In its green paper on corporate governance reform, the Government sought views on measures designed to address "a widespread perception that executive pay has become increasingly disconnected from both the pay of ordinary working people and the underlying long-term performance of companies" ...
Over the past few months, our Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) team has tested a number of legal solutions that incorporate AI to a greater or lesser extent. According to the authors Remus and Levy1, most of these tools will have a moderate potential impact on the legal practice. Among the solutions tested by the members of our laboratory, certain functionalities in particular drew our attention ...
On September 11, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced its first enforcement actions alleging that entities offering certain investments in cryptocurrencies should be registered as an investment adviser or broker-dealer ...
Months into the United States’ trade dispute with China, and there is no end in sight to the dispute. There are three significant deadlines for U.S. importers to consider involving the tariffs the U.S ...
Morgan & Morgan opened its first offices in The Bahamas since 1991. We created MMG (Bahamas) Ltd. as a corporate service and later on, in 1996, founded MMG Bank & Trust Ltd., which started our financial unit´s successful path into the financial service industry ...
Regular readers will recall our recent ENSight1 where we reported that a draft agreement had been published which, to a degree, addressed the uncertainty trade mark owners are facing about the impact of Brexit on their trade mark rights. We said that while it had been agreed that Brexit will be implemented in a manner that preserves trade mark rights, discussions on the charges and administrative procedures for the creation of a corresponding UK right were ongoing ...
Every minute of every day, 100 bottles of Scotch whisky make their way to South Africa. The lengths we have to go to get your attention! But this is a fact, and it can be found on the website of the Scotch Whisky Association (“SWA”). If you’re a Scotch drinker, this news will make you very happy, as will the news that the SWA has managed to get the term Scotch Whisky registered as a certification mark in South Africa ...
The legal framework in Mauritius is constantly evolving to keep pace with the rapidly changing economic environment. With the enactment of the latest Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2018 (the “Act”) on 9 August 2018, the government approved amendments to some 68 Acts, with regulations to follow shortly ...
The South African government is determined to ensure that in the country, as in a number of other countries, tobacco products are sold with little or no branding. Yes, the issue of tobacco plain packaging may have gone away for a while, but it is now clearly back on the agenda. The recent publication of the Draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, 2018 makes that very clear ...
The trade marks Mango and Yango won’t be confused, even if they are used for the same products, so said the hearing officer in a recent trade mark opposition in the UK. On the face of it, this may seem like a strange decision. After all, Mango is a pretty strong and distinctive trade mark. As for Yango, well, that surely looks and sounds pretty similar to Mango? Well...yes and no ...
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also affects the working relationship between the employer and the works council. Among other things, it affects the use of works agreements as legal basis, the (possible) responsibility of the works council under data protection law, as well as the controlling authority of the company data protection officer over the works council. WORKS AGREEMENT AS INFORMATION PURSUANT TO ART ...
The General Provisions referred to in Article 58 of the Law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions (“Fintech Law”), Circular 12/2018 addressed to the Electronic Payment Funds, relative to the general provisions applicable to the operations of the Electronic Payment Funds and the General Provisions applicable to the Financial Technology Institutions (“Fintechs”), were published in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación) on Septembe
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the matter of Lucia v. SEC, 585 U.S. (2018), which held that administrative law judges of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are considered Inferior Officers of the United States, therefore subject to the Appointments Clause (Article II, Sec. 2) of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mr ...
In the recent budget exercise completed by the Bahamas Government, certain significant changes to the regime for Real Property Tax in The Bahamas were announced and have received a great deal of focus.It is important to take specific advice regarding the annual real property taxes which may be payable in respect of your property, how and when taxes should be paid, and the exemptions (if any) which might be available to you in respect of your property ...
Two significant events this week raised eyebrows in the lucrative world of live sports broadcasting. Firstly, Facebook agreed an exclusive deal to show La Liga to users in Asian territories including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will live stream all 380 matches this season for free to its 348 million users in the region. The move fits with Facebook's ambition to grow use of its social networking platform outside markets that have reached saturation ...
All employers who were required to publish a Gender Pay Gap Report1 for the financial year 2017-2018 have now done so. A report published by the UK Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee2 has confirmed that 78% of organisations have gender pay gaps that favour men, and that the national gender pay gap median is around 18%. The picture is worse in certain sectors, where it was found that gender pay gaps of over 40% were “not uncommon” ...
Photography by promoters and artists is an integral part of any kind of event. Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, the legal requirements for videos and photos depicting people however have to be reassessed. In the past, most member states of the European Union had their own regulations regarding photos that show individual persons ...
On June 28, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted amendments to expand the definition of a “smaller reporting company” (“SRC”) to include companies with public floats of less than $250 million and higher annual revenues. The staff provided additional guidance on the amended definition on August 10, 2018 through the adoption of a new small entity compliance guide ...
The South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) issued Binding General Ruling No. 48 (“BGR 48”) on 25 July 2018, which provides much needed clarification for residential property developers following the recent cessation of relief under section 18B of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (the “VAT Act”) ...
The Israeli legal system is mainly based on common law, but incorporates some aspects of civil law. Israeli business entities include cojmpanies, partnerships, co-operatives and non-profit organisations. Individuals can conduct business without establishing any legal entity ...
The Israeli Securities Law was amended (Amendment No. 63) with a goal of turning the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) into a more competitive, efficient and profitable stock exchange, by outlining an ownership structure change of the TASE. The ownership structure change allows private investors, in addition to institutional investors, to acquire means of control over the TASE ...
Last year Panama joined the list of countries that have established quotas as a mean for reducing the gender gap. Law 56 of 2017 creates a women quota of 30% on corporate boards of public entities and certain private entities. The Law was recently regulated through Executive Decree 241-A of 2018 ...
DJIBOUTI: International Free Trade Zone launchedThe first phase of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (“DIFTZ”), expected to be the largest free trade zone in Africa, was launched on 5 July 2018. The DIFTZ will house a variety of manufacturing plants and offer investors various incentives, including tax exemptions ...