In an increasingly interconnected world facilitated by the rise of global digital commerce a number of gaps have been exposed in the tax systems of countries with perhaps one of the most significant issues being the difficulties in collecting tax from those providing digital goods and services without a physical presence in the jurisdiction where those goods and services are consumed ...
In the recent judgment of Divine Inspiration Trading 205 (Pty) Limited and another v Katherine Gordon and 2 others, the Western Cape High Court found, in essence, that the rules of court override the interests protected under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) and ordered that personal information be disclosed. In this matter, the applicants sought an order for the disclosure of Ms Gordon’s medical records from her medical practitioners ...
The protracted legal battle between software giant Oracle America Inc. (“Oracle”) and technology behemoth Google LLC (“Google”) has truly been one for the ages. The Supreme Court of the United States of America (“SCOTUS”) on 05 April 2021 delivered its judgment in the writ of Certiorari filed by Google against Oracle ...
The designation of eight new Freeports within England made headlines in the Budget and now the winning bidders have to put into effect their successful proposals. What will this mean in practice for those areas affected and what are the likely issues that Freeport authorities will face? We have pulled together some questions we are asked frequently on Freeports, together with the responses we have been providing to our clients ...
On March 17, 2021, the IRS published IR-2021-59, postponing the deadline for filing individual income tax returns and payment of individual income taxes from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. On March 29, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-21, further clarifying the postponement of Federal income tax reporting and payment deadlines ...
The Court of Appeal (CoA) has allowed a SIPP investor’s appeal in Adams v Options UK Personal Pensions LLP (2021) EWCA Civ 474 and provided important guidance on the interpretation of Article 25 and 53 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Regulated Activities Order 2001 ...
The HKIAC’s statistics for 2020 reveal that in 2020 the HKIAC received a record number of arbitration filings (the highest number received in over a decade) and the total amount in dispute in the arbitrations was another record high. Most hearings were fully or partially virtual, which is unsurprising given the pandemic outbreak last year. The following are some of the more notable statistics: 483 new cases were submitted to the HKIAC in 2020 ...
In our previous article, we reported on the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between Mainland China and the HKSAR (Supplemental Arrangement) made on 27 November 2020, which made certain revisions to the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between Mainland China and the HKSAR, as follows: Recognition of arbitral awards -The Supplemental Arrangement clarified that the procedures set out in the Arrangement shall be in
In DR Jones Yeovil Ltd v The Stepping Stone Group Ltd [2020] EWHC 2308 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court ruled in favour of a contractor in its claim for unpaid retention under a JCT contract and dismissed the employer’s counterclaim for alleged defects. Certificates of Making Good were never issued and one of the questions before the court was whether that meant there could be no recovery of the balance of retention ...
The appeal in ABC Electrification Ltd v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1645, concerned the proper construction of a Target Cost Contract based upon the standard Institute of Civil Engineers Conditions of Contract, Target Cost Version, First Edition (ICE Conditions) and subject to standard amendments commonly used in the rail industry, known as Network Rail 12 (N12 Amendments) ...
In the recent case of Cheng Pan & Anor v Yau Lai Wah, HCA 376/2015, the Court held the Defendant liable for loss and damage caused by water leakage from his property into a neighbouring property, which resulted from the Defendant’s contractors carrying out works to pipes located in the Defendant’s property ...
The National Security and Investment Bill will allow government intervention in transactions raising national security concerns. It will require investors in UK real estate to consider whether the regime applies and factor in any timetabling implications. The Bill is currently being examined in the House of Lords. It will introduce an independent screening regime in the UK where a transaction gives rise to national security concerns ...
Two of the most prominent arbitral institutions globally, the London Court of International Arbitration and the International Chamber of Commerce, have recently updated their rules to modernise and streamline the way in which arbitrations are administered. The changes are designed to increase efficiency, flexibility and transparency and to embrace the growing use of technology in business today ...
On March 31, 2021, the Biden Administration released a Fact Sheet for its proposed American Jobs Plan (the “AJP”). The full text of the AJP can be found here. Although the AJP is primarily a proposal for rebuilding our country’s infrastructure, positioning the U.S. to compete with China and creating millions of jobs, it also proposes important corporate tax changes necessary to fund the AJP ...
Food producers can breathe a sigh of relief, at least temporarily, thanks to efforts by the California Chamber of Commerce resulting in a preliminary injunction barring the State of California and all private plaintiffs from filing any new Proposition 65 lawsuits targeting acrylamide in food and beverage products. On March 31, 2021, Chief United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California, Kimberly J ...
In Facebook v. Duguid, (Case No. 19-511) on April 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that equipment without the capacity to randomly or sequentially store or produce numbers is not an autodialer for TCPA purposes. The Facebook ruling focuses on text messages, which many institutions are using as a primary method of customer contact, but it is also a victory for those using predictive dialers and preview dialers without random and sequential source codes ...
What is the CTA? The CTA was enacted on January 1st, 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the use of companies to evade anti-money laundering rules or to hide other illegal activities. Under the CTA companies will be required to report information regarding its beneficial owners with a beneficial ownership registry maintained by the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ...
FINANCIAL SERVICESRelaxation of FEP requirements on interest rate swapBank Negara Malaysia has announced that nonresident banks may trade ringgit denominated interest rate swap without any underlying commitment with any participating onshore licensed banks and their appointed overseas offices (“AOOs”) with effect from 15th March 2021 ...
FINANCIAL SERVICESFurther extension on short selling banThe Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad announced a further extension, until 29 August 2021, of the existing suspension of Intraday Short Selling (IDSS) and Short Selling by Proprietary Day Traders on the stock exchange of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The scope of the ban remains the same.Pepared by:Christina S. C ...
The SyCipLaw T.I.P.S. International Edition covers the following tax issues: 1. What are the salient provisions on income tax under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, or CREATE Act? On March 26, 2021, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the “Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act” (Republic Act No. 11534, the CREATE Act) into law ...
There has been a growing expectation that in order to fill the COVID sized hole in the Treasury's finances focus and ultimately action would be brought to bear on pension tax relief across defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. However, "Tax Day" has seen cuts to higher rate tax relief fail to materialise ...
The grounds for appealing an arbitration award are limited. Even when the tribunal admits that it has made a mistake that is not always enough. So, when is an admitted error serious enough to permit an appeal? This was the question before the court in Doglemor Trade Ltd and others v Caledor Consulting Ltd and another [2020] EWHC 3342 (Comm). The Facts Mr Khabarov (majority owner of Caledor) was granted an option to purchase 30% of the share capital of Doglemor ...
