The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has published in the Federal Register a Notice of a “Request for Comments on Negotiating Objectives Regarding Modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement With Canada and Mexico.” In the Notice, USTR advises that it will accept written comments by June 12, 2017 and will hold a public hearing at the U.S ...
Changes to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have been anticipated since the moment of President Trump’s election. When U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress of the Administration’s intent to renegotiate NAFTA, he triggered the 90-day consultation period before formal negotiations can begin ...
The shock result in the UK General Election has caused further political and economic upheaval with no single party controlling the House of Commons. Serious questions are now being raised over the UK’s approach to Brexit with negotiations set to commence next week ...
FBC & Co examine the business and legal aspects of investing in one of the world’s most technologically advanced economies. Established in 1948, Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, and the sole democracy in its vicinity. Israel has a diverse open market economy. Being a relatively young state, Israel is recognized as a developed market by many major indices. Israel has been a member of the high-income sector of the OECD since 2010 ...
India and Japan share a long history. Buddhism, which was born in India, travelled to Japan around the 6th century. The first major interaction between Japan and India seems to have been Japanese assistance to Shri Subhash Chandra Bose in the fight for Indian independence (1943-45). Post WWII, Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April, 1952 ...
Getting the Deal Through – Shipbuilding is part of the series of Getting the Deal Through law guides published by Law Business Research that provide an overview of specialist areas of the law in a variety of international jurisdictions.It is published annually and the sixth edition, published in June 2017, covers 14 jurisdictions. Leading practitioners from each jurisdiction answer the same key questions ...
On June 17, the Trump Administration announced a new policy on Cuba, partially reversing certain of the market-opening measures that had been adopted by the Obama Administration during its final two years ...
In November of 2016, San Francisco residents voted to pass a new law ("Proposition E"), effective July 1, 2017, that transfers back responsibility from private property owners to the City of San Francisco to maintain and care for street trees and surrounding sidewalks damaged by the trees. The City had taken care of trees several decades ago, but then shifted responsibility back to property owners after that (during a time of budget crisis) ...
Like any good negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in setting out U.S. objectives for the renegotiation of NAFTA, offered only a glimpse of what the U.S. actually will be pushing for when three-country talks among Canada, Mexico and the United States begin in Washington, DC, on August 16. The U.S ...
It's a quiet Friday afternoon edging uneventfully toward the end of the day when a client calls: they’re interested in acquiring a U.S.-based widget maker. After your internal conflict check clears, reality hits – what do you do now? Whether your client is a foreign (non-U.S.) business targeting a U.S.-based company, or the U.S. target of a foreign purchaser, your deal may have Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) implications ...
On July 31, the Mexican Ministry of Commerce submitted to the Senate the Priorities of Mexico in the Negotiations for theModernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)(the “Position Paper”) ...
BOTSWANA: Amending protocol to treaty with France signedOn 27 July 2017, Botswana and France signed an amending protocol to the Botswana/France Income Tax Treaty, 1999 in Gaborone. CAMEROON: VAT refund procedure available onlineThe Cameroonian Minister of Finance issued a communiqué on 14 June 2017, announcing that the value-added tax (“VAT”) refund procedure has been simplified and is available online as from 3 July 2017 for enterprises registered with the Large Tax Unit ...
SyCipLaw Partners Imelda A. Manguiat and Carina C. Laforteza, Senior Associate Bhong Paulo A. Macasaet, and Associate Maricar G. Ramos contributed the Philippine chapter of Getting the Deal Through: Aviation Finance & Leasing 2017. The chapter addressed pivotal questions about air law and aviation financing and leasing. The scope and rules and regulations of owning, leasing, securing, financing and operating an aircraft were also discussed ...
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, franchisors should take action to avoid potential liability for price gouging committed by franchisees in affected areas. Price gouging occurs when a seller increases prices of goods, services or commodities to a level that is exploitive and unethical. Texas law explicitly prohibits price gouging following a natural disaster, and fines for price gouging can be up to $20,000 per violation ...
From a regulatory and legal point of view, what do Canadian companies need to know about doing business here? The Philippines is a party to several treaties, including a tax treaty that applies to Canadian suppliers that want to sell goods to the Philippines. There are special laws for investors depending on the type of activity they plan to engage in. Manufacturers and companies in the renewable energy sector could be entitled to tax incentives ...
The Restrictive Trade Practices Law, 5748-1988 (the Law) is the primary law dealing with antitrust issues in Israel and its objective is to prevent harm to competition or the public. The Law contains the substantive rules that apply to the various restrictive trade practices (restrictive arrangements; mergers; monopolies; concerted groups) ...
In line with the state policy set out in the Philippines Constitution to recognise the indispensable role of the private sector in national growth, encourage private enterprise and provide incentives to attract needed investment, the Philippine government has long resorted to public-private partnerships (PPPs) to address problems of national interest ...
Are bidders required to partner with a Taiwan company to participate in the bidding process? Foreign companies may participate in the bidding process on their own, so long as they meet the bidding qualifications. Most public engineering projects permit either bidding by a single company or by a joint bid. So long as a company is able to meet the qualifications for the procurement project, it may submit a bid on its own ...
Dubai is the fastest growing healthcare market within the GCC and is becoming an increasingly attractive sector for investors. In this inBrief article we explain the key drivers behind this growth and set out the options available to investors wishing to enter the Dubai healthcare market ...
It has been almost two years since Republic Act No. 10667, otherwise known as the Philippine Competition Act (the PCA), took effect on August 8, 2015 ...
In less than 4 months the Priips-Kid regulation will come into force. The exercise of ensuring compliance with this regulation is not an easy one ...
Last month, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its "Regulatory Sandbox – Lessons Learned Report". In the Report, the FCA evaluated the progress of the UK financial regulatory sandbox during its first year of operation and tentatively concluded that the initiative has so far been a success ...
How retailers can harness technology to beat e-commerce at its own game. “It's official: Singapore malls are dead, as occupancy reaches its lowest level in 10 years,” screams one headline. “At some suburban malls, retailers confront the sound of silence,” another chimes in. As e-commerce takes hold, shoppers are eschewing brick and mortar in favour of the convenience of point and click ...
The Trump Administration has followed up on the President’s speech in Miami regarding U.S. policy toward Cuba by announcing new restrictions on trade with Cuba that became effective at the end of 2017. At the heart of the new policy is a “Cuba Restricted List” in which the State Department names 180 Cuban entities with which new commercial relations are to be prohibited ...
Latin America’s current economic growth levels are among the world’s highest, and the region is preparing its regulations to meet new economic challenges. As such, the fostering of foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) is important to increase GDP growth, create job opportunities, and improve logistics and production ...
