The Singapore Convention cements the Lion City’s reputation as a dispute resolution hub, making mediation easier to enforce globally. Clients who come to see me about commercial disputes often ask for the same thing: fast resolution. I tell them that there are two tried-and-tested ways to resolve financial claims. First, you can litigate in court and have a judge make a legal ruling on the dispute, in the full gaze of the public ...
It is a well-established principle of South African law that you may not take the law into your own hands. The remedy formulated to enforce this principle is the mandament van spolie.In its classic formulation, the mandament, or spoliation action, protects against a deprivation of possession otherwise than through a legal process. All a plaintiff need prove is that it was in peaceful and undisturbed possession of property and was deprived of that possession ...
On 12 June 2019, the Tax Court of South Africa delivered its judgment in ABC (Pty) Ltd v C:SARS (case no. 14287). The court was tasked with determining the application and interpretation of South African double taxation agreements (“DTAs”) entered into with the State of Kuwait (the “SA-KW DTA”), the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the “SA-NL Protocol”), and the Kingdom of Sweden (the “SA-SE Protocol”) ...
The various changes to the so-called debt waiver provisions in section 19 of the South African Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”) and paragraph 12A of the Eighth Schedule to the Act in terms of the Taxation Laws Amendment Acts of 2017 and 2018 have come and gone. It is understood that there is now finality in terms of the debt waiver provisions as contained in the Act, which we discussed in a previous article ...
On 18 March 2019, South Africa’s National Treasury published revised Electronic Services Regulations, significantly expanding the scope of electronically supplied services that are subject to value-added tax (“VAT”). The publication follows the Minister of Finance’s announcement in the 2017 Budget Review that the regulations defining electronic services would be broadened ...
Having gone through a number of substitutions and amendments, the debt reduction rules contained in section 19 of the South African Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”) and paragraph 12A of the Eighth Schedule to the Act now provide for the implications arising for a debtor where a debt owed to a creditor is waived, cancelled or capitalised by way of the issue of shares etc ...
Introduction On 30 April 2019, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) published draft rules, schedules and forms for the implementation of the carbon tax and provided details on the envisaged carbon tax administration, including the registration of clients, licensing of emissions facilities, carbon tax environmental levy accounting and the application of allowances as rebates ...
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Carbon Tax Act, 2019, which comes into effect on 1 June 2019. With the passing of the carbon tax into law, a price on carbon emissions is now a reality for the South African economy.The impact of the legislation, along with complementary measures such as the national greenhouse gas emission reporting regulations, will have a transformative effect on the South African economy ...
In a judgment delivered on 31 May 2019, a bench of three Designated Judges of the Supreme Court constituted under section 42 of the Mauritian International Arbitration Act, 2008 (the “IAA”), set aside an arbitral award delivered under the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre ...
As the first of several deadlines under the Qualified Opportunity Zone (“QOZ”) program rapidly approaches, investors still on the sidelines are discovering that time is running out on the ability to take advantage of the full suite of tax benefits under the program. December 31, 2019 marks the last day in which investors may roll over capital gains into Qualified Opportunity Funds (“QOF”) and obtain a 15% reduction in the amount of the deferred gain ...
Traditionally financial institutions have preferred litigation over international arbitration. The reasons are many, but they are mainly related to the fact that arbitrators generally lack the power to render summary judgments, to grant interim measures, and that there is no precedent in international arbitration. However, international arbitration has gain ground in the last few years, due to the fact that arbitral institutions have addressed the main criticisms to the system ...
Law 37 of June 5, 2018, adds line 9 to article 709 of the Fiscal Code, which is related to the annual income tax deductions to which natural persons are entitled, regarding school expenses incurred by the taxpayer with respect to their dependents. Additionally, Executive Decree 368 of December 26, 2018 and Resolution No. 201-1635 of May 13, 2019, establish the regulations applicable to the deduction of said expenses ...
