As the Procurement Bill reaches its final stages before royal assent, we take a look at some of the changes made since its introduction in May 2022. Whilst the Bill has not undergone radical changes, between the Commons and the Lords, there have still been some interesting additions. We will revisit these changes following consideration of Commons amendments scheduled for September 2023 ...
Which laws are applicable and what are the most important regulations? Epidemic Law 1950 COVID-19-Measures Law The legal basis for the measures imposed by the federal government last week is the Epidemic Law of 1913, which was re-introduced in 1950. The object and aim of the law are to combat notifiable transmissible diseases. This includes COVID-19 ...
Although under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Commission has limited power regarding infrastructure policy, which remains a Member state competence, recent rulings of the ECJ regarding ports and airports have allowed it to extend its role in this area by applying the State aid rules to infrastructure financing ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
The pandemic requires immediate response and rapid launch of solutions for combating the coronavirus and its socio-economic impacts. Thus the Anti-Crisis Act includes provisions allowing contracts for fighting the pandemic to be awarded without following lengthy formal procedures. It usually takes along time from commencement of proceedings for award of apublic contract to conclusion of acontact with the selected contractor ...
The strategy for the application of Portugal 2030 was designed around five main objectives of the European Union1: a smarter, greener, more connected, more social Europe that is closer to its citizens. At the national level, these strategic objectives of the European Union are embodied in four thematic agendas of the Portugal 2030 strategy2 ...
What will the impact be when the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee reports on Accountability and Governance asks Kelly Harris The Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament has been conducting an inquiry into Accountability and Governance in Scotland, looking at the proliferation of Commissioners and Ombudsmen established since devolution. The impetus behind the inquiry was the growing concern that money might be being wasted as a result of overlapping functions and responsibilities ...
The UK is facing a series of economic shocks, fuelled by the increased cost-of-living, the Ukraine war hitting the global supply chain, and lasting disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination of issues has led to shifts in shopping behaviours, working patterns and residential needs, while also impacting demand for space in traditional retail and leisure districts. Remedial action is needed to deal with these pressures and the resultant damage to UK high streets ...
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection was given the authority to determine and issue biosecurity protocols to mitigate, control, prevent the spread and properly manage the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. It is necessary to emphasize that all companies that reactivate their work must establish timely channels of communication between the employer and the worker to notify suspicious cases ...
On July 4th, 2022, three months after the deposit of the instrument of accession before the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the "Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks" (the "Madrid Protocol") entered into force in our country. The accession determined that Chile joined the Madrid System, which covers 128 countries. The Madrid System contemplates a centralized trademark application and management process ...
A battle is heating up in the Jan. 6 criminal case against former President Donald Trump that, while seemingly technical, will likely have a significant impact on the defendant’s ability to mount a defense. It may well serve as a bellwether for how the court will resolve future similar procedural disputes. On Aug ...
A year after Ms Maya Forstater succeeded in establishing in the Employment Appeal Tribunal that gender-critical beliefs are a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010, she has won two of her claims for direct discrimination and one claim for victimisation. Employers need to tread very carefully both to balance individual employees' rights to hold sometimes conflicting protected beliefs and to foster a culture that is truly inclusive ...
As seen on Law360: The 2018 Farm Bill[1] relaxed restrictions covering hemp-based cannabis products, and it is causing a shift in business strategies in the industry. Instead of a full prohibition of trademark registrations covering cannabis goods or services, a narrow range of filings is now permitted, so long as they conform to the requirements of the Farm Bill and the latest USPTO guidelines ...
As of today, July 26 the Chilean borders will open so that all those who have a “Mobility Pass” can exit the country, although current restrictions for non-resident foreigners have been maintained. The is subject to modification in view of the development of the Covid-19 outbreak in the national territory ...
In another step in President Trump's ongoing efforts to relax environmental restrictions impacting economic development, on January 10, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality published its proposed rulemaking to update its regulations for implementing procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") ("Proposed Rule"). The deadline for filing comments on the Proposed Rule is March 10, 2020 ...
Article PDF On October 19, 2018, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations regarding certain aspects of the new qualified opportunity funds ("QOF") and related qualified opportunity zones ...
CFIUS inbound investment national security review expanding to certain non-controlling foreign investments in critical technology, critical infrastructure, and sensitive personal data, as well as to certain real estate transactions. The U.S. Treasury Department published proposed rules in the Federal Register on Sept. 24, 2019, concerning changes to the review process for foreign investment conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) ...
Members of the development community and businesses that currently have construction projects under way in Davidson County should be aware of a pending legislative proposal that would likely severely impact the ability to construct most projects in Nashville’s Mid-Town, Gulch, and downtown areas. Councilwoman Erica Gilmore has introduced an ordinance, BL2014-992, that is pending before the Metropolitan Council ...
Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau (FSTB) issued a public consultation paper on 3 November 2020 (Consultation) proposing the introduction of a licensing regime for virtual asset services providers (VASPs), as well as other changes to Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering regime ...
President Obama recently sent to Congress proposed legislative language and analyses of his proposed deficit-reduction plan. Among the proposed legislative changes is a change to the formula used for calculating the cap on the amount that the federal government will reimburse federal contractors for executive compensation ...
The regulatory change proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the recent HIPAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is another step toward HHS’s objective to encourage a patient-centric healthcare environment. The HIPAA NPRM proposes to tilt the balance of protecting privacy and facilitating the availability of information toward loosening restrictions on disclosures of patient information ...
The California Legislature is considering legislation that would, if enacted, prohibit public agencies that form a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) from contracting out of liability for the JPA's pension obligations. Backed by CalPERS, AB 1912 was introduced early this year partly in response to drastic CalPERS pension cuts for former employees of LA Works, a dissolved job-training JPA ...
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), along with co-sponsors Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Burr (R-NC), Sen. Peters (D-MI), Sen. Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced the “Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017” (FIRRMA) November 8, 2017. This proposed bill, and a companion bill of the same name introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep ...
On 30 August 2023, the Beneficial Ownership Transparency Bill, 2023 (the Bill) was published, proposing several important changes to the beneficial ownership regime in the Cayman Islands. The Bill is intended to enhance the jurisdiction’s current beneficial ownership regime to ensure compliance with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force ...
