Businesses in Thailand are facing a difficult road ahead. The latest wave of COVID-19 infections continues to hammer the economy, further delaying a recovery that many companies were counting on to relieve their financial woes. Those struggles have been considerable. According to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), Thailand’s gross domestic product shrank by 6.1% in 2020 – the steepest decline since the Tom Yum Kung financial crisis of 1997 ...
The Ministry of Corporate affairs has recently notified Sections 230(11) and 230 (12) of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Companies Act”) and certain amendments to the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamation) Rules, 2020 (“M&A Rules”)[1] (together, the “Amendments”) ...
This publication is part of a DFDL series focusing on Corporate Insolvency Regime in consideration of the COVID-19 outbreak in Asia. DFDL published the previous editions in a series of tailor-made FAQs on restructuring and insolvency matters that businesses and stakeholders need to keep track of in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to change the way that they do business. The fact that the National Capital Region is currently under a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ),[1] and prior to that, was under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) for two months since 16 March 2020, makes it difficult for Philippine domestic corporations to navigate the Philippine business landscape and conduct business as usual ...
The most senior decision-making body of a university, the governing body (council) exists 'to oversee the development and adoption of institutional strategic plans and key policies, to monitor and review the institution's overall performance and to bear ultimate accountability for the institution' ...
The spread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 ("Coronavirus”), which has been declared as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization this year, has been a source of great concern to most employers worldwide.This article considers some of the key issues and employment obligations that employers in Malaysia should bear in mind in dealing with this recent outbreak ...
From re-sharing cat videos to creating memes, tweaks in our three-decade-old Copyright Act will help clarify what’s permissible and what’s verboten as we continue to indulge in our insatiable appetite for social media. Chinese New Year Eve, 2019. Social media was ablaze with a viral video (YouTube link) of an altercation between a Malay Gojek driver and his Chinese passenger objecting to a route that would incur ERP charges ...
The Singapore Convention cements the Lion City’s reputation as a dispute resolution hub, making mediation easier to enforce globally. Clients who come to see me about commercial disputes often ask for the same thing: fast resolution. I tell them that there are two tried-and-tested ways to resolve financial claims. First, you can litigate in court and have a judge make a legal ruling on the dispute, in the full gaze of the public ...
The tightening of the credit market in Australia has led a significant number of companies to explore raising further capital by issuing additional equity to new or existing holders. Unlike taking on additional debt, the issue of new equity by a company can result in a change of control. Where the company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), this may give rise to various issues under both the Corporations Act and the ASX Listing Rules ...
Contracts and force majeure during a pandemic was published recently in the Indian Business Law Journal authored by Chandrasekhar Tampi, senior partner and Ankur Khandelwal, partner, Kochhar & Co. Overview- The spread of COVID-19 has raised multiple questions with respect to performance of commercial contracts, across the globe. While some contracts have witnessed the erosion of their foundation, others have been rendered difficult, even possible, to be performed ...
Earlier this year, the government released a proposal paper: Extending Unfair Contract Terms Protections to Insurance Contracts outlining a model to extend unfair contract term (UCT) provisions to insurance contracts regulated under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (IC Act) for consultation. The consultation period closes on 27 July. A high level summary of the proposed model is below ...
This is a briefing on the CIAC Memorandum Circular No. 01-2020 dated June 10, 2020,1 a COVID-19 related issuance. A. Authority to Hold Virtual Proceedings B. No Change in the Deadline for the Issuance of Final Awards C. In-Person Proceedings D. Conduct of Virtual Proceedings ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CIAC’s Memorandum Circular No ...
In promoting a collaborative partnership in the delivery of public works projects, the Hong Kong Government has adopted the “New Engineering Contract” (NEC), which aims at improving construction efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds. Since its first publication in the UK in 1993, the NEC contract has become increasingly popular in the UK, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and New Zealand ...
“In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by the Reserve Bank shall not deal in VCs or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling VCs ...
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) licensed corporations (LCs) which store regulatory records in the cloud, data centres or other electronic storage facilities provided by external persons (EDSPs) without keeping copies of such records in their Hong Kong business premises are reminded of the need to comply with the following requirements, according to the circular issued by the SFC on 31 October 2019 (Circular): (i) notify the SFC of the external electronic data stor
On 29 April 2020, the Hong Kong Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) handed down its first ever judgment on pecuniary penalties against ten decoration contractors (Penalty Judgment) who were found to have violated the First Conduct Rule under the Competition Ordinance (Ordinance), which prohibits undertakings from entering into an agreement or engaging in a concerted practice that has the object or effect of harming competition in Hong Kong ...
Regulators around the world remain focused on the impact of cartels on business, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is no exception. In 2013 the ACCC received 27 approaches in relation to cartels, resulting in 13 in-depth investigations. International cooperation in this area is increasing, due significantly to the work of the International Competition Network, the global organisation of competition regulators ...
The Draft Report of the Competition Policy Review released yesterday aims to set the pathway for resuscitating productivity growth in Australia, shining a light on areas of the economy in need of reform. It focuses on what is needed to promote productivity enhancing choice, diversity and innovation and focussing on areas such as health, planning laws, power and road transport. The Draft Report recommends changes to key competition laws that apply to all Australian businesses ...
Last year, there were a number of notable developments in competition law, as detailed in this article, several of which involve or are relevant to the construction industry. The Ocean Park case concerned proceedings against a company and its director for exchanging competitively sensitive information with a co-tenderer in a bidding exercise. A number of judgments were handed down in proceedings against contractors ...
With nearly five years of enforcement experience since the coming into effect of the Competition Ordinance (Ordinance), on 16 April 2020, the Hong Kong Competition Commission (Commission) published a revised Leniency Policy for Undertakings Engaged in Cartel Conduct (Leniency Policy for Undertakings) and introduced a new Leniency Policy for Individuals Involved in Cartel Conduct (Leniency Policy for Individuals) (collectively, Leniency Policies) ...
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has conducted India’s first dawn raid. The CCI raided offices of UK-based construction equipment maker JCB, earlier today, in connection with a case of abuse of a dominant position. The Indian Competition Act (Act) accords power to the Director General (DG) to conduct such raids after obtaining a warrant from the chief metropolitan magistrate ...
The Philippines recently enacted Republic Act 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act which defines, prohibits and penalizes anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions. It also creates the Philippine Competition Commission, which has original and primary jurisdiction to deal with cases involving violations of the Act. The Act was published on July 24, 2015 and took effect on August 8, 2015 ...
The new Companies Ordinance ("Ordinance") passed on 12 July 2012 is expected to become effective in 2014, whereupon:provisions about insolvency and winding up in the current Companies Ordinance ("Current CO") will be retained but retitled as the "Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32)"; the prospectus regime under the Current CO will be moved into the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 577); and all other provisions under the Current CO will be repealed ...
