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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
When Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("CRA"), it left much for the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") to explain. The DOL has started offering vital interpretations employers need to consider in making decisions over the next few weeks. 1. When does the CRA become effective? April 1, 2020. 2 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Force Majeure clauses are used in many contracts in the most diverse business areas. These contractual provisions are rarely invoked in practice in Latvia, as the parties usually do not face any circumstances that could qualify as Force Majeure ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe remains a significant concern in every aspect of business – and the representation and warranty (R&W) insurance market is no different. The following Frequently Asked Questions are designed to address some of the more common questions that have arisen since the outbreak of the pandemic.As always, advice in this area is fact-sensitive ...
Thousands of disputes are dealt with by way of international arbitration every year and it is inevitable that when most countries started introducing social distancing measures, a number of arbitrations were either part heard or just about to start and will have been derailed, at least to some extent ...
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 ...
In some areas, intellectual property will experience a period of slowdown in activity, at least in the near future. We look at this in more detail below. However, this does not mean mandatory registration of industrial property will come to a halt because, with many bodies, including the Portuguese INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property), registration is done online ...
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 ...
In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Government of the Slovak Republic has adopted several restrictive measures which may, in contractual relationships governed by the Civil Code, cause impossibility of t debtor’s performance.[1]In this alert we focus in more detail on the issue of additional impossibility of performance and subsequent cessation of obligation due to the spread of COVID-19 and adoption of the related preventive measures ...
