The Competition Commission of Mauritius (“CCM”) has issued acommuniquéon 9 April 2020 stating that it understands that: enterprises may have to collaborate during these uncertain times in order to ensure provision of essential products and services; certain prohibitions as contained under the Competition Act 2007 (the “Act”) may create uncertainty as to what may be permissible in terms of collaboration in the context of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) ...
An announcement made by The Stock Exchange of Mauritius Ltd (“SEM”) and the Central Depository & Settlement Co. Ltd (“CDS”) confirmed that on April 3 2020, the Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) revoked the order of 2 April 2020 for the temporary cessation of the operations of the SEM ...
The new MIACThe London Centre for International Arbitration (the “LCIA”) and the Government of Mauritius have come to a mutual agreement to terminate the joint venture that had led to the establishment of the LCIA-MIAC Arbitration Centre in Mauritius in 2011. The effective date of termination was 27 July 2018. The Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (the “MIAC”) will thereafter commence operations as an independent arbitration centre ...
There have been some encouraging developments following Mauritius’ announcement that it planned to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights (“IPR”), amid global concerns. For example, much-awaited amendments to industrial property law, including incorporating international treaties, have been effected. As a result, the government’s vision of an efficient and equitable IP system may come to fruition this year ...
The Mauritius Supreme Court, in a decision handed down on 9 August 2017 on the case of Emtel Ltd v The Information and Communication Technologies Authority & Ors, awarded over MUR524-million in damages under article 1382 of the Mauritius Civil Code as a result of the joint “fautes” of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (the “Authority”), Mauritius Telecom Ltd (“MT”) and Cellplus Mobile Communications Ltd (“Cellplus”) ...
In light of the widespread impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), various tax measures that companies and individuals should be aware of have been announced by the Mauritius authorities: WAIVER OF INTERESTS AND PENALTIES FOR LATE FILINGS OR LATE PAYMENTS On 20 March 2020, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (“MRA”) issued a communiqué stating that taxpayers who are unable to submit returns, or effect payment of tax because of the lockdown will not be charged any penalty o
The Association Des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs Ile Maurice (“AHRIM”), an association of hotels and restaurants in Mauritius, and the Sea Users Association, an association of civilians, recently won an important appeal. The appeal was against the grant of an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) licence to a fish farming project by the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable Development ...
On 8 April 2019, the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority and Prudential Authority (collectively, the “Authorities”) published yet another draft of the Joint Standard on Margin Requirements for Non-Centrally Cleared OTC Derivatives (the “Margin Requirements”). The last draft had been published in August 2018. Implementation of the Margin Requirements has been delayed numerous times ...
On 15 December 2015, SARS issued a draft Public Notice that sets out the additional record-keeping requirements for transfer pricing transactions.It proposes extensive and comprehensive documentation requirements that must now be kept by taxpayers with a consolidated South African turnover of R1 billion or more ...
It seems like an eternity ago since the World Health Organisation declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Governments around the world have responded to the pandemic in different ways, including various degrees of lockdowns, travel restrictions and fiscal and monetary support for some of the most affected industries. This has led to unprecedented disruptions of the global economy and affected business models of many multinational enterprises (“MNEs”) ...
Majoritarianism, South African courts have acknowledged, is the concept that the will of the majority is favoured over the will of the minority in serving the legislative purpose of advancing labour peace, orderly collective bargaining and the democratisation of the workplace. But a fundamental pitfall of majoritarianism is the possibility that the rights of the minority could be infringed pursuant to the will of the majority ...
In a previous newsflash, we highlighted the significant changes made to the broad-based black economic empowerment (“B-BBEE”) landscape in South Africa that were introduced by the new B-BBEE Regulations (the “Regulations”) issued by the Department of Trade and Industry (the “DTI”) on 6 June 2016 ...
Two recent news reports give some useful insight into the commercialisation of trade marks and its relevance to public utilities. The first report was in UK newspaper The Guardian. Entitled "Mine the Gap", it dealt with the fact that Transport for London ("TFL"), the authority that’s responsible for London’s tube and bus network, is involved in an ambitious trade mark licensing project. The authority recognises that it has some very valuable trade marks ...
The right to strike is enshrined in section 23 of the South African Constitution and regulated in some detail in the LabourRelations Act, 1995 (“LRA”). It is a valuable arrow in the quiver of strategies to be considered by employees when engaging in collective bargaining, but employers also have recourse when it comes to collective bargaining: locking out employees. In a sense, the right to strike and the recourse to a lock-out in this context are two sides of the same coin ...
South African tax resident individuals may consider, whether for estate planning purposes or otherwise, to advance funds to offshore trusts for investment abroad. The South African tax implications arising from the terms of the loan funding arrangement with the offshore trust should, however, also be taken into account ...
On 27 July 2018, the newly established Financial Sector Conduct Authority (“FSCA”) published the final Conduct Standard, No 1 of 2018, setting out the Criteria for Authorisation of OTC Derivatives Providers (“ODPs”). The Regulations under the Financial Markets Act, 2012 (the “FMA Regulations”) were promulgated in February of this year, effectively setting a deadline of 8 August 2018 for ODPs to apply for licences ...
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) has handed down an important trade mark judgment. The case of PepsiCo Inc v Atlantic Industries deals with the issues of distinctiveness and likelihood of confusion, with a special emphasis on sub-brands. There are a lot of important points in this short judgment, so I am going to quote liberally.The facts: PepsiCo applied to register the trade mark Pepsi Twist (with and without a device) for soft drinks ...
In Markit Systems (Pty) Limited v Fulcrum Group (Pty) Limited, the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court held that the customer was within its rights to cancel an agreement it had with a service provider because the parties had not been able to agree on the scope and details to be included in the schedule to the agreement ...
A recent European trade mark decision highlights how risky it can be to simply register the word version of a trade mark that is used in a stylised form. The case also highlights an issue that may be worthwhile considering when creating a trade mark – simpler may be cheaper. The decision in question involved a European registration for the trade mark Aunt Bessie’s in ordinary script for a range of foodstuffs ...
With the third wave of COVID-19 in full swing in South Africa, it has never been more important for South African employers to anticipate and prepare for the various COVID-19 related disputes that may lie ahead. It is vital to learn from the challenges already confronted by employers worldwide concerning issues such as vaccination, occupational health and safety, and flexible working arrangements and their approaches to such matters ...
A recent South African Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) ruling has provided clarity on issues of deemed employment in circumstances where multiple contractors are used. The matter before the CCMA involved Shoprite, one of the largest food retailers in Africa. In order to provide its approximately 2,000 stores with stock in an efficient manner, Shoprite established seven distribution centres (“DCs”) in South Africa ...
Just a few months ago, South African advocates, attorneys and candidate attorneys alike were celebrating therulingof an arbitrator attached to the Dispute Resolution Centre (“DRC”) of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council in the matter betweenCoetzee v Autohaus Centurion. In this matter, the applicant employee had applied to be legally represented at an arbitration ...
