The MFSA published a Consultation Document on proposed amendments to the Insurance Business Act (hereinafter referred to as the “IBA”) and the Insurance Distribution Act (hereinafter referred to as the “IDA”) on the 22nd of February. The MFSA also made available the draft legislation, as well as a podcast laying down the proposed amendments ...
The implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022 (‘the Act’), aimed to reform building safety legislation following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, is now well underway. The requirements set out in the Act will affect everyone in the built environment industry, and not just in respect of higher-risk buildings ...
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) is a regulatory body established by the government of Dubai to oversee and regulate the virtual assets industry. In line with its mandate, VARA has issued a number of rule books, in particular the Compliance and Risk Management Rulebook (CRM), which sets out the regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in Dubai ...
Merger control constitutes the analysis carried out by the Office for Competition (the ‘Office’) in its assessment of those corporate transactions notifiable to it. The aim behind such an assessment is for the Office to consider whether that transaction – taking the form of the creation of a ‘concentration’ – is likely to impede effective competition ...
Cisco has recently released its 2023 Privacy Benchmark Study which explores the impact of data privacy on organisations around the world and why data protection compliance remains mission critical for businesses. The study finds that 95% of companies understand privacy to be a ‘business imperative’, but Harvey Jang, Cisco’s privacy chief, highlights that ‘when it comes to earning and building trust, compliance is not enough’ ...
The UK has traditionally benefitted from access to huge amounts of EU grant funding for important R&D projects, particularly under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme which saw around 12 percent of the total funds, amounting to around £7billion awarded to UK researchers over a four year period. On 1 January 2021, Horizon 2020 was replaced by a successor programme, Horizon Europe, which runs until 2027 and will make a total of €95 ...
Over the month of February 2023, a number of Legal Notices have been published within the area of company law. A batch of Legal Notices enumerated L.N. 25 of 2023, L.N. 26 of 2023, L.N. 27 of 2023 and L.N. 28 of 2023 were published on the 7th of February regulating cross-border mergers, divisions and conversions of limited liability companies, respectively. On the 21st of February, L.N ...
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced a revised timeline for pensions dashboard connection. The aim of a Pensions Dashboard is to enable individuals to see information about all their pension saving, including state pension, in one online location. This is to enable individuals to keep track of their pension savings, particularly where they have worked for several different employers ...
The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed that all higher-risk buildings will be required to be registered with the new Building Safety Regulator from April 2023. This follows the government’s latest response to its consultation on the management of higher-risk buildings and what information must be submitted following the registration of higher-risk buildings. The registration application will need to be accompanied by supporting information ...
Published in Corporate Counsel Business Journal March 1, 2023 CCBJ: To start out, please share your background with our readers, including your involvement with the WSG–Legal 500 Survey of In-House Legal Technology. Herman Raspé: I am a partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in the capital markets group with a focus principally on equity, but also cross-border debt transactions ...
Recent months have seen sustained industrial action in the rail sector. On 20 February 2023, the government launched a 12-week consultation on setting minimum service levels for passenger rail. Unlike in many European countries, there are currently no limits in the UK on the number of employees who are able to take part in strike action together ...
International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March each year. The aim is to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and strive for the acceleration of gender parity. The theme this year is #EmbraceEquity. In light of the celebration of IWD, this article considers potential barriers to women securing leadership roles, in particular how timing can be a crucial factor in securing leadership roles, and what can be done to alleviate some of those barriers ...
Shoosmiths’ CR&A team were instructed by Teneo, the special administrators of Sova Capital Limited, on their directions application relating to a proposed sale of “trapped” securities which had traded on the Russian Stock Exchange ...
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Decree Nº318/2022 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published in the Official Gazette, enacting the "Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership" (CPTPP), which has entered into force as of that date. The treaty seeks to promote the economic integration of the parties, generating a common framework for trade policy, government procurement, intellectual property, electronic commerce, investment, among others ...
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, Decree Nº318/2022 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was published in the Official Gazette, enacting the "Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership" (CPTPP), which has entered into force as of that date. The treaty seeks to promote the economic integration of the parties, generating a common framework for trade policy, government procurement, intellectual property, electronic commerce, investment, among others ...
18.71 Duty to establish procedures for the enforcement of IP rights The treaty establishes a duty to improve, streamline and simplify procedures aimed at preventing and prosecuting intellectual property infringements. 18.72 Presumptions regarding IP rights A duty is incorporated in order to extend to related rights the presumption of ownership already contemplated in our legislation for intellectual works ...
Among the main aspects regulated by the CPTPP in terms of trademarks, domain names and patents, the following should be considered: Recognition of non-traditional trademarks and collective and certification trademarks The Treaty states that the fact that a sign is visually perceptible shall not be a condition for the registration of a trademark, and the possibility of registering sound and olfactory marks is contemplated ...
Trademark owners have already faced a number of changes since the Trademark Modernization Act (“TMA”) first began to take effect in 2021. However, it’s a small change to the provisions regarding attorney representation at the US Trademark Office that may have the most costly impact to trademark owners and lead to an unintended loss of rights. The provision is 37 CFR § 2 ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
