On 16 March 2020, following the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Declaration of Infected Local Areas) Order 2020, all the states in Malaysia have been declared as infected areas by the infectious disease, Covid-19. On the same day, the Malaysian Government issued a formal Movement Control Order ("Order”) under thePrevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988and thePolice Act 1967 ...
BackgroundOn 23 October 2020, the Malaysian government gazetted the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Act 2020 (“Covid-19 Act”). This Act, as evident from its name, is meant to provide temporary measures to ease the impact of Covid-19 on various sectors and industries in Malaysia. Areas addressed by the Covid-19 Act include inability to perform contracts, insolvency and limitation periods ...
Vietnam, a country of 97 million people, has been widely recognized for its successful handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak. On January 27, as the country celebrated the Lunar New Year holiday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc declared war on the coronavirus, having said "fighting this epidemic is like fighting the enemy". The Prime Minister and his cabinet acted expediently in controlling the spread of the virus ...
This is a briefing on the following issuances as of April 12, 2020 in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic:I. Extension until April 30 of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) over LuzonA. Declaration of the Extension of the ECQB. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) IssuancesC. Supreme Court Extends Deadlines for Filing of DocumentsD. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) IssuancesE. Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) Extends Filing and Payment DeadlinesF ...
The sudden onset of the Covid-19 emergency has caused significant disruption across swathes of the Japanese economy and raised novel and urgent questions for employers as they seek to handle the challenges they face, whilst balancing the protection of their business and their obligations to their workers. This memorandum briefly addresses a number of key employment law issues and questions ...
In an attempt to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 is contained effectively, the Indian Government has mandated a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days beginning from March 25, 2020, 00:00 hrs. Mandatory Closure of Commercial Establishments All shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops and offices, excluding establishments engaged in providing essential are required to be shut down ...
Introduction Covid-19 has disrupted our lives and businesses at many unprecedented levels never seen before in the history of mankind. The recent announcements by numerous pharmaceutical companies of newly developed Covid-19 vaccines have been positively received by the world at large and many now have high hopes that our lives will now finally return to normal as we knew it1 ...
As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Karnataka through Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety & Health has issued a circular dated March 14, 2020 (“Circular”) providing certain guidelines for factories / manufacturing entities situated within the State ...
The freedom to travel which many have taken as a certainty in our daily lives have now been curtailed with the Covid-19 pandemic. This has necessitated urgent measures being implemented globally with the most recent being Italy with a lock down. Closer to home Malaysia, has also put in place several measures in efforts to address this situation ...
With the decreasing number of positive COVID-19 cases, more employees are now returning to on-site work and new COVID-19 testing protocols are in place. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (“IATF”) provided guidelines for COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated employees through its Resolutions No. 148-B and 149. Also, the National COVID-19 Immunization Program opened to the general public nationwide ...
Can the shuttered events industry restructure to not just survive but thrive? While many organisations are facing an urgent need to restructure to survive the COVID-19 led financial crisis, those most acutely affected are in the major event, hospitality, tourism, festival and sporting businesses. Social isolation and the severe curtailment of most travel has effectively shut down many of these industries ...
Regional Insights [VIDEO] Salary Arrangements & Restructuring in the Time of COVID-19: Market Views & Legal Implementation Watch our latest video to gain a clearer view on the salary arrangement options available to human resources departments in light of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic ...
Tips on how to mitigate losses: Mall Leases: Mall leases have ceased to be in the nature of a tenancy agreement. The clauses are no longer limited to availability of the premises, rent, lock-in period, repairs, and exit. Mall owners have come to impose sale targets on the retailers operating from their malls. Rent consists of both a percentage of the revenue earned by the retailer as well as a fixed monthly payment ...
Upon the ongoing spread of coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the Indonesian Government has declared the COVID-19 as a national emergency situation. Following the nation’s COVID-19 emergency, the Indonesian Government have issued sets of regulations and policies in various sectors in order to control and mitigate the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Introduction In light of cessation of routine judicial activities in recent times on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision of the High Court at New Delhi on April 20, 2020 in Halliburton Offshore Services Limited vs. Vedanta Limited and Anothercomes asa welcome breather in an area otherwise seemingly parched for development of case law ...
This briefing takes a deeper dive into the labor and employment aspect of COVID-19 issuances. Some of the guidelines here are covered in our The Return-to-Work-Checklist for Philippine Companies. A. Operating establishments have been directed to comply with public health standards prescribed by the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 1. The DTI issued DTI Memorandum Circular No ...
With the continuation of the Prime Minister’s orders on measures for COVID-19 prevention and control until 4 June 2021, we have pulled together a guide on some of the current Government initiatives and support available to businesses in the Lao PDR. In our guide, we provide details on: Banking & Finance: The latest credit policies and guidelines for commercial banks and financial institutions ...
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause unprecedented disruption in Asia with lockdowns currently in place in Bangladesh and the Lao PDR Meanwhile, various restrictions continue to affect Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam resulting in continued economic uncertainty and delays in re-opening borders for travel and business purposes ...
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, governments and leading financial institutions across the South and Southeast region continue to issue various initiatives, stimulus measures and relief efforts within their respective countries in an attempt to shore up the hardest hit sectors and vulnerable groups directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Businesses in need of capital may find themselves facing foreign investment regulatory hurdles. We discuss the challenges for businesses and the potential for regulatory relief. Australia's foreign investment regime applies very broadly and captures many transactions. As businesses consider how to respond to the demands of the current COVID-19 economic environment, they may be required to go through the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) screening regime ...
As misinformation on COVID-19 continues to spread, there is another more serious threat being dispersed through back trade channels and that is of counterfeit goods either for sale at exorbitant prices or fake goods proclaiming to cure or treat the virus. In 2018, Forbes announced that counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world[1] and the sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking ...
The Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020 (“the Covid-19 Bill”) was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat of Malaysia on Wednesday, 12 August 2020 ...
On 25 August 2020, “The Temporary Measures For Reducing The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020” (“Covid-19 Bill 2020”) was passed by the Dewan Rakyat. When will the Covid-19 Bill 2020 come into operation? The Covid-19 2020 Bill comes into operation on the date published in the Gazette. However, it will have a retrospective effect and will be deemed to have come into operation on the first day of the Movement Control Order i.e ...
On 8 April 2020, the Government rolled out the first tranche of the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) for subsidising wages of employees (see our client alerts dated 14 and 20 May 2020 for details of the ESS and its implementation). The Government has just announced details of the second tranche of the ESS covering September to November 2020, which are summarised below ...