In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution produced radical transformations not only in technology, including an ever increasing use of fossil fuels, but also in economic policies and social structure ...
The property industry will have an opportunity to assess the impact of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) when a user guide and a consultation paper are issued by the Government, this month. The CRC is a UK-wide, legally binding scheme designed to reduce energy use, and a key component of the Government's strategy to reduce carbon emissions attributable to property ...
With the Baltic States a hotbed of energy related activity and practice areas such as M&A decidedly lukewarm, law firms in the region could be forgiven for hoping that several high-profile ventures in the sector would brighten up an otherwise gloomy 2009. But the highly political nature of the energy market means that lawyers are watching frustrated from the sidelines as large scale projects consistently fail to get off the ground ...
The New Mining Law After almost four years of discussions, the Bill on Minerals and Coal Mining was finally passed by the House of Representatives on 16 December 2008 and signed by the President on 12 January 2009 as Law No. 4 of 2009. The enactment of the New Mining Law brings mining under a new licensing regime whereas for the last 40 years, foreign investors have had to sign a Contract of Work to engage in mining ...
Reduction in Income Tax for Publicly Owned Companies The Ministry of Finance recently issued regulation No.238/PMK.03/2008 of 2008 regarding the Procedures for and Supervision of the Granting of Tariff Reductions to Local Entity Tax Payers which are Publicly Owned Companies ...
New Law on Aviation In order to keep up with the development of the aviation industry in Indonesia, on 17 December 2008, the House of Representatives passed the Bill on Aviation. This Bill came in force on 12 January 2009 as Law No 1 of 2009 regarding Aviation (“Law 1”) ...
The liability to remedy contamination is not limited in time but is only limited by the Environmental Code’s transitional rules, where a business operator can be held liable to take remedial actions if the actual operation of the business has been carried out after 30 June 1969. Further, a business operator can be held liable to take remedial actions if the operator has acquired contaminated property after 1 January 1999 ...
Leif Ramberg in team advising the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce on comments on proposal from the Environmental Procedure Committee Summary The Environmental Procedure Committee has been instructed, by supplementary directive, to review the legal rules which apply to the expansion of wind power ...
ALTIUS contributed to a publication on International Acquisition Finance accross mutiple jurisdictions. The volume provides counsel with a full insight into the law and regulation across numerous jurisdictions. Johan De Bruycker, Caroline Wildemeersch and Kasper Van Landeghem from ALTIUS' Banking & Finance team untangle the complications of debt funding regimes for the Belgian jurisdiction. 1 ...
Best Practices & Standards The hedge fund industry has experienced trying times over the past few months. Year-end redemption requests have flooded the sector. Scandals such as the so-called "ponzi" scheme allegedly carried out by Bernard Madoff resulting in billions of dollars in losses have shaken the industry ...
Following certain onsite inspections, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a Circular in October 2008 setting out various standards of conduct and control procedures that the SFC views as being "generally expected" of a Hong Kong-licensed hedge fund manager (HKHFM) ...
The Supreme Court of Canada ended a lengthy legal saga on November 20th(1) when it ordered St. Lawrence Cement Inc. to compensate residents of Beauport living near its cement plant. Comments on prescription, the assessment of damages and the granting of future damages follow. The facts “Dust they are, and unto dust they shall return, yet human beings have difficulty resigning themselves to living in dust ...
1. What types of collateral are available? Real estate, operating and other licence rights or concessions, leaseholds, buildings, moveable property, contractual lights, receivables, shares, securities, onshore and offshore bank accounts, entire enterprises, after-acquired property, proceeds from investments and the sale of collateral are all available ...
As a consequence of the complexity of Hong Kong’s disclosure of interests regime, local substantial shareholders and global investment houses alike frequently fall foul of its provisions. Even robust monitoring and reporting systems can fail to cater to idiosyncrasies of the Hong Kong regime ...
Government Regulation No. 2 of 2008 regarding the Types and Rates of Non-tax State Revenue Derived from the Utilization of Forest Areas for the Development of Non-forestry Activities Applicable to the Department of Forestry ("GR No. 2/2008") introduces a new scheme of forest exploitation fees for non-forestry companies such as those engaged in mining, oil and gas, geothermal power and telecommunications companies conducting activities in forest areas ...
To protect consumers of oil and gas products, on 13 June 2008, the Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources issued Regulation No. 19 of 2008 regarding Guidelines and Procedures for the Protection of Consumers for Downstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (the "Regulation") ...
Bolivian law contemplates two procedures by which local companies with financial difficulties, are ultimately obliged to sell their assets in order to satisfy existing payment obligations, be it through a mandatory dissolution and liquidation or through a judicial bankruptcy procedure. I ...
Debate is raging at the moment as to the economic and political wisdom of imposing a so-called windfall tax on the profits of the UK's energy companies. Politicians, business people and consumer groups have all offered their views on what has been described as a "legalised raid" on the energy companies. But are the proposals "legal" at all? In that context it is important to consider where the profits in question are likely to have arisen ...
Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced a new program to facilitate the issuance of shortterm commercial paper (“CP”) by eligible issuers. The program was launched on Monday, October 27, 2008. The program is being administered by a new special purpose financing vehicle (“SPV”) that is referred to as the Commercial Paper Financing Facility, or “CPFF ...
The SFC recently issued a press release and a circular on risk disclosure. The circular reminds issuers of retail investment products, including authorised funds, of their duty to include in offering documents sufficient relevant risk information for investors to make an informed investment decision, and for marketing materials to be "clear, fair and present a balanced picture with adequate and prominent risk disclosure" ...
On September 23, 2008, the Western Climate Initiative (“WCI”) released its Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program (the “Program”) ...
A few years ago, Rick Rein got a call from a Chicago-area bank that had lost $1 million to a con artist who cashed a fake check that looked so authentic it easily passed through the bank's computer system. The fraudster wired the money to an obscure bank in Florida, then out of the country before the bank realized a month later the check was phony. Mr ...
From 1 October 2008, the Companies Act 2006 will repeal the prohibition on private companies providing financial assistance for the purchase of its own shares. This change in law will not apply to public companies which will continue to be prohibited from giving financial assistance ...
The UK Green Building Council has announced a new industry wide consultation to explore what kind of Code for Sustainable Buildings the industry needs to help it achieve the zero carbon target of 2019 and other sustainability challenges ...
Concerns over global climate change have sparked a series of legislative and policy responses on the provincial, federal, regional, and international levels. The challenge of complying with climate change policy is that different governments have invoked a number of different policy tools to respond and adapt ...
