Here we look at some of the possible avenues to explore in relation to contracts governed by English law if you are affected by events unfolding in Ukraine. Reviewing your contracts might seem like a minor inconvenience compared to what has been happening in Ukraine over the last month or so ...
The government have announced a variety of new immigration routes aimed at assisting businesses to fill labour shortages and plug the gaps left by Brexit. Here we summarise the changes that come into force in April 2022. The Home Office released the statement of changes to the immigration rules on 15 March 2022 with details of the new routes that will open to applicants from 11 April 2022 ...
Changes to the rules relating to the use of red diesel will come into effect from April 1 2022 as a result of amendments to the Hydro Carbon Oil Duties Act 1979. The new rules set out a list of “excepted machines” which are allowed to use red diesel. A vehicle that is used for a purpose related to agriculture, aquatic farming, horticulture and forestry is allowed to use red diesel and can be used on the public road if the use is for one of those purposes ...
HM Treasury has recently published the outcome of its UK Prospectus Regime Review. The Review Outcome sets out important reforms to the UK prospectus regime for the public issuance of securities and admission to trading on capital markets, outlining the policy approach the UK Government will take following last year's Prospectus Regime Review consultation. This briefing note sets out the key measures confirmed by the UK Government in the Review Outcome ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 business travel emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’. On 29 March 2022, our Chairperson, Peter Duff, joined a panel to discuss the challenges associated with, and steps that can be taken to assist, a reduction in business travel emissions ...
Republic Act No. 11659 (“RA 11659”) or “An Act Amending Commonwealth Act No. 146 otherwise known as the Public Service Act” as amended, was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on 21 March 2022. The amendment of the Public Service Act was made pursuant to the State’s policy of encouraging private enterprise and expanding the base of investment in the country, with the goal of providing efficient, reliable, and affordable services to all ...
The Thai cabinet has recently approved the draft Royal Decree issued under the Revenue Code regarding income tax exemption on investment in Thai startups (the “Draft Royal Decree”), in cases where the funding for the startups is provided directly or indirectly through Venture Capital (VC), Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), or private equity trust (PE Trust). This Draft Royal Decree aims to unlock capital gains tax on investment in startups under the Royal Decree No ...
As much of Oregon faces another year of drought, water experts say farmers and ranchers should be aware of all the tools available to them under the state's water rights laws. At a seminar Tuesday, Elizabeth Howard, Oregon water law attorney, and Lindsay Thane, natural resources attorney, both of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, spoke about nine tools for farmers through the state Water Resources Department, or OWRD ...
In light of the current geopolitical situation, the severe US and EU sanctions, and Russian counter sanctions imposed in response, many international companies have already announced their plans either to leave the Russian market, or to temporarily suspend their business operations in Russia. The current unprecedented situation is a great challenge for companies, since it requires complex decisions to be made, in a very short time ...
Economic sanctions The sanctions imposed by the UK, European Union and US following the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia target the Russian economy. Whilst Russia is the largest country in the world, in terms of the global economy it only made up 3.11% of Global GDP in 2020. The sanctions imposed however will still have wide ranging impacts on all areas of the global market, and can already be seen in dramatically rising energy prices ...
Key Points The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the City of Salinas's challenged zoning ordinance did not violate the "substantial burden" provision of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA") but that it did violate the "equal terms" provision ...
[!<CDATA[ Generally, the government has immunity from being sued with some exceptions grounded in statute or case law. Having a contract with the federal government is one such exception, and an interrelated exception falls under the Severin doctrine ...
During the US President’s visit to Brussels, President Biden and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated on Friday 25 March that the parties have agreed on the main principles of a new agreement on the protection of personal data transferred to the United States. While a concrete agreement text has not yet been published, the US White House has published a Fact Sheet explaining the key principles to be expected in the final framework ...
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed an omnibus spending package for the upcoming fiscal year. Included in its nearly 3,000 pages is a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). As reauthorized, VAWA includes numerous safeguards to protect women and other victims of gender violence nationwide ...
Hunting Titan, Inc. v. DynaEnergetics Europe GMBH, Appeal Nos. 2020-2163, -2191 (Fed. Cir. March 24, 2022) In a notable review of the USPTO’s new Precedential Opinions Panel, the Federal Circuit discussed the circumstances under which the Patent Trial and Appeal Board should raise a ground of unpatentability against substitute proposed claims in a motion to amend that a petitioner has not advanced or insufficiently developed ...
When it comes to continuing disclosure, two of the more common “material events” to occur are rating changes and the incurrence of a “financial obligation.” As a general matter, these are reportable events that should be posted to Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA). However, as a practical matter, these material events are frequently overlooked ...
On March 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which was passed by Congress on March 8, 2022 (CAA). The CAA temporarily extends meaningful changes for reimbursement of Medicare services delivered via telehealth. All CAA provisions regarding telehealth amendments will last for 151 days following the expiration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), which is currently set for April 16, 2022 ...
Intending to provide clear reporting obligations for issuers, and to provide consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information for investors, on March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a landmark climate disclosure rule that would mandate SEC registrants to disclose greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and certain materials risks relating to climate change ...
China began legislating the protection of human genetic resources in 1998, at which time the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Ministry of Health jointly formulated the Interim Measures for Administration of Human Genetic Resources; however, there had been no corresponding implementing rules to implement it in practice ...
March 24, 2022 By: John Epperson and Peter McGaw UPDATE: At the time Buchalter published its client alert regarding the new ASTM Standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESAs), we noted that the new ASTM Standard would not be considered “All Appropriate Inquires” for purposes of establishing defenses under CERCLA until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended its regulations to incorporate the new Standard ...
A new regime The UK has introduced a new regime which, from 4 January 2022, requires purchasers to obtain prior approval for transactions in certain specified sectors ...
On 10 March 2022, the Cabinet Office published the long-awaited draft Terms of Reference for the UK COVID-19 Inquiry.1 In this article we consider the implications for businesses impacted by the pandemic and how they may wish to get involved in the Terms’ finalisation. Terms of Reference are critical to a public inquiry as they define its scope and purpose ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends,With effect from 1 April 2022, Malaysia will enter the “Transition to Endemic” phase ...
This article was first published in AmCham Thailand T-AB Magazine (March 2022 Issue): https://www.amchamthailand.com/t-ab-magazine/ After nearly two decades in the making, the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2561 (“PDPA“) was published on May 27, 2019. Ostensibly inspired by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the PDPA was slated to go fully effective in June 2022 following a two-year delay due to COVID-19 outbreak ...