On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., a much-anticipated decision regarding schools’ regulation of off-campus speech. The Court held that while schools may discipline students for some off-campus speech, their ability to do so is much more limited than for on-campus speech. B.L. was a student at Mahanoy Area High School and cheered on the junior varsity team during her freshman year ...
A just-passed piece of legislation crafted to bolster countercrime defenses and crack open beneficial ownership bastions, a historical haven for criminals of all stripes, has lesser-known tethers for certain segments of the investment sector – a critical pitfall that should not be lost on compliance teams. In May 2020, a leaked investigation bulletin prepared by the U.S ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, In this article, our partner, Anand Raj, and associate, Jeevitha Thurai Rathnam, discuss the Malaysia Competition Commission’s market review exercise into the transportation sector (port logistics ecosystem and motor vehicle warranty claims) ...
The Federal Tax Authority (the FTA) has started to impose penalties on businesses that have failed to submit their economic substance notifications by the set deadline of 30 June 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019, and the economic substance reports by the set deadline of 31 December 2020 for the financial period ended on 31 December 2019 ...
The draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Climate Change Governance and Reporting) Regulations 2021 (‘Regulations’) have been laid before parliament and are due to come into effect on 1 October this year. The Pensions Minister announced on June 8 the final version of the Regulations which are designed to regulate how trustees of certain trust-based occupational schemes must engage with, and report on, climate change risk as part of their duties ...
The starting point on divorce is that the assets acquired during the marriage fall into the ‘matrimonial pot’ and will be divided equally between the parties. This is called the sharing principle. However, in certain circumstances an inheritance will be a relevant contribution and a good reason to depart from an equal division ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,Our TMT Partners, Christina Kow and Timothy Siaw, have co-authored the Malaysian chapter of The International Comparative Legal Guides – Fintech 2021. The chapter covers a broad overview of common issues in fintech laws and regulations in Malaysia.The Fintech LandscapeFunding For FintechFintech RegulationOther Regulatory Regimes / Non-Financial RegulationAccessing Talent TechnologyTo read more, please click here ...
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Board on 11 June 2021 approved new rules prohibiting the trading on national exchange platforms of utility tokens and certain types of ‘novelty’ cryptocurrencies such as DogeCoin, SafeMoon or MonaCoin. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Notification No. Kor Thor. 18/2564 Re: Rules, Conditions and Procedures for Undertaking Digital Asset Businesses (No ...
New York State Lifts Restrictions. On June 7, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared that the State would lift most remaining COVID-19 restrictions when 70% of adult New Yorkers had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. On June 15, 2021, Governor Cuomo held a press conference to announce that New York had reached the 70% first-dose threshold ...
Despite the pandemic, 2020 was a record year for Prop. 65 filings. There was a 46% increase in Notice of Violation filings from 2019, driven by the usual filers, as well as many new law firms and noticing parties. There have been 1,346 notices filed between Jan. 1, 2021 and June 3, 2021, compared to 1,327 Notices filed in the same time-period in 2020. These Notices consist primarily of phthalates, lead, cadmium, arsenic, BPA and acrylamide ...
The Alan Turing Institute has published a new report: "AI in Financial Services", looking to the use of artificial intelligence in the FS sector. We will watch with interest how the report’s findings evolve into more specific regulatory rules or guidance ...
According to the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales, the police recorded over 1,288,000 domestic abuse-related incidents in the year ending March 2020. Against this backdrop, another startling statistic is that on average two women a week are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales alone ...
The court has to have regard to the “income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources that each party to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future” (Section 25(2)(a) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973). Property and other financial resources can include expectations under a will and beneficial interests under a trust. Expectations under a will It is rare for a future entitlement under a will to be treated as a financial resource ...
The Government has published its first statement setting out its vision for legal migration and border control as part of the new plan for immigration. This article summarises the key goals that form part of the vision. The statement sets out key delivery priorities for 2021 – 22 ...
In it the CSSF clarified its interpretation of the concept of lending to the “public”, an information relevant for the non-bank lending industry and, in particular, for private debt funds with a loan origination activity. Background In general terms, the granting of loans to the public on a professional basis is a regulated activity which is subject to authorisation by the CSSF under Article 28-4 of the law of 5 April 1993 on the financial sector ...
On Wednesday, June 16, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a Notice of Interpretation, explaining how it interprets Title IX to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity ...
Financial ServicesBNM issues Corporate Strategic Plan policy document for DFIsOn 27 May 2021, Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) issued the Corporate Strategic Plan (“CSP”) policy document, applicable to all development financial institutions (“DFIs”) prescribed under the Development Financial Institutions Act 2002 ...
On 8 June 2021, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) unveiled “Fintech 2025”, a new strategy aiming to drive fintech development in Hong Kong. In essence, “Fintech 2025” seeks to encourage the financial sector to adopt technology in their businesses and transactions comprehensively by 2025 by focusing on the following five key areas: 1 ...
On June 9, 2021, the National Electric Coordinator (“CEN”) opened a public consultation process on a draft Internal Procedure (the "IP") that will provide the criteria applicable to the Open Access Regime established in Articles 79° and 80° of the General Law of Electric Services ("LGSE"), as a result of the entry into force of the Regulation on Transmission Systems and Transmission Planning (the "Regulation") ...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in Spartan Medical, Inc., B-419503, recently clarified the scope of its jurisdiction over bid protests involving an agency's use of its other transaction agreement (OTA) authority. The GAO's decision in this case is noteworthy because agencies are increasingly relying on OTAs to meet their procurement needs ...
In El Salvador, the Bitcoin Law was approved by the Legislative Assembly and published in the Official Gazette last June 9th of this year, establishing avacatio legisof ninety days from its publication; in that sense, its entry into force is scheduled for next September 7th ...
On 22 May 2021, SPV77 Co. Ltd., a special purpose entity set up to issue and offer Siri Hub Investment Digital Tokens (“SIRIHUB”) to investors secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the country’s first Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”). The first ICO approval by the SEC follows three years of legal changes starting with the passage of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Business Operation B.E. 2561 (2018) ...
As we emerge from the pandemic, UK cities have a positive future – from the growth of digital broadcasting in Manchester to the positive future for inward investment; from what is needed to preserve our high streets to excitement around the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The UK Cities Investor Guide is a bi-annual publication produced in partnership with EG, and tackles some of the key challenges and opportunities facing the real estate investment market ...
The liability of online platforms for the activities of third-party vendors has always been a controversial area. With the explosion of online shopping as a result of the pandemic, the issue has come under increased scrutiny. Although cases in the UK and EU have discussed the factors that the Court will consider in deciding whether the operator of an online platform is jointly liable, the position in Hong Kong remained uncertain, until now ...
