Strategically located between Europe, Africa and Asia, the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) has become a hub for trade and commerce throughout the world. In order to further encourage foreign investment, more than 20 free zones have been established across Dubai and focus on a wide range of business sectors, ranging from manufacturing to technology. Free zones offer a number of advantages to foreign businesses, including zero taxation, repatriation of profits and 100% foreign ownership ...
Consumers that filed a class action against Target Corporation following the company’s 2013 payment card breach have survived a motion to dismiss ...
The Philippines section of The International Capital Markets Review 5th Edition contains an introduction to The Securities Regulation Code; The Securities and Exchange Commission; self-regulatory organizations, exchanges, clearing agencies and depositories; recent jurisprudence; developments affecting debt and equity offerings; developments affecting derivatives, securitizations and other structured products; cases and dispute settlement; relevant tax and insolvency law; other relevant laws an
A recent decision by a New Jersey bankruptcy court scrambles the law regarding rejected trademark licenses.1 Crumbs was a multi-location bakery that also licensed its trademarks and trade secrets to third parties. In July of 2014 Crumbs filed a Chapter 11 reorganization case and in August of 2014 the court entered an order selling substantially all of the assets of Crumbs to LFAC2 free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances, and interests ...
In a case that should cause lenders heartburn, the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina recently ruled that common provisions in a Chapter 11 plan prevented the debtor’s lender from executing on a judgment against the non-debtor owner of the debtor.1 Biltmore is a corporation2 that operates manufactured home parks and sells and rents manufactured homes. McGee is the president and controlling shareholder of Biltmore ...
New breaches of individuals’ personally identifiable information (“PII”) are announced every week, but so far plaintiffs have had limited success in pursuing class actions against breached companies because they usually cannot plead injury-in-fact sufficient to establish standing ...
Three recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) enforcement actions underscore the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) focus on prosecuting companies and individuals for improper gifts, meals, travel, and entertainment provided to foreign officials. Avon Products, Inc ...
The Parliament of the Republic of Serbia has adopted a Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers (the “Law”). The Law, which was adopted on 25 November 2014, will become applicable on June 5, 2015. This is the first time that Serbia has a law which should systematically and comprehensively provide effective protection to individuals who report suspicions of corruption ...
Two groups of former Sony employees filed putative class actions this week arising from the company’s recent data breach. Two former employees filed a putative class action in California federal court alleging Sony failed to secure the company’s computer network from hackers who were able to access employees’ confidential personal information. (The hackers were confirmed yesterday to be affiliated with the North Korean government ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan contributed the Philippine section of Deacons’ Marketing Private Funds and Discretionary Account Services: Asia and Beyond. The Philippine section was contributed by SyCipLaw’s senior partner Rafael A. Morales.The publication aims to assist asset managers in capital-raising and marketing activities ...
In Commission des normes du travail v. Compagnie d'assurances Standard Life du Canada,1 (the “Standard Life of Canada case”), the Court of Québec allowed an employer to file a counterclaim against an employee in the context of proceedings instituted by the Commission des normes du travail (“CNT”) on behalf of that same employee ...
In a unanimous decision dated November 17, 2014,1 the Court of Appeal of Québec held that the procedural fairness rules applicable in administrative and public law do not apply in the context of a psychological harassment investigation conducted by an employer. As a result, the Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Québec ordering the lawyer who conducted the investigation to pay $3,000 in damages ...
Download a free copy of the Philippine section of The International Capital Markets Review2015, which was contributed by the SyCipLaw partner Maria Teresa D. Mercado-Ferrer with associatesJoan Mae S. To and Earla Kahlila Mikhaila C. Langit.Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research Ltd. This article was first published in The International Capital Markets Review – Edition 4 (published in November 2014 – editor Jeffrey Golden) ...
On 25 August 2014, BKPM issued Circular Letter No. 252/A.8/2014 on Company Folders. This new system is known as the Electronic Investment Service and Investment Licensing System (Sistem Pelayanan Informasi dan Perizinan Investasi Secara Elektronik or SPIPISE). BKPM aimed to introduce the SPIPISE system on 1 October 2014. A company must have a “Right to Access” to create a “Company Folder” ...
On 16 September 2014, the House of Representatives finally passed the Bill on Copyright (Copyright Bill). The Copyright Bill repeals and replaces the current copyright law, Law No. 19 of 2002 on Copyright. The Copyright Bill regulates various new topics which were not discussed in the current Copyright Law, among others as below. Copyright as a form of movable intangible property may be encumbered and registered as collateral under fiduciary security, pursuant to Law No ...
In a recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Opinion Procedure Release, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) provided guidance on the scope of successor liability in international M&A transactions ...
On September 19, 2014, British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) announced that the Chinese Hunan Province Changsha Intermediate Court found its Chinese subsidiary (“GSK China”) guilty of bribing doctors and governmental officials in China. GSK China as a legal entity was sentenced a record-breaking monetary penalty of RMB 3 billion (approx. US$490 million) ...
On 19 June 2014, The Directorate General of Immigration issued Circular Letter No. IMI-1118.GR.01.11 of 2014 on Granting Re-entry Permits for New or Renewal Applications for Temporary Residence Permits and Permanent Residence Permits ...
In a landmark opinion released on December 10, 2014, the Second Circuit clarified the scope of tippee liability for insider trading in that circuit by requiring a tippee to have knowledge that a tipper gained a personal benefit from the disclosure of material nonpublic information ...
California Paid Sick Leave is Here This term, the California Legislature enacted the Healthy Workplaces/Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522), which requires employers to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked starting on July 1, 2015 ...
A federal court has denied Target Corporation’s motion to dismiss class action claims brought against it by issuing banks. The banks are seeking recovery of losses they allegedly incurred as a result of Target’s data breach in December 2013 ...
Back in 2007 and 2008, the Swiss Parliament was debating changes to Swiss corporate law. On 1 January 2014, the CompO was put into force, temporarily governing the subject matter of the Minder initiative. Now, the Swiss Federal Council released the Pre-Draft which would, however, not only integrate most of the provisions of the CompO into the Swiss corporate law, but in addition to several fundamental changes to certain features of Swiss corporate law strengthen corporate governance ...
MUNICIPAL TAXES: IS IT POSSIBLE TO REDUCE THE BILL? Audrey-Julie DallaireThe tax pressure stemming from municipal taxes certainly constitutes an irritant for businesses. It was recently described as “unjustified” and “unfair for SMEs” by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which made the following observation:[TRANSLATION] “(…) in 2013, for real-estate assets of equal value, Quebec SME owners pay on average 2 ...
Bosnia & Herzegovina enacted a new Law on Public Procurement on 28 November 2014. This new legislation aims to improve current public procurement rules through key changes which will increase the level of transparency in Bosnian procurement and through more precise definitions for groups of suppliers, among other changes ...
Also men are now allowed to book a room on the "Bella Donna" floor - the design of hotel floors for women only is discriminatory. This was established by the Danish Eastern High Court by judgment of 25 April 2014. In this case, one of the largest hotels in the country had established a floor for women only. This floor had a number of additional amenities not to be found on the other floors, including special toilet ware, flowers, and a particularly efficient hand shower ...
