The Scheme On 29 June 2020, the Hong Kong Government launched the Pilot Scheme on Facilitation for Persons Participating in Arbitral Proceedings in Hong Kong (Scheme), under which (1) arbitrators, (2) expert and factual witnesses, (3) counsel and (4) parties to an arbitration are allowed to participate in arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong as visitors for a period not exceeding their visa-free period, without first obtaining employment visas which are normally required but for the Scheme ...
On July 10, 2020, in United States v. Ruan, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions of two Alabama doctors for running an opiate “pill mill.” Among many other things, the government charged that the doctors used “incident to” billing to charge Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama under the doctor’s identification for visits conducted entirely by nurse practitioners, which that insurer (unlike some others) prohibited under its policy ...
Resolution No. 61/202 of Chilean Tax Authority amends instructions on Certificate No. 66 on donations and expenses associated with the global outbreak of Covid-19 July 6, 2020 On June 17, the Internal Revenue Service issued the Resolution No. 61 through which it modified the Resolution No. 49, which creates the certificate that recipients must issue for the donations they receive in the context of the health crisis produced by Covid-19. According to Resolution No ...
The National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) recently issued Notice No. 524, which provides that it will be possible to enter simple (scanned) digital copies of powers of attorney, without requiring the original document or an electronic document with an advanced electronic signature, thus making it possible to continue the processing of applications for registration, renewals, recordals, among others, during the quarantine period produced by Covid-19 ...
By means of Ordinary Resolution No. 675/2020 dated July 8th, 2020 (“Ordinary 675”), the Ministry of Energy established the criteria of the requests of Unique Collective Permits applicable to companies with power generation businesses in the context of the transit instructions issued by the sanitary authority due to the COVID-19 outbreak ...
UK and EU competition law provides that retailers must be free to determine their own resale prices. Actions by suppliers to restrict this freedom by dictating a fixed or minimum resale price are prohibited. The UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has vigorously enforced the law in this area, regularly pursuing investigations into and ultimately imposing fines on suppliers who engage in resale price maintenance ...
The European Commission (“EC”) is collecting data and feedback from stakeholders about the European Union’s (“EU”) current rules on packaging and packaging waste. Based on these insights, it will propose an amendment to the current rules that aim to ensure a properly functioning market for packaging recycling and diminishing packaging waste ...
The State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”) released a draft of its General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water (“Draft WDR”) on July 3, 2020 for public comment. Comments will be accepted by the SWRCB until August 5, 2020. California wineries should review the Draft Order carefully to determine whether they will be subject to its requirements and, if so, how it will impact their operations ...
July 10, 2020 By: John Epperson The State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”) released a draft of its General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water (“Draft WDR”) on July 3, 2020 for public comment. Comments will be accepted by the SWRCB until August 5, 2020. California wineries should review the Draft Order carefully to determine whether they will be subject to its requirements and, if so, how it will impact their operations ...
Key Points The Supreme Court's upcoming decision regarding the Affordable Care Act could render its tax provisions retroactively unconstitutional. Depending on the outcome, there is a potential opportunity for refunds on open tax years for taxpayers who paid the net investment income tax and additional Medicare tax. For most taxpayers, the deadline for a protective claim of refund on a 2016 tax return, filed without extensions, is July 15, 2020 ...
By adopting the Act on the Establishment of the Economic Stabilization Fund of March 27, 2020, the German Parliament and the Federal Council established the Economic Stabilization Fund(“ESF”) as a special fund to stabilize the real economy in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESF is intended to support German companies in the real economy suffering from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing liquidity and capital support ...
With the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March 2020, the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) as well as the Recovery Movement Control Order, the Government has issued a number of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic ...
Key Points The cash value of employees’ donated leave time paid to a qualified charitable organization in 2020 under an employer-sponsored leave donation program is not taxable wages or compensation. Employers may take a tax deduction for such payments as a business expense or a charitable contribution ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
Government submits bill establishing tax measures linked to the Emergency Plan for Revenue Protection and Economic and Employment Reactivation July 6, 2020 With the purpose of promoting the country's economic recovery, the last June 25 a bill with the new tax measures announced a few weeks ago by the government was introduced in the Congress ...
On June 24, Law No. 21,242 was published, establishing a transitional benefit for certain independent professionals consisting in the possibility of obtaining cash benefits for 3 months, continuously or discontinued, within the next 6 months. This benefit must be subsequently returned to the Treasury in 3 annual installments of 20%, 40% and 40% of the amount received ...
In a decision contrary to current Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) rules, the United States Supreme Court has found the mark BOOKING.COM as a whole is not generic and that combining a generic term with “.com” does not necessarily result in a composite term that also is generic. Background Booking.com B.V. (“Booking.com”) sought to federally register the mark BOOKING.COM, and related variations, for travel services ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
Within the agricultural and food supply chain, significant imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agri-food products are frequent. Those imbalances in bargaining power are likely to lead to unfair trading practices. The Directive 2019/633 (the “Directive”) aims to ensure that agri-food companies are protected against these unfair practices. Scope of the Directive The Directive’s scope is very limited ...
On July 4, Board of Directors Resolution No. 00010-2020-OEFA/CD adopted the Regulation of the Electronic Box System of the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA), regulating, among other aspects, the following: Mandatory use of the electronic box system to take notice of administrative acts and proceedings issued by the OEFA ...
On June 30th, the following Resolutions issued by the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (“CORFO”, for its Spanish acronym), were published in the Official Gazette: Resolution Nº36. By means of this Resolution certain coverage programs were temporarily modified within the State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe due to public calamity ...
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has once again come away from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania with his shutdown orders intact. In April, the Commonwealth’s highest court exercised its King’s Bench jurisdiction to deny a constitutional challenge brought by a political committee and several Pennsylvania businesses ...
Key Points The Third Appellate District in Stanford Vina Ranch Irrigation Co. v. State found that the State Board could promulgate emergency drought regulations and issue curtailment orders necessary to protect threatened fish ...