With the State of Illinois’ recent legalization of recreational cannabis, municipalities have started to debate whether to “opt in” to allow such businesses. While municipalities cannot prohibit the use of recreational cannabis, they can decide whether recreational cannabis businesses are allowed to operate within their boundaries. Local officials are just starting to consider the pros and cons of recreational cannabis businesses in their communities ...
On July 17, 2019, the Ohio Supreme Court resolved any doubt regarding the scope of Ohio’s construction statute of repose (R.C. 2305.131) and with it, delivered a clear victory to construction contractors in Ohio. In New Riegel Local School District Board of Education vs. Buehrer Group Architecture and Engineering, Inc., et al ...
On 13 June 2019, the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (“MPW”) issued Regulation No. 09/PRT/M/2019 on Guidelines on Licensing Services for Foreign Construction Business Entities (“Reg No. 9/2019”) replacing:(i) MPW Regulation No. 10/PRT/M/2014 on Guidelines on Issuing Licenses to Representatives of Foreign Construction Service Corporate Bodies (“Reg No. 10/2014”); and (ii) MPW Regulation No ...
Last month, a California appellate court reversed the trial court and ruled that a subcontractor's insurer had a duty to defend an additional-insured general contractor in underlying construction-defect litigation. In McMillin Homes Construction, Inc. v. National Fire & Marine Insurance Company (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 1042, a general contractor was an additional insured under a commercial general liability policy issued to its roofing subcontractor ...
In the past few years, the Indian Government has realised that its justice delivery system especially in respect of commercial disputes needs to keep pace with India’s economic growth. Though the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) is based on the UNCITRAL principles, judicial decisions had virtually obliterated the original intent of the Act and gravely undermined its avowed objective of expeditious dispute resolution ...
Under Dutch corporate law it is possible for the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to order an inquiry into the policies and affairs of a company and to interfere with the internal organization of such legal entity in order to settle corporate disputes between shareholders, the management and supervisory boards and the works council. The present article creates an overview of these legal proceedings. 1 ...
Dating back to the historical conquests of Alexander the Great in the years 300 B.C., which provided an unprecedented foundation for commercial exchanges between Macedonia, Persia and Egypt, along with the Mongolian Empire’s ambitious Silk Road that ensured, since 130 B.C ...
On June 17, the Supreme Court declined to overturn the Dual Sovereign Doctrine, maintaining individuals may be prosecuted under both federal and state law for the same criminal conduct. The Court’s decision was a loss for Petitioner Terance Martez Gamble, who had been prosecuted twice for illegal possession of a firearm, first in state court and then in federal court. In 2008, Gamble pleaded guilty to felony robbery in the state of Alabama ...
A previous inBrief dated 30 April 2019 discussed a law recently enacted in the BVI, the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, 2018, which introduced economic substance requirements in the BVI. This article will discuss a similar measure recently promulgated in the UAE ...
The DIFC Small Claims Tribunal (SCT), a branch of the DIFC Courts, has in a rare (if not first of its kind) judgement, pierced the corporate veil of a DIFC incorporated company to look into its shareholding and key individuals in the case of AS World Group Holding Ltd. Vs Anna Calkins [DIFC SCT 116/2019]. Overview of dispute AS World Group Holding Ltd (Claimant), filed proceedings against Ms ...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently released its opinion inNorth Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, largely vindicating the understanding of most estate planners: A state cannot tax the income of a trust where the only connection to the state is the presence of the trust’s discretionary beneficiary. Facts inKaestner The facts inKaestner, in brief, are as follows ...
The Twenty-first Amendment—which repealed Prohibition—gives states broad authority to regulate alcohol within their borders. But can states impose residency requirements on alcohol retail licensees? The U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of seven to two in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas, answered no. As state alcohol regulators adjust their licensing processes to comply with the ruling, retailers and wholesalers may see changes in the alcohol market ...
Four years ago, trademark owners who sought to register brands considered “immoral,” “scandalous,” or “disparage[ing]” would have, under a prohibition in 15 U.S.C. §1052(a), received a firm rejection from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Under this regime, brand owners seeking to register, for example, holy figures in connection with alcohol or creatively named rooster-shaped lollipops, were out of luck. (See, e.g ...
