House Democrats recently released additional legislative proposals that, if passed, would affect several commonly used estate planning techniques. Among those proposals are three that would significantly impact some of the more common wealth transfer strategies. It is too early to tell whether this legislation has any chance of passing, but clients who are planning to use strategies that would be affected by these changes should watch carefully for future developments ...
On Sept. 13, 2021, the House Committee on Ways and Means released the remainder of its numerous tax reform proposals. The proposals will be subject to continued negotiations and are not law. But, the proposals are an indication of what may be coming soon ...
Below, you will find some practical solutions to prepare you for the labour litigation in Russia. The peculiarity of labour disputes in Russia is that they seldom start with great financial demands from employees. They are more about the status of the organisation, its reputation and similar issues. However, practice shows that given the length and formality of litigation, financial claims, originally insignificant, can turn into fairly large claims, over time ...
On Monday, September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released several markups of proposed legislation (the “House Tax Proposals”) intended to pay for various proposed spending initiatives. Importantly, the House Tax Proposals are not entirely consistent with the “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals” (the “Green Book”) released by the U.S ...
Introduction In the age of the Internet and technology, banking scams and fraud abound. Where such bank fraud is committed, it is often the case that the fraudster disappears and their identity remains unknown. How courts grant relief where the identity of the perpetrator of a bank fraud is unknown was addressed in two Malaysian court decisions in 2021: Zschimmer v Persons Unknown[2021] 7 MLJ 178 (Zschimmer); and Zschimmer v Persons Unknown (No 2)[2021] 3 CLJ 587 (Zschimmer No. 2) ...
Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
Another wave of COVID-19 has spread all over Thailand and is raising understandable concerns and generating uncertainty among the business community. With this series of infographics, we take this opportunity to guide you on the key measures and best practices to help you mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on your business. Today, we guide you through the debt restructuring options available in Thailand for local or foreign investors ...
Another wave of COVID-19 has spread all over Thailand and is raising understandable concerns and generating uncertainty among the business community. With this series of infographics, we take this opportunity to guide you on the key measures and best practices to help you mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on your business ...
Royal Court of Jersey (MacRae, Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Crill and Dulake) The judgment concerned an application by a Trustee of two Jersey law trusts for the blessing of its decision to give effect to an agreement between beneficiaries regarding division of the trust assets. A key aspect of the agreement was the addition of the late settlor’s widow to the beneficial class of one of the trusts in order for her to receive benefit under it ...
September 2021 has seen the issuance of Circular 009 on the Usage of Khmer Language and Currency in Accounting Records and Financial Statements (“Circular 009”) and Notification No. 355 on Inspection Visits and Implementation of Interim Fines for Violations of Law on Accounting and Audit (“Notification 355”). We set out the salient points in Circular 009 and Notification 355 below for your reference ...
The green light was recently given for two substantive changes in family law practice. First, on 15 February 2022, the Mainland Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases (Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 639) (Ordinance) and Rules will come into operation. Secondly, there is a new Guidance Noteon Case Management and Time Tabling in Children and Ancillary Relief Proceedings issued by the Judiciary under Practice Direction SL10.4 ...
Key Points Opponents of the proposed Oakland A's stadium at Howard Terminal argued that the Governor missed a deadline to certify the project for an expedited environmental review pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 734, a special purpose bill. AB 734 contained no explicit deadline for certification, but it incorporated guidelines from AB 900, as amended, which did include a certification deadline ...
In re: MaxPower Semiconductor, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-146 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 8, 2021) In its only precedential patent case this week, the Federal Circuit denied a mandamus petition relating to the PTAB’s institution of inter partes reviews of MaxPower’s patents. The case touches on, but does not completely resolve, whether the PTAB can institute inter partes reviews where the parties have agreed to arbitrate those disputes ...
On September 2, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced in his speech at the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services, that China would continue to support the innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises, deepen the reform of the NEEQ (as defined below), establish the Beijing Stock Exchange, and build a main position to serve innovative small and medium-sized enterprises ...
In July 2021, new private law cases received by Cafcass (the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service) fell by over 16%. According to the latest figures published by Cafcass this week, they received a total of 3,774 new private law cases in July 2021, 740 cases (16.4%) fewer than in July 2020. Private law cases generally consist of applications made to the family court by a parent or carer of a child following a divorce or separation ...
A new report by Shoosmiths, in partnership with Beauhurst, shows that the number of venture capital ‘megadeals’ in the UK has increased tenfold over the last decade. In 2011 a modest five ‘megadeals’ (where £50 million or more is invested into a company) occurred, compared with an astounding 51 megadeals in the first half of 2021 ...
On September 3, the executive presented to Congress the anticipated draft of the "FinTech Law", the new regulation that proposes a legal framework applicable to FinTech companies in Chile (the "Bill"). Until now, FinTech companies in Chile have operated without their own or specially designed legal framework, which has generated a series of regulatory inconveniences that have impacted their business model and hindered the development of these technologies in Chile ...
On 7 July 2021 we hosted the second event in our webinar series on International Arbitration, Regional Perspectives and focused on arbitration in Asia ...
In seeking to address the impact of climate change within Hong Kong’s fund management industry, the SFC has introduced new climate-related regulatory requirements for fund managers in relation to disclosures and to their investment risk and management processes. In this ten-minute podcast, Jeremy Lam outlines key features of the new regime, the timeframe for implementation and how best to plan ahead ...
Employee Retention Credits (“ERC” or “credits”) are available to eligible employers that paid qualified wages after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2022. Multiple pieces of legislation and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance expanded and modified the ERC rules and determination of eligibility for ERC, and computation of the credits may vary based on each individual calendar quarter in 2020 and 2021 ...
as published in the Fall 2021 issue of West Virginia Banker magazine As the world (hopefully) comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic later this year, the way we conduct business is changing. The banking industry, described by one commentator as “the most old-school of the old-school professions,” is criticized as being resistant to change. As one article described it, “the fundamental ways that financial institutions function have not changed with the times ...
In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, new measures were approved to enable companies to increase their cash flows. Payments on account (FY2021) Taxpayers who are cooperatives or have obtained in the 2020 fiscal period a turnover up to the maximum limit set for their classification as medium-sized enterprises (i.e ...
Belcher Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. Hospira, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1799 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 1, 2021) In an appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that Belcher Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Belcher”) engaged in inequitable conduct by withholding prior art from the Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) during the prosecution of Belcher’s patent ...
Businesses in Thailand are facing a difficult road ahead. The latest wave of COVID-19 infections continues to hammer the economy, further delaying a recovery that many companies were counting on to relieve their financial woes. Those struggles have been considerable. According to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), Thailand’s gross domestic product shrank by 6.1% in 2020 – the steepest decline since the Tom Yum Kung financial crisis of 1997 ...