The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a series of memoranda that discloses the department’s enforcement priorities and provides public guidance related to the ongoing coronavirus crisis ...
Last week, the SBA issued guidance concerning the rights of independent contractors with respect to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans. First, the SBA clarified that employers cannot include compensation paid to independent contractors in calculating their own loan amount. Second, the SBA announced that independent contractors and self-employed individuals will be eligible to apply for a PPP loans starting April 10, 2020 ...
Below is a summary of key new measures and initiatives that have been implemented and announced by various UAE authorities since 6 April 2020 and the time of this inBrief, 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 8 April 2020 ...
On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated a price war with Russia which has caused a major fall in the price of oil. This is disastrous for an industry that had only just recently recovered from the 2014 crash and companies are now looking at how to best get through another difficult downturn ...
The power sector has responded rapidly to the Coronavirus pandemic by following Emergency Operations Plans, some of which specifically include responses to epidemics. The reliability of the grids across the United States have been maintained and power providers are necessary to the continued functioning of the country ...
Companies operating in the oil & gas industry in the UK can find the most up-to-date information and guidance relating to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic on the websites of Oil & Gas UK (“OGUK”), Step Change in Safety and the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”), amongst others. OGUK & Step Change in Safety OGUK is continuing to publish the latest information and guidelines relating to COVID-19 on its website ...
The circular makes provision for the following services: 1. The public service of land transport of cargo. The exceptions referred to in Decree 457 do not specify a type of vehicle, but rather limit the cargo transport service to that which corresponds to the goods strictly necessary to prevent, mitigate and attend to the emergency and which are listed in Article 3 of the same Decree, as well as the cargo transport of imports and exports. 2 ...
Restrictions on business operations and personal freedoms relevant for business In Principle .fancybox-ie6 #fancybox-close{background:transparent;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src="http://www.codozasady.pl/wp-content/plugins/easy-fancybox/fancybox/fancy_close.png",sizingMethod="scale")}.fancybox-ie6 #fancybox-left-ico{background:transparent;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src="http://www.codozasady ...
Spring is a busy period in terms of corporate governance. It involves the computations, confirmations and conclusions related to the results of the previous financial year, when the following decisions are needed among others: Approval of annual reports and annual financial statements; Election of a new Board of Directors; Election of an internal Auditor and/or members of internal Audit Commission; Approval of company’s external auditor ...
The pandemic of COVID-19 has severely affected functioning of various business activities across the globe and has posed a threat to legal services. The risks to legal services posed by the spread of COVID-19 were highlighted a few weeks back when international law firm Baker McKenzie closed its London office after a staff member was suspected to have been at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus ...
The current global climate has changed the manner in which we socialize, work and engage even in the simplest activities. We had to quickly adapt to speaking with our friends over video calls, working primarily from home and going out of the house to the most limited extent possible, generally only to conduct essential activities, as defined by the public authorities ...
Since public health has been affected by the spread of COVID-19, Member States’ governments have adopted several measures to contain its diffusion and reduce the risk of exposure. Some Member States recommend social distancing measures, while others have also declared state of emergencies and lockdowns. This is also the case for Romania, where a lock-down is in place starting from 25 March 2020 ...
The Supervisory Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining ("OSINERGMIN") and the Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MINEM") have carried out a series of pre-publications of draft regulations in the electricity and hydrocarbons sector, including: Minimum Power: on July 31, 2020, through OSINERGMIN Resolution No ...
Ten years ago, Uganda’s National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy predicted that “an influenza pandemic may occur when a new influenza virus appears against which the human population has no immunity. With the increase in global transport, as well as urbanization and overcrowded conditions in some areas, epidemics due to a new influenza virus are likely to take hold around the world, and become a pandemic faster than before” ...
On 6 April 2020, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“ICASA”) published the Information and Communications Technology (“ICT”) COVID-19 National Disaster Regulations (the "Regulations"). The stated purpose of the Regulations is to prescribe the minimum standards to which all licensee (electronic communication services and broadcasting services) must adhere for the duration of the National State of Disaster ...
With South Africa currently under a nationwide lockdown, practical challenges arise for parties to existing (or new) commercial transactions that are scheduled to “close” during this period. While physical closings are (generally) not currently possible, depending on the type of transaction and the closing deliverables involved, this challenge need not delay closing ...
Following our recent article on the end of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), you may be wondering, “but what is happening to the Johannesburg Interbank Average Rate (“JIBAR”)? If I have a long dated loan referencing JIBAR, should I be adding some fall-back language?” To recap, on a worldwide basis, central banks and regulators undertook a review of interbank lending rates after the financial crisis of2008 ...
In light of the widespread impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), various tax measures that companies and individuals should be aware of have been announced by the Mauritius authorities: WAIVER OF INTERESTS AND PENALTIES FOR LATE FILINGS OR LATE PAYMENTS On 20 March 2020, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (“MRA”) issued a communiqué stating that taxpayers who are unable to submit returns, or effect payment of tax because of the lockdown will not be charged any penalty o
An announcement made by The Stock Exchange of Mauritius Ltd (“SEM”) and the Central Depository & Settlement Co. Ltd (“CDS”) confirmed that on April 3 2020, the Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) revoked the order of 2 April 2020 for the temporary cessation of the operations of the SEM ...
Some reports claim that as many as one third of people around the world are subject to some degree of lockdown to stem the coronavirus (COVID-19) rate of infection. As a result, businesses everywhere are facing unprecedented circumstances that most of us would agree could never have been imagined, and certainly not anticipated, in negotiating a contract ...
What are we to make of the comedian who changed his name to that of a well-known brand? A British comedian by the name of Joe Lycett recently changed his name to Hugo Boss – he did this formally, as in by deed poll. Hugo Boss is, of course, a very well-known fashion brand. The company, which was formed in Germany in 1924 and named after its founder, made uniforms for the German army during World War 2 but changed its focus, somewhat, in the post-war years ...
On 1 April 2020, the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) granted an appeal against an order of Acting Justice Kose in the Cape Town High Court in favour of The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) (Bergh and Others v The Agricultural Research Council (Case no 93/2019) [2020] ZASCA 30). The appeal was against an order interdicting the appellants from infringing the ARC’s copyright in the BeefPro computer program and from unlawfully competing with the ARC ...
