The outlook for the year ahead is uncertain with the effects of post-Brexit rules to contend with and COVID-19 continuing to restrict the way we live and work. We look at what the year may have in store for the construction industry. COVID-19 There is no doubt that the pandemic has caused challenges for the construction industry and is likely to have a significant impact into 2021 ...
Although the start of 2020 also shook up the M&A world, the market recovered especially in the second half of the year. At Van Doorne, the M&A specialists experienced this in the number of transactions: 32 of them. This puts the firm in 8th place in the Mergermarket Benelux League Table, based on the number of deals. In 2020, in Europe almost $850 billion was spent on a total of 6,658 transactions. This is an increase of 5.6% compared to 2019 ...
As promised, the CFPB released the second part of its FDCPA rulemaking covering debt validation notices, collection of time-barred debts, and certain credit reporting restrictions. As with the first rulemaking, these changes could require significant changes to a company’s policies and procedures as well as significant technology upgrades ...
This is a summary of the Annual Report. Click here to access the full guide. The 2020 proxy season shareholder proposals were already submitted before the COVID-19 shadow loomed large over the season; however, such shadow likely impacted how shareholders voted on the proposals themselves, impacted business throughout 2020, and continues to jolt 2021 and the forthcoming 2021 proxy season ...
The future of agriculture in Scotland is at a pivotal point. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenges faced by farmers and crofters who have worked tirelessly to ensure food production and land management continues at a time when other industries have been brought to a standstill ...
On Dec. 9, Congressional Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), proposed sweeping legislation that would overhaul consumer bankruptcy law. The proposed changes, if adopted, generally would make it easier for consumers to access the bankruptcy system and discharge their debts. Below is a discussion of ten critical changes proposed in the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2020 (CBRA). 1 ...
On December 28, 2020, New York passed a new law entitled the “COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020.” The act places a moratorium on COVID-19-related residential real property mortgage foreclosure actions and residential eviction proceedings until May 1, 2021, where a tenant or homeowner has submitted a “hardship declaration” to the foreclosing party, landlord, and/or the court ...
The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) contains a number of provisions that help borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans. Among these are forbearance protections for borrowers with single-family loans and multifamily loans. However, only one of the forbearance provisions has a clearly defined period when the rights are available ...
The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, recently passed as part of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,” has significantly extended the tax exclusions for employer-paid student loan repayment assistance introduced under the CARES Act. With this extension, employers can provide employees with student loan repayment assistance of up to $5,250 per year for 2021 through 2025 (up to $26,250 total) ...
General Since the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) was introduced in 2010, several legislative acts have been adopted in the EU without being incorporated into the EEA-agreement. This is mainly due to Norwegian constitutional issues. These constitutional issues were resolved in 2018, and as result, a huge backlog of EU legislative acts needs to be incorporated into the EEA-agreement and transposed into Norwegian law ...
On January 6, 2021, Treasury issued two new Interim Final Rules (IFRs) addressing the new Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act’s (Act) creation of PPP Second Draw Loans, and the Act’s various changes to PPP requirements generally. The major PPP components of the Act are set forth in detail in Buchalter’s COVID Alert of December 28, 2020 (Buchalter PPP Changes Alert), which can be found here ...
In the recently-passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), Congress provided much-needed cover for landlords that enter into forbearance agreements with their tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic by protecting landlords from exposure to preference litigation arising out of the deferred rent payments if the tenant were to later file bankruptcy ...
European regulations applied in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2020. Insurers could make use of their European Passports until that time. Since 1 January 2021, the European Passports are no longer valid for European insurers that offer their services in the United Kingdom. British insurers lost their European Passports on 1 January 2021. The 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom reached agreement on a Brexit deal on 24 December 2020 ...
As from 31 December 2020 British sanctions will apply through UK Law. The UK has implemented several sanctions regimes under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the British Sanctions Act). This act provides the legal basis for the UK to impose and update sanctions after Brexit. This Sanctions Act has enabled the UK to transition existing sanction regimes of the European Union (EU) into UK law. These apply in the whole of the UK, including in Northern Ireland ...
Parliament has revised the federal telecoms legislation – in particular, the Federal Telecommunications Act (TCA) and its various implementing ordinances. These revised regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021. The revision of the telecoms legislation brings about several fundamental changes that affect consumers as well as telecoms service providers (TSPs) and telecoms operators ...
In this article, Goh Hui Wen examines the proposed regulatory framework for digital banks in Malaysia. INTRODUCTION The global financial services industry has seen a momentous evolution over the past decades driven by new technology innovations. As customers gravitate towards digital experiences and products, the transformation of the traditional banking system has become inevitable ...
Did you know? The long-awaited draft of the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) was released for public consultation in October 2020. If enacted, it will be the first comprehensive law setting out the overall legal framework, as well as the obligations of different stakeholders throughout the entire lifecycle of personal data in China. Why does this matter to you? The data protection regime in China has developed rapidly in recent years and is stricter than one might think ...
December 23, 2020 the Luxembourg legislator has published the law of 19 December 2020 implementing financial restrictive measures (“law of 19 December 2020”). This law has repealed the law of 27 October 2010 enhancing the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing legal framework ...
The FCA has published details of the financial penalties imposed during 2020 showing a significant fall on previous years in the number of penalties imposed and aggregate value. It also calls for greater resources to help tackle frauds and scams. In 2020 the FCA imposed 11 fines totalling £192,570,018. Despite the number of fines reducing significantly there was still a range in the issues which resulted in penalties being imposed ...
What Happened: OFAC settled with BitGo, Inc. for $98,830, resolving 183 apparent violations of multiple US sanctions programs for processing digital currency transactions on behalf of individuals located in sanctioned jurisdictions ...
At Christmas, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) consisting of 1256 pages was finally agreed between the EU and the UK. Crucially, the Agreement is between the EU and UK only and not the EU and its member states and the UK. The TCA establishes a free trade area for goods and services, in accordance with the WTO law. Both sides can apply trade remedies as is usual for free trade agreements such as on condition anti-dumping duties, anti-subsidy duties, and economic safeguards ...
At Christmas, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) consisting of 1256 pages was finally agreed between the EU and the UK. Crucially, the Agreement is between the EU and UK only and not the EU and its member states and the UK. The TCA establishes a free trade area for goods and services, in accordance with the WTO law. Both sides can apply trade remedies as is usual for free trade agreements such as on condition anti-dumping duties, anti-subsidy duties, and economic safeguards ...
Key Points Past and future PPP loan recipients can deduct PPP loan-funded eligible expenses for federal tax purposes even if the loan is forgiven. Expanded eligibility for new loans to include new categories of employers; existing borrowers who have not yet received loan forgiveness may increase loan amount based on expanded allowable expenses ...
