ESG The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) ran its Sustainable Finance Week in September and announced three initiatives that came into force from 20 September. The Natural Capital Fund Regime was launched and allows a regulatory designation for biodiversity and natural capital projects that positively contribute and/or reduce harm to the natural world. The regime has arguably more stringent criteria than those for the Guernsey Green Fund Regime ...
Overall, West Virginia’s mid-term election easily can be described as a Red Wave rising, with historic GOP wins in legislative races. At the same time, voters remained cautious when it came to policy decisions, soundly rejecting all four constitutional amendments on the ballot in spite of strong support from the Republican Party and business community. That dichotomy likely will puzzle election watchers for a while ...
President Joko Widodo has just issued Presidential Regulation No. 112 of 2022 on the Acceleration of Renewable Energy Development for the Supply of Power which came into effect on 13 September 2022. The PR on Renewable Energy introduces key major provisions which may significantly affect the electric power industry, especially with the phasing out of coal-fired power plants, and urges prioritizing the development of renewable energy power plants. These advisory highlights the key provisions ...
In our final quarterly case law update of 2022, we discuss four of the most significant employment law cases since August 2022 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Whistleblowing In the case of Kong v Gulf International Bank, Ms Kong made protected disclosures to the Head of Legal, Ms Harding ...
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" ...
Summary: On October 28, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement by prohibiting the award of any DoD contract to entities that require their employees to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements that would restrict their employees from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a DoD contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative who is authorized
Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Motorola Mobility LLC, Appeal Nos 2021-1555, -1795 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 4, 2022) Our Case of the Week is ostensibly a case about whether a patent owner has standing to sue when that patent holder has granted an exclusive license. But the case turns on the application of collateral estoppel, when Uniloc, the patent owner, dismissed an appeal against Apple in an unrelated suit concerning the same facts. The case sounds like a cautionary tale about dismissing cases on appeal ...
Making variations to planning permissions as a scheme evolves is rarely a straightforward process, particularly where the changes go beyond the scope of non-material or minor material amendments. One tool that has been used extensively to achieve variations is the ‘drop-in’ planning application where a new consent is granted for an area that overlaps with the original permission ...
Shoosmiths’ specialist construction and regulatory teams have provided a detailed response to the government’s consultation on implementing the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings under Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The firm’s response draws on its expertise working with key stakeholders in the construction industry and first-hand experience of the issues that are relevant to the proposed regulations ...
The SEC Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert on September 19, 2022 announcing examination initiatives relating to Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-1 – the “Marketing Rule.” The compliance date for the Marketing Rule is November 4, 2022. Any advertisements distributed by investment advisers on or after that date are subject to the requirements of the Marketing Rule. This alert outlines areas that will be reviewed during examinations ...
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 ...
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is currently making its way through Parliament but what do we currently know about the Bill, which may have an impact on over 2,400 pieces of legislation on the UK statute books? You may be forgiven for not spotting the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (or the Brexit Freedoms Bill as it is affectionately known) slip in front of the House of Commons on 22 September 2022 as all eyes were on Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget at the time
State securities regulators from Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas, and Alabama have issued cease and desist orders against Slotie, a Metaverse casino developer located in the country of Georgia. Regulators allege that the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) Slotie offers to investors are securities and that the ongoing sale of these NFTs constitute an ongoing unregistered issuance of securities ...
In October, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) brought charges against Kim Kardashian (“Kardashian”) for failure to disclose payments she received in connection with promoting EthereumMax on Instagram. This article outlines why public persons and projects operating in the web3 ecosystem must tread carefully so as to not implicate unwelcome regulatory oversight ...
You may have seen news items discussing a South African copyright case that deals with blind people’s rights to access books. It’s perhaps not that easy to follow, so we’ll try to make it as simple as possible. South African copyright law has been slow to evolve The South African Copyright Act dates back to 1978 ...
On October 27, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 pandemic-related extensions of the deadline to present a government claim to a public entity under the Government Claims Act expired. In other words, a would-be claimant can no longer invoke the 120-day pandemic-related extension when presenting a claim. Background Government Code section 911 ...
While the Canadian government has said it intends to pass legislation dealing with cybersecurity (see Bill C-26 to enact the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act), many companies have already taken significant steps to protect their IT infrastructure. However, the Internet of Things is too often overlooked in this process. This is in spite of the fact that many devices are directly connected to the most important IT infrastructure for businesses ...
ABC Corp. v. Tomoloo Official, Appeal Nos. 2021-2277, -2355, -2150 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 28, 2022) ABC Corp. v. eBay, Inc., Appeal No. 2022-1071 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 28, 2022) The following summary covers two decisions issued the same day, dealing with preliminary injunctions issued from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a single litigation. In one of those decisions, the Federal Circuit examined the notice requirement under FRCP 65(a) and held it was not met ...
American universities have long attracted the best and brightest from around the world. They come both for the educational environment that protects free speech and open inquiry and for the sophisticated research opportunities that prevail in American academic labs – funded, in part, by American taxpayer dollars. Upwards of 9 in 10 students from some countries intend to stay, adding to America’s intellectual capital and its economic vitality ...
All contract legislation in Norway specifies time limits for filing a complaint. Put very simply, a complaint in this context is the process whereby a party to an agreement complains about a defect and asserts a claim within a defined time limit. Once the specified time limit has expired, the right to bring the claim will be lost. The logic behind the rules on complaints is that the parties to an agreement must be able to define the end point of, for example, a sale or delivery ...
On 13 October 2022, Shoosmiths hosted a webinar on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (the ‘Inquiry’). The webinar took a closer look at the structure and progress of the Inquiry, alongside the commercial and legal considerations that any potential witness or party should be aware of, including the role of a Core Participant (‘CP’). The webinar was hosted by Paul Eccles (Partner) and included talks by Alex Friston (Associate) and Charles Arrand (Partner) ...
Last Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the CFPB's automatic funding structure violates the Constitution. Because the decision calls into question virtually all of the CFPB’s actions since its creation, it has wide-ranging potential implications for all financial services industries. Please join us for a lunch-time webinar as we unpack the Fifth Circuit’s decision and what it means for your business ...
