1. IntroductionThe Royal Decree of 8 October 2008 amending the Belgian Companies Code (“BCC”) has amended the rules on financial assistance. The new rules entered into force on 1 January 2009. The Royal Decree implements European Directive 2006/68/EC amending the Second Company Law Directive. The Belgian rules on financial assistance apply to public limited-liability companies (NV/SA), private limited-liability companies (BVBA/SPRL), partnerships limited by shares (Comm ...
On the 1st June 2009, the major parts of the Insolvency Act 2009 (“the Act”) came into operation. The Act has completely revamped the insolvency regime in Mauritius and new provisions now govern “voidable transactions” following a company liquidation. The “ordinary course of business” test, which was prevailing under the former regime, has now been abandoned and replaced by what is known as the “running account principle” ...
A small measure of relief may be coming to some beleaguered Michigan communities that have been struggling recently with the difficult question of what actions they can realistically take to encourage much-needed local economic development while remaining cognizant of the financial limitations associated with lower revenues, higher costs and uncertain economic projections. The answer for some might be found in recovery zone financings ...
by Bryan G. Scott and Elizabeth K. Strickland Few areas of law have proven more dynamic over the last few years than the interplay between state tort laws and the federal regulation of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices ...
The quality of public services in Indonesia is expected to improve after the issuance of Law No. 25 of 2009 dated 18 July 2009 regarding Public Services (“PS Law”) ...
The growth in money laundering activities and terrorism financing using financial institutions requires concrete action to eradicate these criminal activities. The diversity of products, activities and information technology available in the banking sector has resulted in an increase in the use of banks for money laundering and terrorism funding ...
Bank Indonesia issued Bank Indonesia Regulation Number 11/26/PBI/2009 dated 1 July 2009 on Prudential Principles in the Implementation of Structured Products Activities for Commercial Banks (“BI Reg.11/26/PBI/2009”) ...
How can the government’s attitude and approach to internet issues best be described? The Canadian government recognises that Canada is a small country in a global economy and it pursues a general policy to ensure that Canada is ‘connected’ ...
Self-regulation of retail banking came to an end on 1 November 2009 with the establishment by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of a new banking conduct regime. This new regime largely replaces the voluntary Banking Codes and comprises: 1 ...
In the Horizon Pleiades case, the Council of State was confronted with an interesting question: if a public authority organises a procedure to select its partner for a PPP company, which will perform works or services which would normally be covered by the Procurement Directives, does the selection procedure have to comply with the rules laid down in the Procurement Directives or can a “light” selection procedure be used? In its ruling, dated 19 June 2009, the Council of Stat
The Acoset judgment of the ECJ dated 15 October 2009 (C-196/08) was related to a dispute about an institutionalised public-private partnership (IPPP). A local authority wanted to grant a concession to a newly-created semi-public company, whose minority shareholder would be a private company selected by an open tender procedure. The minority shareholder would be responsible for the operations of the semi-public company ...
In Belgium, contracting agreements are subject to the Belgian Civil Code (‘BCC’) plus several other regulations. In this article, we briefly discuss five rules which foreign investors or principals may be surprised apply to Belgian contracting agreements. Make sure you avoid these pitfalls!1 ...
In its Sea Judgement of 10 September 2009 (C-573/07), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) further clarifies its “in-house” jurisprudence. More specifically, it goes more deeply into the notion of control ...
Under the Tobacco acT (r.s.Q., c. t-0.01), employers mUst prohibit their employees from smoKing inside their establishments. howeVer, the act is mute on no smoKing oUtside, on the company’s land ...
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced an enforcement initiative targeting the pharmaceutical industry for investigations and prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The FCPA prohibits improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business and mandates that companies that issue securities take affirmative measures to prevent such payments ...
As an initiative to develop Islamic finance and Islamic fund management in Hong Kong, the SFC signed a Declaration on Mutual Cooperation on Development of Islamic Capital Market and Islamic Collective Investment Schemes (Declaration) with the Securities Commission of Malaysia (MSC) on 9 November 2009, which provides a framework for the mutual recognition of Islamic funds (excluding hedge funds, wholesale funds and real estate investment trusts as defined in the
Chapter 10.2 of the SFC's Code on Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds (Code) requires that pricing errors for SFC authorised funds should be corrected as soon as possible and all necessary action should be taken to avoid errors occurring in the future. If the pricing error results in an incorrect price of 0 ...
As a consequence of the recent wave of successful SFC insider dealing criminal prosecutions, responsible officers (ROs) are asking what they need to do to protect their companies and themselves. ROs are obliged to take all reasonable measures to ensure that proper safeguards exist to prevent the licensed corporation and its employees from insider dealing ...
Following the public consultation early this year on proposals for a legislative framework to upgrade the current anti-money laundering (AML) regime in the financial sector, Hong Kong's Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has launched a second-round consultation ...
Seeking a state purchasing contract? You may now be required to register as a lobbyist. Some independent contractors who help vendors secure procurement contracts in Texas are now required to register with the Texas Ethics Commission.1 House Bill 3445, which the Texas Legislature passed last spring during the 81st Texas Legislative Session, established new guidelines for lobbying activities related to state procurement contracts ...
Interest rates have remained at an all time low of 0.5% for 10 months in a row and the Bank of England is continuing with its quantitative easing programme. It has been upped to a £200bn asset purchase programme to increase the money in the UK’s financial system and boost bank lending. Meanwhile, total government debt is projected to rise to £1.4 trillion, nearly doubling to 80% of GDP ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) announced that, as part of President Obama’s recently proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, the PTO’s budget would be $2.322 billion, a 23 percent increase over FY 2010. This significant budget increase is part of PTO Director Kappos’ long term plan for increasing PTO examination efficiency and decreasing the backlog of applications ...
During negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, it was suggested that sometimes "we all have to jump together". Having read through the Local Government and Communities Committee Report published on 28th January 2010 following an inquiry into Local Government Finances, this quote has particular resonance. While there is perhaps nothing new in the report, it is certainly timely as local government works its way through the budget setting exercise for 2010/11 ...
