Blockchain technology holds vast potential that can only be unleashed with regulatory backing. The potential, initially perceived only by a small circle of cryptography enthusiasts, is now recognised by central banks, governments, and major financial institutions.Smart contracts and decentralised autonomous organisations can change the legal system as we know it while generating new models for the economy ...
Poland’s National Appeal Chamber (KIO) issued an order on 5 September 2016 of great practical significance, applying new procurement rules on the permissibility of appeals by contractors interested in bidding for public contracts below the EU thresholds ...
For about two years now, most renewable energy projects, particularly wind farm projects, have been financed using a so-called “hybrid” model, i.e. a combination of medium-term bank debt and long-term financing or private placements. The term “hybrid” is derived from the vocabulary of the Public-Private Partnerships industry, particularly projects involving an operational and maintenance component as part of a long-term concession ...
2016 has been a busy year for IP on the African continent, with developments in Liberia, the Cayman Islands, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia, among others. Liberia: Intellectual Property Act and Swakopmund Protocol membership Liberia’s House of Representatives has approved and published the Intellectual Property Act, 2014 (the “new Act”), which repeals the Industrial Property Act of 2003. The regulations are currently being drafted ...
“The Trump Organization also earns income by licensing the Trump name to building developers around the world.” – BBC news site in an article entitled “What conflicts of interest could Donald Trump have?” Donald Trump has hogged the headlines for many months. So it’s perhaps no surprise that he’s even managed to make trade mark news ...
Judge Mervyn King’s name is synonymous with corporate governance in South Africa. 1 November 2016 saw the delivery of the fourth version of the famous King report on corporate governance, King IV. So, just what does this latest report mean for IP? Well, there’s apparently no mention of the term “intellectual property” in the report at all, so one might be inclined to answer that it means nothing ...
In a rare IP law decision in Namibia, the High Court has made it clear that it takes IP seriously, that English and South African IP decisions are very relevant, and that anyone alleging passing off will need to submit compelling evidence to establish that they have the necessary reputation ...
A federal appeals court has rejected two challenges to the environmental review of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro's) planned subway expansion in Downtown Los Angeles. The "Regional Connector" project, approved in 2012, will create a three-station, underground link through Downtown that will allow passengers to travel from points on the Metro Gold Line to the Blue and Expo lines without having to transfer trains ...
In an earlier inBrief dated 9 December 2014 we wrote about Federal Law No. 4/2012 on the regulation of competition (the “Competition Law”), which introduced the means by which the United Arab Emirates could regulate anti-competitive practices ...
In a previous newsflash, we highlighted the significant changes made to the broad-based black economic empowerment (“B-BBEE”) landscape in South Africa that were introduced by the new B-BBEE Regulations (the “Regulations”) issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”) on 6 June 2016 ...
Introduction In the context of trusts situated in foreign participating jurisdictions, the Common Reporting Standards (“CRS”) require the trustees to identify the settlor, beneficiaries and other natural persons exercising ultimate effective control (including through a chain of ownership) and report the necessary financial information in respect of those persons to the relevant foreign revenue authority ...
The 2017 Law on Financial Management has yet to be formally enacted in Cambodia however its content has already been disseminated among most tax professionals and the press so with that in mind we have put together what we believe are the salient points of the draft Law on Financial Management (“the Draft Law”) for your reference. The Draft Law has been rubber stamped by the Council of Ministers and when enacted the changes should take effect from 1 January 2017 ...
Effective November 1st, new guidelines came into effect for patent applications before the European Patent Office (“EPO”). One significant change affects what the EPO will accept as evidence of transfer of ownership of a patent application, an assignment ...
Overview The new Bankruptcy Law of the UAE was enacted on September 20, 2016 as Decree-Law No. 9 of 2016. It was published in the Federal Official Gazette on September 29, 2016, giving it an effective date of December 31, 2016. The new Bankruptcy Law replaces and repeals the previous legislation on the subject, Book 5 of the Commercial Code, which was seldom used in light of its perceived shortcomings ...
On October 18th the 8th Annual IBA “Mergers and Acquisitions in Russia and CIS” Conference was held at Ararat Park Hyatt hotel in Moscow. A conference was presented by the IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee and supported by the IBA European Regional Forum. The Conference brought together experts in the field of economics and law from around the globe to discuss the latest emerging developments and hot topics in Russian and CIS M&A law ...
In July 2016, the South African Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”) published, and invited public comment on, its Intellectual Property Consultative Framework (the “IPCF”). The IPCF reflects the DTI’s views on South Africa’s IP policy position in the form of a consultative instrument ...
In the case of Claremont Library Development Company (Pty) Ltd v The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service, the Tax Court recently considered the question of whether crediting a loan account constitutes “payment” of full consideration for purposes of the Value-Added Tax Act, No 89 of 1991 (the “VAT Act”) ...
Section 103(2) of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 empowers the Commissioner (the “Commissioner”) for the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to disallow the setting off of an assessed loss or balance of an assessed loss against the company’s income if the relevant requirements are met ...
Offensive trade marks, which we have written about previously, have again been in the news of late. Two US trade mark cases have dominated the headlines, and one of these has made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. This certainly suggests that Americans feel strongly about the issue of offensive trade marks. As South Africans are likely to have equally strong feelings on the issue of names that might offend particular groups, these US cases are worth discussing ...
This article considers why private trust companies are currently so popular, various structuring issues which those setting up private trust companies should take into consideration, and the private trust companies regulations which came into force in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in August 2007 and which were amended in 2013. Introduction Private trust companies (PTCs) have become increasingly popular offshore in the last 20–25 years ...
Maxim Alekseyev, ALRUD Senior Partner, and Kira Egorova, ALRUD Of Counsel, prepared an article for Trusts&Estates journal “Family Offices in Russia”. Trust&Estates is one of the most reputable journals for wealth management professionals serving the needs of high-net-worth clients and their families ...
On October 28 – November 1 German Zakharov, ALRUD Of Counsel, participated in 60th UIA Congress in Budapest. German Zakharov participated in the following sessions: "Competition Law" and "Compliance: Challenges and opportunities for the legal profession". The participants of the session were foremost antitrust lawyers ...
