The UAE has embarked on an ambitious undertaking by introducing new business friendly mutual funds regulations to stimulate the UAE funds industry and provide the foundation for a more developed regional funds regime in the Gulf Cooperation Council (the “GCC”) ...
On 8 February 2017, the Luxembourg Parliament voted a new law on immigration (hereafter the “Law”) which aims at increasing Luxembourg’s attractiveness as a host country for foreign talents. The main innovation of the Law is to implement a new category of residence permit in Luxembourg for investors. Immigration represents a major pillar of Luxembourg’s economy which has always relied on foreign labour and investments ...
In a judgment handed down by the UK High Court on 28 February 2017, Mr Justice Marcus Smith stayed claims against one defendant and set aside permission to serve the proceedings outside the jurisdiction against the remaining defendants in a competition damages claim relating to the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery cartel. Competition damages claims are used when a party claims damages for losses allegedly caused by anti-competitive conduct ...
The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its "Innovation and Skills Plan" (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and increased economic growth ...
The Idea of Using Whistleblowers to Uncover and Combat Anticompetitive Arrangements is Spreading Ever Wider. Recently the European Commission Announced Introduction of Such a Tool. In a press release issued on 16 March 2017, the European Commission announced that it has launched a new tool of antitrust policy. It is an anonymous channel through which individuals can notify the Commission of cartels and other anticompetitive practices ...
The Convention between Ukraine and Luxembourg for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital and its Protocol have been ratified by the Government of Ukraine. Background On 6 September 1997 Luxembourg and Ukraine signed a first treaty ("Treaty"), which has been amended by a protocol signed on 30 September 2016 ("Protocol"). Both have been ratified by Luxembourg, on 1 August 2001 and 23 December 2016 respectively ...
At the end of 2015, the Belgian Minister of Justice gave an overview of planned reforms of Belgian company law. These major reforms are scheduled to be passed by the Belgian parliament in the second half of 2017. Even though the relevant legislative texts are not yet available, details of the envisaged reforms are becoming clearer. In this news flash, we will describe some of the planned changes ...
On 8 March 2017, the European Commission adopted a Commission Delegated Regulation, including Annexes (PRIIPs RTS), supplementing the Regulation on key information documents (KIDs) for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs Regulation). The PRIIPs RTS provide for regulatory technical standards regarding the presentation, content, review and revision of KIDs and the conditions for fulfilling the requirement to provide KIDs ...
After having prepared the first draft of the new data protection law back in 2014 (which was ignored by the Government in the meantime, and even dismissed by the Ministry of Justice's introduction of a separate draft law in 2015), the Serbian Data Protection Commissioner ("Commissionaire")1 published the second draft of the new law on March 6th, 2017 ("Draft") ...
The March issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw Partner Jose Florante M. Pamfilo entitled “Philippines: Foreign equity ownership decision”. The article discusses the Philippine Supreme Court decision on the case of Roy v. Herbosa (GR no. 207246) to invalidate the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Memorandum Circular no ...
In our previous articles (part one, part two and part three), we discussed ways in which trademarks are maintained and protected through filings that are mandatory and which filings would result in abandonment or cancellation if not timely submitted. There are also optional filings a trademark owner can take advantage of to optimize and secure its rights under a U.S. trademark registration. An Affidavit of Incontestability Under Section 15 is one such method ...
On December 1, 2015, several amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect. While some changes are rather minor, others are expected to have a significant impact on litigation in federal court. Lawyers have been talking about these amendments for years as they were developed, proposed, revised, and eventually approved, but comparatively little has been said about what the parties to litigation need to know. Three key takeaways are discussed below ...
In January of this year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) decided the case of Clark v. Absolute Collection Service, Inc. (741 F.3d 487, 4th Cir. 2014). The question of first impression before the Court was whether Section 1692g(a)(3) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) requires a consumer to dispute a debt in writing to gain the protections afforded by the FDCPA ...
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") has significantly changed the healthcare industry in the United States. Among the many changes is the new requirement that healthcare providers must provide all "Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education counseling for all women with reproductive capacity."77 Fed. Reg. 8725 (Feb. 15, 2012); see 42 U.S.C. 300gg-13(a)(4), 45 C.F.R. § 147.130(a)(1)(iv) ...
As consumer bankruptcy filings remain an all-too-common occurrence, many lenders continue to find themselves in the often murky world of bankruptcy. As a result, on top of ensuring adherence to the numerous confusing regulations applicable to commercial loan transactions, lenders must navigate the federal bankruptcy laws. This article sheds some light on one bankruptcy process lenders are often faced with: reaffirmation agreements ...
Many community bankers have looked surprised at the “internationalization” of our banking rules. Standards coming out of the Basel Committee, particularly the Basel III Capital Rules, do not seem to fit community banks. The Basel Committee focuses primarily on the European banking system, which is dominated by very large banks. The rules have seemed to be a bad match for the U.S. economy, in which small community banks play such a large role ...
The American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) recently revised its Construction Industry Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures. The revised rules became effective on July 1, 2015 and include a host of changes, large and small. Here is what you need to know: Increased Thresholds for Regular and Fast Track Proceedings (Rules R-1 and F-1) AAA provides different procedures for “regular track” and “fast track” proceedings ...
A debtor files for bankruptcy protection, and his or her creditors are sent notice of the filing. Despite having received the notice, due to a breakdown in internal procedures one of the creditors, a bank, accidentally takes action to collect on the debt after the filing of the bankruptcy case – thus violating the automatic stay. Since the violation was unintentional, surely the bank cannot be sanctioned, right? Wrong ...
Originally published in the West Virginia Law Review ...
Attorneys who litigate common law bad faith and Unfair Trade Practices Act claims are well aware that insureds who substantially prevail in an underlying contract action for insurance proceeds are entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees under Hayseeds, Inc. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty, 177 W. Va. 323, 352 S.E.2d 73 (1986) ...
In the 21st century, cinema and film play a major role not only in our social activities, but also as a tool for learning about our history, addressing the issues faced in society and imagining what the future of a more innovative world would look like. However, the legal implications of telling a story through film, the cinema and television, go far deeper. Issues of copyright infringement, particularly within the Hollywood and Bollywood context, have found their way to the court room ...
The 2017 edition of the annual Brand Finance Global 500 report on the world’s most valuable brands was recently released. It’s fairly predictable, yet still makes for interesting reading. According to the report, the most valuable brand in the world is Google, which has a value of roughly USD109-billion. Google has leapfrogged Apple, which held the top spot for some five years ...
In terms of the Companies Act, 2002 (Cap RE 212) (the “Act”), every company incorporated or registered in Tanzania as a branch of a foreign company has an annual filing obligation with the Registrar of Companies, also called the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (“BRELA”) ...
The background can be summarised simply: South Africa’s state broadcaster, the SABC, commissioned a filmmaker to make an investigative documentary for its factual genre TV channel. The filmmaker made the documentary and the SABC paid the fee (thus making it the owner of the copyright in the documentary under South African law). However, the SABC decided against airing the documentary ...
In addition to registering your trade mark with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), brand owners should also ensure that their trade marks are protected online. One way of doing so, is by registering a domain name. What is a domain name? A domain name allows a party to establish its identity on the internet. It assists internet users to easily identify you on the internet and to access your site on the web ...
