In an increasingly digital age, paper documents are often regarded (at best) as quaint and (at worst) as unnecessary and expensive. But when it comes to international trade, paper documents have been fundamental in terms of giving the holder of that physical document the benefit of valuable rights. This has now changed. From 20 September 2023, the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 places certain electronic trade documents on an equal footing as their paper counterparts under English law ...
Shoosmiths explore the need for regulation in the evolving landscape of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse, focusing on recent approaches to regulating emerging technologies, and the importance of striking a balance between flexibility and effective safeguards. At a Web 3 ...
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published its policy recommendations for decentralised finance (DeFi) as a consultation paper. Responses are due by 19 October 2023 ...
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) represents an emerging financial model that utilises distributed ledger technologies to provide functions like borrowing, investing, or trading digital assets, all without the need for conventional centralised intermediaries. Here is a quick update with what is occurring on the international stage ...
The SEC Division of Examinations (the “Division”) issued a Risk Alert on September 6, 2023 that describes the Division’s risk-based approach for selecting advisers to examine and outlines the scope of areas to be examined ...
On Tuesday September 12, Patterson Belknap Partner Bill Cavanaugh delivered the opening statement on behalf of a coalition of the Attorney Generals from 38 states and other jurisdictions in the trial of a historic monopoly antitrust lawsuit against Google involving its search engine. Bill was appointed by the Attorney Generals of Colorado and Nebraska, the lead plaintiffs in the states' case, to serve as lead trial counsel ...
The conversation around Artificial intelligence (AI) regulation is set to go into a “supercharged” phase globally. At least, that’s the conclusion one can’t help drawing from the hype around the UK’s AI Safety Summit, which takes place in early November, and from comments this week by Senate Leader Chuck Schumer around upping the pace of AI regulation in the US ...
Battery as a Service (BaaS) allows customers to keep their vehicles charged up and running, without recharging the drained-out batteries. The concept allows customers to lease out batteries as a separate component from the car, on a subscription based model, and swap it for a fully charged one as and when it depletes power. Last year Shoosmiths published a report highlighting the benefits of the BaaS business model, driven by the increasing use of battery storage technology ...
Blockchain litigation lead, Matt Green will be hosting our latest podcast series, 'In Early - The Crypto Podcast' - Listen to episode 19. Episode 19 features Jonny Fry the Crypto AM Influencer of the year 2022. With a wealth of knowledge in this sector, Jonny runs Digital Bytes, which creates and distributes a weekly roundup of the biggest stories in the world of digital assets, and is the CEO of Team Blockchain ...
PCC Issues Motu Proprio Merger Review Guidelines for Digital Markets On 21 August 2023, the Philippine Competition Commission (“PCC”) issued the Guidelines for the motu proprio review of Mergers and Acquisitions in Digital Markets (the “Guidelines”) to provide greater transparency and predictability over the PCC’s power of motu proprio review of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the digital market ...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the global real estate landscape. In the United States alone, AI companies are predicted to have a 1.6m sq m real estate footprint by the end of 2023, according to JLL ...
The new biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements are set to come into force from November 2023. This will legally mandate securing a minimum 10 per cent biodiversity net gain from new commercial and residential developments in England, with a few exceptions. While the requirements - part of the Environment Act 2021 – will have financial and operational implications, the real estate industry has had several years to prepare for BNG ...
Blockchain litigation lead, Matt Green will be hosting our latest podcast series, 'In Early - The Crypto Podcast' - Listen to episode 18. This week Matt speaks to the man claiming two names - Dr Craig Wright and Satoshi Nakamoto ...
Inflation Reduction Act Perhaps the most significant recent development in the area of alternative energy, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) offers approximately USD270 billion in tax incentives to help combat climate change ...
The Government set out its objectives in respect of property energy efficiency and EPCs within the Carbon Neutral Roadmap (approved by the States Assembly on 29 April 2022). The Government has since issued a progress report in July 2023 on the implementation of the Carbon Neutral Roadmap ...
On 9 August 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Addressing United States Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern (the "Executive Order"), to regulate U.S. persons engaged in transactions or investment activities in China (including mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) that involve certain technologies and products. The U.S ...
Hydrogen is seen by many as the fuel of the future, a substance that can provide heat through combustion, or electrical power from fuel cells, emitting only water in the process. Its potential usefulness, specifically its ability to replace fossil fuels without generating greenhouse gases, makes it the poster child for clean energy. There are various ways of producing hydrogen, but currently most of it is done in the most cost-efficient way, by steam reforming ...
Legal Property Due Diligence In a property transaction, whether that is buying, leasing, or financing, a legal property due diligence exercise may be required to assess the potential risk to a client before committing to the transaction. The potential for AI to be used to review and digest legal property DD documentation with speed and accuracy is clear ...
Current Regulatory Regimes Bermuda was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce sector specific laws and regulations relating to the issuance of ‘digital assets’ and the provision of ’digital asset business’ services. Bermuda's regime regulates the activities of issuers and services providers rather than the technology or digital assets themselves ...
The Scottish Government is proposing to overhaul Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) - giving building owners and occupiers more information than ever before. The potential reforms aim to be targeted and useful – helping pave a clear and achievable path towards achieving net zero. On 25 July 2023, the Scottish Government published its consultation on reforming domestic and non-domestic EPCs to ensure they support future regulations on heat in buildings ...
The Policy will apply to a broader range of regulated entities and includes updates to take account of Jersey’s evolving regulatory framework. The key amendments to the Policy are as follows: private funds or other funds with a consent issued pursuant to the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Order 1958 (“COBO”), (which could include funds not domiciled in Jersey and unregulated funds) are not caught under the Policy ...
The initial proponents of Decentralised Finance (“DeFi”) opined that DeFi, as opposed to Centralised Finance (“CeFi”), could innovate the financial system by providing easier methods of payments and other financial services. The reasoning was based on the notion that transactions without a centralised intermediary in the financial system entail a simpler economy with less regulatory burdens ...
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Last Wednesday (July 26), the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) handed down its highly awaited decision on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (software patents). In Canada (Attorney General) v. Benjamin Moore & Co. (2023 CAF 168), the FCA rejected the test proposed by the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) in the first instance decision, Benjamin Moore & Co. c. Canada ...
