The Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 ("Amendment Ordinance"), except Part 2 of which in relation to disclosure of inside information, comes into operation as it is published in Gazette on 4 May 2012. The Amendment Ordinance has introduced several regulatory initiatives which will be discussed in brief details below ...
On 23 February 2012, Government Regulation No. 27 of 2012 on Environmental Licenses (“GR 27/2012”) was issued to regulate AMDAL, UPL & UKL, and the contamination and destruction of the environment. GR 27/2012 is the implementing regulation for Articles 33, 41, and 56 of Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management which replaced Government Regulation No. 27 of 1999 on Environmental Impact Analysis ...
For the past two years so-called 'monster rain' has hit Copenhagen in summer. The rain has flooded large areas in Copenhagen and neighbouring towns, and caused substantial damage to properties in the flooded areas, as well as closing major radial routes into Copenhagen. This update examines the ways in which the authorities intend to prevent damage caused by monster rain in future ...
Energy security is ability of the State to choose how and under what conditions local consumers are to be provided with energy and energy resources. This ability is mainly determined by alternatives for usage of local energy sources, diversified imports, integrity of energy systems, and market-based formation of energy prices ...
On April 17, 2012 the federal government announced its Plan For Responsible Resource Development, setting out further details on steps to implement proposals for streamlining the federal environmental assessment (“EA”) process. This Plan follows on the heels of the federal budget and the Statutory Review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act,[1] which both suggested that these streamlining reforms would be forthcoming ...
In order to comply with a court-ordered schedule, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on April 17, signed final rules that subject additional oil and gas operations, including hydraulic fracturing, to air quality regulation under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) programs, and impose new and amended requirements under both programs ...
Over the past decade, arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act1 (“FAA”) has been the subject of much debate and discussion among courts across the United States, including both the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the WVSCA”) and the Supreme Court of the United States (“the Supreme Court”). Historically, the Supreme Court has ardently favored the resolution of disputes through arbitration,2 while the WVSCA has been more cautious to embrace arbitration in the place of litigation ...
The U. S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act Tuesday, March 27, after receiving it from the Senate. The President signed the bill April 5, 2012. The JOBS Act is best known for its crowdfunding provisions, which I will address shortly, but it also is a boon to many community banks. Community banks often are formed with many investors ...
In response to a court order, EPA has announced proposed rules that would establish new source performance standards (“NSPS”) applicable to greenhouse gas emissions from new, fossil fuel-fired power plants (“power plants”). The proposal is a highly controversial one, which will effectively prohibit the construction of coal-fired power plants that do not capture carbon ...
On March 26, 2012, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (“the Court”) vacated and remanded EPA’s disapproval of Texas’s request for approval of the minor source standard permit for pollution control projects (“PCP”) as part of its air quality state implementation plan (“SIP”). The Court’s reasoning may also affect other pending disputes between EPA and Texas regarding air quality permitting and other issues ...
On Wednesday, March 22, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a compliance order issued under EPA’s Clean Water Act enforcement authority to individuals for allegedly filling part of their property without the necessary “dredge and fill” permit could be challenged in federal district court. The ruling marks a major loss for EPA’s enforcement practices under the Clean Water Act ...
Bankers confront the bankruptcy world regularly. It can be a world of somewhat unfamiliar, if not confusing, concepts and terms. Unfortunately, it can also be a world fraught with risk associated with taking actions (or not taking actions) that run afoul of the rules or jeopardize the bank’s rights against the borrower. Here are a few of the “truths” that bankers need to keep in mind in the bankruptcy world. 1. The automatic stay is, well, automatic ...
A creation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. Law 111-203 (“Dodd-Frank Act”), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is charged with regulating consumer lending activities of financial institutions and, in partnership with state attorneys general, enforcing numerous federal consumer protection laws ...
On March 13, 2012, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development issued recommendations for improving the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) process (click on Print Format for the complete report). The recommendations focus on: improving timeliness; decreasing duplication with provincial processes; improving aboriginal consultation processes; and improving outcomes ...
On March 21, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the much-publicized case of Sackett v. EPA (No. 10-1062), less than three months after oral argument, holding that the Sacketts were not precluded from judicially challenging EPA’s issuance of an administrative compliance order ...
E-DISTRIBUTION OF INSURANCE PRODUCTS: THE AMF WANTS YOUR INPUT!On February 24, 2012, the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) published, on its website, a notice of consultation entitled Notice and Request and Comment on Internet Insurance Offerings in Québec (the “Notice”). This process follows the AMF’s analysis, initiated a few years ago, on the issues relating to e-distribution of insurance products ...
On December 20, 2011, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, and Army General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, welcomed home the final group of United States troops from Iraq. After more than twenty years and two wars with Iraq, this long-awaited homecoming symbolized the end of an era for many ...
On 6 January 2012, Bank Indonesia issued Regulation No. 14/2/PBI/2012 on the Amendment to Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 11/11/PBI/2009 on Card-Based Payment Instrument Activities (“New Regulation”). The New Regulation is aimed at re-evaluating the role of credit cards as a means of payment and to promote consumer protection when using credit and debit cards as a method of payment. The New Regulation is also aimed at limiting the provision of loans through credit cards ...
Bank Indonesia has issued Regulation No. 13/25/PBI/2011 regarding The Precautionary Principle to Delegate Some Commercial Bank Work to Third Parties (“Regulation”). Under the Regulation, banks should be more selective in selecting outsourcing companies in order to maintain the level of service provided to customers ...
The Government issued Law No. 2 of 2012 on Land Procurement for The Public Interest (“Law”) on 14 January 2012. The Law does not revoke Presidential Regulation No. 36 of 2005 (as amended). Accordingly, the former Presidential Regulation remains valid as long as they do not contradict the Law. The Law sets out clear procedures for acquiring plots of land for public purposes and therefore is intended to provide legal certainty and expedite the acquisition process ...
Among other matters, this law establishes the use limitation principle in the treatment of personal data. This law will supplement our legislation on this matter, in particular Law 19,628 on Data Protection. This law specifically focuses on the collection and treatment of personal data of an economic, financial, banking or commercial nature by data banks, distributors of personal records or personal data banks ...
On February 24, 2012, two years after oral argument, the Texas Supreme Court issued its watershed decision in Edwards Aquifer Authority (the “Authority”) v. Day. The Court’s long-awaited decision included two significant pronouncements on groundwater that are likely to have ripple effects throughout the water community and could open the flood gates to a wave of litigation ...
The scope of additional hypothecs was examined by the Superior Court of September 6, 2011 in the case of Banque Nationale Du Canada v. Larouche. At issues in this case was whether the additional hypothec provision contained in the deed of hypothec granted by Mr ...
Serbia - Delays in Issuance of Regulations Necessary for Implementation of the New Energy Law As we reported back in August 2011[1], the Serbian Parliament adopted the new Energy Law in July 2011 introducing very important changes in the area of renewable energy sources (RES) ...
On November 15, 2011, existing facilities subject to the federal Spill Pollution Control and Countermeasure Rule (“SPCC Rule”), 40 C.F.R. Part 112, were required to finalize and implement a plan—known as an “SPCC plan”—detailing the equipment, workforce, procedures and steps to be taken to prevent, control and provide adequate countermeasures to a discharge of oil to navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines ...
