the period from March 30th till April 3th, 2020 would be a nationwide paid week-off, which is formalized by a special Presidential Decree, and which is obligatory for everyone in Russia ...
In the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the scale of measures to protect public health and their consequences are starting to be felt by businesses and, in particular, they are suffering from strains on cash flow. As a result, on Wednesday, 18 March, the Portuguese Government approved and presented a package of economic measures to support companies ...
This new framework will remain in force until 31December 2020 and it allows Member States to provide: a) Aid in the form of direct grants, selective tax advantages and repayable advance payments, up to EUR 800,000 per company, to companies in most economic sectors to meet their urgent liquidity needs; b) State guarantees for loans taken out by companies from banks and the framework defines, among other possibilities, minimum guarantee premiums for this purpose; TYPE OF BENEFICIARY MARG
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the existence of a pandemic. The main focus is now to guarantee the safety of workers and employees. However, the potential repercussions for the activities of companies – in the short and medium term – are vast, complex and, in certain cases, they conflict with each other. PLMJ has created a multidisciplinary team dedicated to analysing the problems facing businesses ...
At a time when there is a huge reduction in their income, companies will have to cope with enormous pressures on their liquidity. In this context, bond issuances should continue to be a growing way for companies to obtain finance, in particular, in the case of assets eligible under the European Central Bank’s (ECB) purchasing programmes ...
The business financing sector is among those that could suffer the greatest impact due to the economic crisis that is expected to be the inevitable result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the paralysis of economic activities will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the liquidity of companies that have to make regular payments under financing agreements. These liquidity problems will seriously harm the ability of companies to meet their obligations on time ...
COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly around the globe, including Indonesia. Consequently, on 12 March 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Due to this pandemic, many businesses and factories are temporarily closed causing critical implications for businesses, both international and domestic ...
The Indonesian aviation sector has grown rapidly over the past few years. Due to this, airlines and lessors have been capitalising on the general availability of diverse sources of funding. In particular, aircraft sale-leaseback or lease trans-actions are used more frequently due to competitive pricing and Indonesia has been trying to develop a legal framework to accommodate the financing and leasing of aircraft ...
Introduction Covid-19 is a force majeure event, meaning an extraordinary, unexpected and unforeseeable event, which is certainly not attributable to the voluntary conduct of an entrepreneur who is currently undergoing a restructuring or insolvency procedure and now faced with the Covid-19 crisis ...