Key Points Elected officials are now universally subject to the Levine Act, the primary California pay-to-play statute. Elected and appointed officials cannot accept or solicit a campaign contribution for 12 months following the date a decision is made concerning licenses, permits, land use entitlements, and certain contracts (Covered Proceedings) before the Board. In some circumstances, an official can cure violations of the Levine Act by returning the contribution ...
Tackling rising prices within the parameters of public procurement. One of the main symptoms of the current economic crisis is rising prices, for individuals and businesses. Brexit and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are just two contributory factors in fuelling increases in prices across the supply chain in the UK, particularly the cost of raw materials, labour and transport ...
Asters' Counsel and pro bono legal advisor of the Committee on Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Development of the European Business Association (EBA) Anzhelika Livitska contributed to EBA White Paper "Deregulation of environmental legislation in a time of war and reforms aimed for European integration" ...
On 19 June 2022 Kyiv hosted Recovery Forum Ukraine 2022 organized by the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, KyivBuild Ukraine, Aquatherm Kyiv and ReBuild Ukraine. The event gathered the representatives of the state and local authorities, construction business-community, international financial institutions, and potential investors to discuss issues related to the rebuild of the damaged infrastructure in Ukraine as well as the ways of financing ...
On 7 October 2022, Federal Law No. 377-FZ (the “Law”) came into force. The Law granted mobilized citizens and their family members the right to receive preferential payment holidays on loans (including mortgages). Follow the link to learn more. Newsletter_Payment_holidays_for_mobilized_citizens.pdf (alrud ...
Tackling base erosion and profit shifting remains a priority for the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”). It was recently reported that in the 2021 fiscal year, SARS dealt with 345 cases of transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting to the value of almost ZAR12-billion. Yet, only three South African courts have dealt with transfer pricing ...
Careers Kudun and Partners Founded in 2015, Kudun and Partners is a modern and forward-thinking law firm with a vision for a more client-focused way of practicing ...
What are the legal consequences of an employee continuing to work after the employee has reached the agreed upon retirement age? Does a new contract of employment come into force or does the old contract continue operating? Can an employer still terminate employment on the basis that the employee has reached (and passed) their retirement age? These questions have been the subject of much debate over the years ...
In the course of regular updates on Russian counter-sanctions measures, we would like to provide you with summarized information on: new Official Clarifications published[1] by the Ministry of Finance on October 14, 2022; and new Presidential Decree No. 737 published on October 15, 2022. The above have hugely updated the current counter-sanction FDI regime in Russia, in particular, new transactions requiring counter-sanctions approval were added (e.g ...
On October 7, 2022 Federal laws No. 376-FZ and No. 379-FZ which provide supplementary guarantees for employees came into effect. Among other things, new grounds for termination of an employment contract have been introduced and opportunity and procedure for an employment contract suspension for the period of military service have been formalized ...
On 5 October 2022, the Russian Federal Tax Service published the draft Order “On the Approval of the List of States (Territories) That Automatically Exchange Financial Information” (the “Draft Order”). The existing list of countries and territories that exchange such information is to be extended to include Kazakhstan, Maldives and Oman ...
The morning of February 24 began as an ordinary day for IP attorneys Julia Semeniy and Yuliya Prokhoda, with planned court hearings, client meetings and routine school runs in Ukraine. But when Russia began its onslaught on the country, in an act of internationally condemned aggression, their lives changed dramatically ...
It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been accused of a crime that they cannot use their own money, and this situation could last for months. Nonetheless, an institution exerting this effect functions under Polish law and can impact both individuals and companies This institution is the freezing of accounts. In general it is used where there is a suspicion that funds in an account have a criminal origin or are related to an offence ...
The modern world of technology has undoubtedly changed the manner in which we collect evidence as well as the types of evidence relied on in arbitration proceedings and trials. One such example is the increased use of digital and printed evidence. The reliance on computerised data and its credibility was explored in the recent case of Eskom Holdings SOC Limited v Ravichandran Reddy. In this matter, Mr Reddy, a zone manager at Eskom, was a beneficiary of Eskom’s managerial car scheme ...
In Ismail v Life Entabeni Hospital, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) had to decide whether an employee had been unfairly discriminated against on the basis of her religion as a result of the employer’s “bare below the elbow” policy (“BBE policy”) which did not permit the wearing of long sleeves by those employees working in general wards and the ICU ...
On 7 October 2022 the President of the Russian Federation has signed Federal Law No. 387-FZ 'On Amendments to Article 52 of the Arbitrazh Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and Article 45 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation'. The Federal Law comes into force on 18 October 2022 ...
In a civil case, is it wiser for a business to try to persuade the counterparty to agree from the outset to arbitration—or potentially to place it's very solvency in the unpredictable hands of a judge and jury? Many "form" commercial contracts contain clauses mandating that any disputes that arise be resolved by binding arbitration rather than a jury or bench trial ...
The global trading system has been pushed to its limits since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 7 months ago. Olesia Kryvetska, a counsel with Asters law firm and head of the Ukrainian Bar Association’s International Trade Law Committee, details the heaviest implications since the beginning of the war, namely soaring commodity and energy prices, food security crises, and supply chain disruptions ...
On February 24, a lot changed in Ukraine, and the judicial system was no exception. What new has the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation brought to the resolution of legal disputes and what does the judiciary look like under martial law - we will consider further. The first months after the invasion Immediately after the Russian invasion, the courts took some time to recover from the shock ...
There are often many reasons cited as to why international arbitration should be the preferred method of dispute resolution for parties: it can be quicker, cheaper, the process is private, the award is final and the parties have more autonomy over the process. Whilst some of these factors are debatable (especially in highly complex commercial cases), the fact that parties to an arbitration can have more autonomy than in traditional court litigation is usually less controversial ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) Partners Ricardo Ma. P.G. Ongkiko (Head of the Firm's Litigation Department), Carlos Roberto Z. Lopez, and John Christian Joy A. Regalado authored the Philippine chapter of the latest Global Practice Guide (GPG) on International Arbitration published by Chambers and Partners ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, On 23 August 2022, the Malaysia Competition Commission (“MyCC”) launched a public consultation on the proposed renewal of a Block Exemption Order (“BEO”) in respect of liner shipping services covered under a VSA. The renewal application was made pursuant to Section 8 of the Competition Act as the earlier BEO granted expired on 6 July 2022. The press release by MyCC (“Press Release”) is accessible here ...
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a sought-after destination by foreign businesses for establishing their regional offices, consists of multiple jurisdictions for incorporation/establishment of entities. Each Emirate of the UAE has its own licensing authority and, additionally, there are more than 40 free zones in the UAE. Each Emirate and each free zone can be regarded as a separate jurisdiction for the incorporation and establishment of entities ...
In July, the Antimonopoly Committee asked the Ministry of Strategic Industries to update the conditions for providing state aid to companies that develop, manufacture, repair, and service aviation equipment and engines. What to update and how, the committee wrote in recently adopted recommendations . Asters lawyer Olena Gadomska told Mind what the latter envisage, why AMCU is resorting to such changes and who they will affect ...
The decision will be relevant for parties seeking to bring claims in the BVI courts where there are competing jurisdictions and systems of law at play. Funders and ATE insurers will also find the decision of interest where they are considering the merits of funding cross-border claims involving BVI defendants. A copy of the judgment is available here. Background WWRT had commenced proceedings in the BVI against Carosan, a BVI company, and BK, a Ukrainian businessman ...
