After a prolonged period of development, the announcement in August of the Board of Directors for Scotland's Futures Forum has finally seen this body come to fruition. The development of the Forum has included a substantial period of investigating overseas models, canvassing MSPs and running a conference involving 140 representatives from a number of sectors ...
The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on markets in cryptoassets, which amends Directive (EU) 2019/1937, ("Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets", or the "MiCA Regulation" for short) was published on 24 September 20201. The Proposal is part of the Digital Finance Package adopted on the same date by the European Commission as part of the Digital Finance Strategy for the EU financial sector2 ...
The Irish Law Reform Commission has published two consultation papers recommending legislative changes to clarify the role, duties, powers and responsibilities of trustees, including charitable trustees, so that general trust law keeps up with the ever changing economic and social climate ...
Proposal for Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short stay-visas This regulation will enter into force from on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Official Journal of the European Union, C 052 of 2 March 2005 ...
The proposed new Renewable Energy Sources Act would significantly change the system of support for electricity produced in Poland from renewable resources. If the bill is enacted, companies in the power industry in Poland will have to make major revisions to their business plans ...
The Commission has adopted, on 11 June 2013, a proposal for a Directive on damages actions for the infringement of EU and national competition laws. If adopted by the EU legislator, the Directive would require the EU Member States to enact implementing legislation within a two year period. Although the groundbreaking features of the proposal make its final adoption uncertain, such adoption would have enormous implications for private competition damages actions within the EU ...
Ahead of the autumn finance bill, the government has stated that SEK 30 billion will be designated for reforms in the labour market and enterprise, welfare and investments for the future. 13 of these 30 billion are earmarked for an “enterprise package” which, inter alia, includes a reduction in corporate tax from 28 percent to 26.3 percent ...
The Swedish Association of Landowners has called for a modernisation of the rules concerning agricultural land leasing. As a result, the work to renew the legislation, which is over forty years old, is now underway. Above all, two issues have come into focus: the lateral leaseholder’s security of tenure and the possibility of a “results-based rent” ...
“We consider that the Competition Act, 2002 captures the bulk of the anti-competitive practices which the Groceries Order was originally designed to prevent. However, we consider it desirable to significantly strengthen the Act in some respects and particularly to specially prohibit resale price maintenance, unfair discrimination and “hello money”. Such provisions will, henceforth, be enforced by the Competition Authority ...
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 ...
Resource rent tax on aquaculture The government proposes to introduce a resource rent tax on aquaculture from 1st of January 2023. The proposal will be circulated for consultation today with a deadline of 3rd of January 2023. The proposal includes a resource rent tax with an effective rate of 40% applicable to the production of salmon, trout, and rainbow trout. The proposal includes a tax-free allowance of between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes ...
On 31 January 2024, the UK government will bring into force HM Treasury’s proposed reforms to the financial promotion rules. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (FPO) contains restrictions on the issue of communications which amount to “promotions” of investments in securities ...
At the end of 2011 the Polish utility sector received a present from the government in the form of a long-awaited package of proposed energy legislation. How could it change the rules of the market? February was the deadline for public comment on a legislative package including the proposed new Energy Law, Gas Law and Renewable Energy Sources Act ...
The 2009 State Budget Bill was presented to Parliament on 15 October. The general discussion and voting on the Bill are scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 November while the special discussion and voting and final overall discussion and voting are scheduled for the 27th and 28th of the same month ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page ...
The Scottish courts recently refused assistance under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency when a request for a stay on actions in Scotland was made by a Foreign Representative appointed under a Singapore moratorium procedure. Dr Hamish Patrick, Partner in Shepherd and Wedderburn's banking and finance team, has recently published an article on this case in International Corporate Rescue ...
On 2 June 2021, four months after the UK’s formal application, it was announced the UK can start the process of joining the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”) ...
On 3 December 2012 Guernsey brought into force its new image rights legislation which allows, for the first time anywhere in the world, for such rights to be registered. Gary Assim, Shoosmiths In essence this law has created a new form of intellectual property right for anyone, anywhere in the world, who is famous, or might be in the future, to protect their image by registering it ...
If you are thinking about expanding your business to the Chinese market, or you have already started selling in this market, or exhibiting your products at trade fairs or to Chinese partners, it is crucial toprotect your trademark from what are known as “intellectual property hijackers”.Situations of people registering foreign trademarks illegally in China for improper use in their own businesses or for “resale” to other companies are widely known ...
Working remotely combined with “The Great Resignation” has raised questions about how employers can best protect their business interests in this new world of work. Rewind a few years and most employees were physically attending the workplace every day, which in turn made it easier for employers to monitor the work being carried out by their employees and ensure that confidential files were locked away safely ...
With little regulation, controlling children's access to online content has been left to parents and carers to manage. But now lawmakers around the world are trying to put responsibility into the hands of websites and internet-based service providers. Recent years have seen concerted action aimed at controlling the collection and use of children’s personal data online ...
Gareth Bale has been in the news last week for transferring to Real Madrid in a record £85m deal. Less well known is that at the beginning of August he successfully registered as a UK trade mark a logo based on his signature goal celebration. His Eleven of Hearts logo is registered against several classes of goods including precious metals, jewellery, clothing, footwear and even parasols and walking sticks ...
The starting point on divorce is that the assets acquired during the marriage fall into the ‘matrimonial pot’ and will be divided equally between the parties. This is called the sharing principle. However, in certain circumstances an inheritance will be a relevant contribution and a good reason to depart from an equal division ...
Manufacturers of internet or network connectable products for the UK market are now required to implement minimum security standards to protect such products from cyber-attacks. Importers and distributors are also impacted by these requirements ...
