The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted a new amendment that adds additional categories of persons eligible to meet the accredited investor definition, expanding the pool of capital available to the private capital markets. Background Under the Securities Act of 1933 (Act”), offerings for the sale of securities must be registered with the SEC ...
On August 3, 2020, the California Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc., clarifying the bounds of legitimate competition under California tort and antitrust law. The Court’s ruling generally came down in favor of encouraging competition, reducing claims for tortious interference with contract, and decreasing the risk of litigation arising from normal competitive activity ...
By: Michael Flynn and Melissa Richards Introduction California has enacted a new California Consumer Protection Law (CCFPL), California Financial Code Section 90001 et seq. The CCFPL will convert the Department of Business Oversight (DBO) into a new Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). AB 1864 was sent to the California Governor on September 4, 2020 for signature, and he is expected to sign within thirty (30) days ...
The world continues to come to grips with the daily changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools contemplate opening. Some do, while others do not. Some professional and college sports teams play games to empty stadiums. Some businesses are open, with restrictions, while others are not. Lawsuits are being filed by businesses that think they should be permitted to reopen like their neighbors who already have ...
The DIFC has expanded the scope of the common reporting standards, meaning more people must make filings plus increased fines for non-compliance. With effect from 16 August 2020, DIFC Law 6 of 2020 (the CRS Law Amendment Law) was enacted to amend the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Law, DIFC Law 2 of 2018 (the CRS Law). This enactment follows the issuance of the new CRS Regulations, which came into effect on 30 July 2020 ...
The International Trade Commission (ITC) sits in a nondescript office building about a block farther south of the National Mall than tourists usually care to venture. Patent owners come from around the country to this tree-lined street in Washington, D.C., to seek a powerful remedy to protect their patented products: an exclusion order. An exclusion order directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection to block infringing imports at the United States border ...
On 12 August 2020, the Ministry of Commerce released via Circular the State Council approved Master Plan for the Comprehensive Deepening of the Pilot Programme for the Innovative Development of the Trade in Services together with a schedule of specific measures (2020 Plan). The 2020 Plan includes 8 pilot tasks and 122 specific measures to open, facilitate and support the innovative development of the Trade in Services ...
Federal Law No. 4 of 2020 on Guaranteeing Rights Related to Movables (the New Mortgage Law), which came into effect on 1 June 2020, has updated the regime for registering security interests over movable assets in the UAE. The new regime The New Mortgage Law repealed Federal Law No. 20 of 2016 on Mortgaging of Movable Property as Security for Debts (the Old Mortgage Law) ...
INTRODUCTION Information Communication Technology (ICT) has, without a doubt, greatly impacted virtually every industry, and the communications industry is no exception. Services such as bulk short message service (SMS), online games, data services, telemarketing, text messages and media messages, all of which are often referred to as Value Added Services (“VAS”), now constitute a part of our daily lives ...
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has recently released its consultation conclusions on the proposed enhancements to the open-ended fund companies (OFC) regime. Highlights include: Removal of investment restrictions for private OFCs; Expansion of entities eligible to act as custodian of private OFCs; and Confirmation of the SFC’s intention to provide for a statutory mechanism to re-domicile overseas corporate funds to Hong Kong as OFCs ...
On September 2, 2020, we issued an e-alert discussing the deferral of the employee portion of Social Security taxes (“SS Tax Deferral Program”), as directed by the Presidential Memorandum dated August 28, 2020, and as implemented by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) pursuant to Notice 2020-65 (“Notice”) issued on August 28, 2020 ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an order titled “Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions To Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19” (“Order”) forbidding evictions of residential tenants who do not exceed certain income levels (generally $99,000 for an individual), are unable to make full rental payments due to substantial loss of income, loss of job, or extraordinary medical expense, and have exhausted all available governmental sources o
It is no secret that the world has rapidly changed over the last several months. Many companies are reevaluating their business models to adjust to the challenges caused by the world-wide pandemic and to hopefully identify new business opportunities that may arise as a result of a new business environment ...
On August 8, 2020, the President of the United States issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to use his authority pursuant to section 7508A of the Internal Revenue Code to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of certain payroll tax obligations for the remainder of 2020. In Notice 2020-65, the IRS provides guidance implementing the payroll tax deferral. What wages are eligible? Eligibility is subject to income limits ...
Income tax The following public rulings and guidelines have recently been published on the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia’s official website: i. Tax Treatment of Research and Development Expenditure Part I – Qualifying Research and Development Activity (Public Ruling No. 5/2020) issued on 13 August 2020; ii. Tax Treatment of Research and Development Expenditure Part II – Special Deductions (Public Ruling No. 6/2020) issued on 13 August 2020; iii ...
Law 58/2020 came into force on 1 September 2020 and it implements into Portuguese law: Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing, commonly known as the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive; and Directive (EU) 2018/1673 of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2018 on combating money laundering by criminal l
On August 13, 2020, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to use his authority to defer the withholding, deposit and payment of the employee portion of Social Security taxes (“SS Tax Deferral Program”). On August 28, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury and IRS issued Notice 2020-65 (“Notice”) to implement the SS Tax Deferral Program ...
Bursa Malaysia seeks Feedback on Proposed Reduction in Public Spread On 23 July 2020 Bursa Malaysia Berhad ("Bursa") released Consultation Paper No. 2/2020 Proposed Amendments to the Main Market and ACE Market Listing Requirements in relation to Public Security Holdings Spread ("Consultation Paper") ...
Following President Trump’s Aug. 8 presidential memorandum directing the Treasury Secretary to defer the withholding and payment of certain employee payroll taxes, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-65 on Aug. 28 The two-page notice gives necessary but sparse guidance on implementing the Presidential Memorandum ...
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Shepherd and Wedderburn private client team has been hard at work helping clients update their Wills and Powers of Attorney. While we all hope that the worst of this global pandemic is now behind us, recent weeks have brought various localised lockdowns and the expectation of a potential second wave, which may well coincide with the annual flu season ...
Key Points New California law prohibits residential evictions based on the non-payment of rent and other fees due between Mar. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, if failure to pay is due to COVID-19 related distress. California courts may not issue summonses in any residential unlawful detainer actions based on non-payment until Oct. 5, 2020. New Order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention halts evictions for tenants who meet specific requirements through Dec. 31, 2020 ...
Key Points On Aug. 31, 2020, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1281 (AB 1281). AB 1281, if signed, will guarantee that certain California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) exemptions will be extended beyond their initial deadline, December 2020. Importantly, AB 1281 will give covered businesses at least another year before they need to comply with CCPA’s provisions when collecting and using employee data or business-to-business related personal information ...
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has issued Memorandum Circular 2020-00761 on August 3, 2020 and this sets out the Guidelines on Minimum Public Ownership Requirement for Initial and Backdoor Listings (2020 MPO Guidelines) ...
At the beginning of astartup’slife,the use of financial resources in the most efficient way is of vital importance.It is for this reasonthatthe incentives that a country can provide to an entrepreneurand hisnewlyformed company can potentially determine how and how much that company willgrow ...
As many will know, Federal Law 18 of 1981 (the Commercial Agency Law; or CAL) regulates agency, distributorship and franchise relationships in the UAE, regardless of the nomenclature used to describe them ...
