Why is April 2, 2018 Important? April 2, 2018 is the first day on which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B specialty worker petitions for the next fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018 ...
Why is April 1, 2019 Important? April 1, 2019 is the first day U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may accept H-1B specialty worker petitions for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2019 ...
The H-1B visa filing frenzy is upon us once again! Because of the chronic shortage of nonimmigrant visas for foreign workers in the specialty occupation category (H-1B visas), employers seeking to hire new H-1B workers must file their petitions on April 1, 2014 for work beginning October 1, 2014 ...
A more recent examination of H.R. 6201, Family Medical Leave Act Expansion, is available here. In the early morning hours of March 14, the House passed H.R. 6201, which now moves to the Senate, where changes are likely to be made before enactment ...
This is an overview of Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 251-2020 (Guidelines on the Implementation in the Philippines of the Hague Service Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters)1 (the Hague Service Convention Guidelines). The guidelines became effective on October 1, 2020.2 A ...
The July 2017 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) includes a Philippine regional update by SyCipLaw partner Hiyasmin H. Lapitan and associate Jo Margarette W. Remollo entitled, “Guidelines on Related Party Transactions for Insurers in the Philippines”. The article summarizes the Insurance Commission’s compliance guidelines on related party transactions, as set out in Insurance Circular Letter No. 2017-29 ...
During 2017-2018, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (“FAS”) paid close attention to advertisements of OTC medicines and considered large number cases of violations of advertising legislation by pharmaceutical companies. At the end of 2018, FAS in collaboration with the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and other market players, established a guideline on recommended advertising of OTC medicines (“Guideline”) ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan contributed the Philippines chapter of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Guide to anti-corruption regulation in Asia Pacific 2015. The Guide provides a practical approach to applicable anti-bribery legislation and enforcement regimes. Contributed by managing partner Rafael A. Morales, partner Russel L. Rodriguez, and associate Vera Marie H ...
Fiscal Support Schemes Full suspension of operations Companies the operations of which were mandatorily suspended, pursuant to the pertinent Decisions of the Council of Ministers and decrees of the Minister of Health, includinginter aliashopping centres, department stores, cafes, coffeehouses, bars and all catering businesses (excluding delivery services), entertainment venues, cinemas, theatres, performance venues, libraries, museums, archaeological and historical sites, bookies, cas
In recognition of the increasing popularity in the market of asset-backed contribution arrangements (ABCs), the Pensions Regulator has issued detailed guidance for trustees considering using such a structure to fund their pension scheme. ABCs, in general terms, allow an employer operating a defined benefit pension scheme to use a non-cash asset to provide a regular income stream to the scheme without an outright disposal of the asset to the scheme ...
In June 2022, at one of the annual meetings of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (“EPSCO”) Council, health ministers expressed their concerns regarding the legislative transition to Regulation (EU) No 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 5 April 2017 on medical devices (“MDR”) and to Regulation 2017/746 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 5 April 2017 on in vitro diagnostic medical devi
Historically, businesses involved in the U.S. defense industrial base have been protected from foreign direct investment by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) — but changes to U.S. laws and regulations on foreign direct investment have expanded the types of businesses that are now protected ...
Purpose of the new legislation The new legislation is intended to achieve three objectives, to: promote accountability, integrity and public confidence in the administration and management of the charitable sector in Guernsey; meet international standards aimed at preventing the third sector from being abused for criminal purposes; and give comfort to donors that their donations will be used to achieve the purposes of the charity ...
ESG The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) ran its Sustainable Finance Week in September and announced three initiatives that came into force from 20 September. The Natural Capital Fund Regime was launched and allows a regulatory designation for biodiversity and natural capital projects that positively contribute and/or reduce harm to the natural world. The regime has arguably more stringent criteria than those for the Guernsey Green Fund Regime ...
One solution to this issue is for pension funds to transfer longevity risk to the reinsurance market. Such a transfer can be attractive for both parties. From the pension fund’s perspective, a life reinsurer is often an attractive counterparty, both because of its deep understanding of the nature of the risk being transferred, and because it can provide a balance sheet big enough to assume a meaningful amount of risk from the fund ...
CONTENTS General Litigation funding Initiating a lawsuit Pre-trial proceedings Discovery Injunctive relief Trials and hearings Settlement Damages and judgment Appeal Costs Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Arbitration Outlook and COVID-19 GENERAL General Characteristics of the Legal System The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency ...
Guernsey Insurance M&A Our specialist insurance M&A team have advised on a number of other high-profile insurance industry transactions, including: the sale of Humboldt Re by the Credit Suisse Pension Fund; the acquisition of Kelvin Re by Humboldt Re, and the subsequent merger to create Marco Re; the acquisition of Old Mutual Guernsey by Northstar Bermuda; the acquisition by Islands Insurance Group of Hepburns Insurance, including its operations in both Jersey and Guernsey; the
ESG The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) ran its Sustainable Finance Week in September and announced three initiatives that came into force from 20 September: The Natural Capital Fund Regime was launched and allows a regulatory designation for biodiversity and natural capital projects that positively contribute and/or reduce harm to the natural world. The regime has arguably more stringent criteria than those for the Guernsey Green Fund Regime ...
Guatemala is experiencing an unprecedented and well-deserved offensive against corruption. An Ex-President and Vice-President along with many ex-Cabinet members are currently being prosecuted for a growing array of crimes including passive graft, money laundering and tax fraud, among others. The indictments are being brought through the efforts of a UN-sponsored commission which, until recently, had limited success in dismantling “organized crime”, its principal mandate ...
Guatemalan respected Judge Erika Aifan issues a historical ruling in a criminal case brought against construction companies. A plea bargain was reached under an abreviated process allowed under Guatemala´s Criminal Law where senior executives for the companies accepted making facilitation payments to the ex-Minister of Construction in order to accelerate backed payments owed for previous construction deals ...
The use of marijuana in patient care has undergone widespread growth and acceptance nationwide. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws authorizing the use of marijuana in some form. Two of those states – Utah and Missouri – joined that list this past mid-term cycle, as voters passed initiatives authorizing the use of medical marijuana. Others, such as Kentucky and Virginia, have pending legislation seeking to authorize the use of medical marijuana ...
In Case C-633/20 of the European Court of Justice (the ‘Court’) delivered on the 29th September 2022, the First Chamber of the Court produced a judgment (the ‘Judgment’) in response to a reference for a preliminary ruling concerning the definition of ‘insurance intermediary’ in the context of Directive 2016/97 (the ‘Insurance Distribution Directive’ or the ‘IDD’) and Directive 2002/92 (the ‘Insurance Mediatio
As a growing number of the workforce is being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are raising several benefit related questions, particularly with respect to group health plans. The Employee Benefits Group at Hanson Bridgett will be providing updated information on possible issues arising in the benefits area through Benefits Alerts and postings on Hanson Bridgett's Online COVID-19 Resource Center ...
