The SEC issued enforcement orders against three companies for including terms in their employment and separation agreements that violated Rule 21F-17(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1942, commonly known as the whistleblower protection rule. The rule prohibits any action that impedes an individual from communicating directly with SEC staff about a possible securities law violation ...
On October 26, 2023 the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a final rule on when an entity may be considered a joint employer of a group of employees. The rule was first proposed on September 7, 2022 ...
Article 54 of the Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2023 on the regulations of labour relations, as amended) dealing with employment disputes has been amended to give greater powers to the Ministry of Human Resource and Emiratisation (the Ministry). The amended provision shall come into effect from 1 January 2024 ...
Earlier in the year, we reported on the government’s announcement of increases to visa and nationality fees. These increases to application fees came into force on 4 October 2023, other than the substantial increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) which was expected to come ‘later in the autumn’ ...
On October 16, 2023, the Division of Examinations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Division”) published the 2024 Examination Priorities. Historically, the Examination Priorities have been published in the 1st quarter of the applicable calendar year. For 2024, the Division revised the publication date to align with the start of the SEC’s fiscal year ...
Are you an influencer? Do you earn money or other benefits by creating content on social media? Influencers that are offered deals to advertise a brand’s products over social media platforms will qualify as traders and should thus disclose their adverts in a transparent manner. Over the coming weeks, the European Commission will be screening online posts to identify any sponsored posts uploaded to social media by influencers which could mislead consumers ...
Corporate status A foundation company is a body corporate with a legal personality distinct from its members, directors and other connected persons. As foundation companies are governed by the Companies Act (Revised), except where it is inconsistent with the Foundation Company Act (2017), they benefit from an extensive body of case law and are well recognised in other jurisdictions ...
October 23, 2023 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman This month, dozens of class action lawsuits have been filed in Washington, based on alleged violations of Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunity Act ...
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued SEC Memorandum Circular No. 17, series of 2023, titled Extension of Amnesty Applications until 06 November 2023 (SEC MC No. 17-2023 or the "Circular") to grant a final extension up to November 6, 2023 for amnesty applications for late and non-filing of general information sheets ("GIS"), annual financial statements ("AFS"), as well as non-compliance with SEC Memorandum Circular No ...
In recent times, the financial market has been abuss with discussions about the potential benefits of real estate tokenisation. Several initiatives worldwide, such as Propchain in Dubai, Vave and Equisafe in France, Propellr, Inveniam Capital Partners, and Fluidity in the United States, as well as Elevated Returns in the United States and Thailand, have taken the bold step of launching tokenised real estate projects ...
On October 16, 2023, the Council of the Central Bank of Chile ("CBCh") published in consultation a proposal to systematize and update the exchange information requested to entities that are part of the Formal Exchange Market (the "Project"), in compliance with the regulation of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Compendium ("FERC"), together with a reformulation and restructuring of this regulatory body ...
For those considering such a move, there are various options open to them to make their relocation a reality: Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means Certificate of Permanent Residence for Persons of Independent Means Certificate of Direct Investment Residency Certificate (Substantial Business Presence) Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means A person can apply for a Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means ...
On September 29, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published new proposed enforcement guidance ("the Proposed Guidance”) on harassment in the workplace. This is the first proposed EEOC guidance on workplace harassment since the turn of the century ...
In a recent update to the suite of Homes England standard shared ownership leases, England’s Regulator of Social Housing sought to align rent reviews with social and affordable rent tenures. In the process, it may have created more work for sector participants ...
October 18, 2023 By: Leah Lively California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed SB 525 into law, which amends the California Labor Code to set industry minimum wage requirements for nearly all healthcare workers, whether they are hourly or salaried employees, or independent contractors. The law also provides these workers with an independent private right of action to enforce these minimum wage requirements ...
PSNI v Agnew & Others: landmark Holiday Pay judgment from the UK Supreme Court. On 4 October 2023, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited judgment in the case of PSNI & Others -v- Agnew & Others, on the issue of holiday pay. We explain the outcome of the case and what it means for employers ...
We have previously commented on the impact environmental concerns are having on those working in the traditional energy sectors. In particular, the focus on renewable energy has left many oil and gas workers nervous about their job security and ability to find alternative work if they are made redundant. Thankfully, it appears those concerns might be unfounded ...
On October 11 of this year, the Chamber of Deputies approved in the third constitutional procedure the amendments proposed by the Senate to the bill that strengthens the financial system and its infrastructure (the "Bill"). These improvements relate to five general issues, which we examine below: Repurchase agreements market (REPOs) The REPO market in Chile has not had the expected development due to uncertainties in the applicable insolvency legislation ...
After a public consultation process, on October 11, 2023, the Financial Market Commission ("FMC") issued the new General Rule No. 498 (“NCG 498”), that regulates the complementary activities that may be developed by bank or non-bank payment card operators ("Operators”) ...
For a long time, socialising at work was synonymous with drinking alcohol, but in recent times we have seen this trend start to shift. This is positive news for employers who risk social events centred around alcohol inadvertently isolating those to choose not to drink. With minimal alternatives available in the past, some employees have felt a certain pressure to drink at events to ‘keep up’ with colleagues ...
The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill has received Royal Assent and will come into force, along with implementing regulations, in September 2024. This follows our previous article in which we considered the Bill and its wider implications. The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act (the Act) aims to address “one-sided flexibility” between employers and workers who undertake atypical work ...
Last week was filled with noteworthy developments in the cryptocurrency industry, Rachel Wolcott of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence has spotlighted two important articles. The first article focuses on Binance's compliance with the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) new financial promotion rules, while the second delves into HTX (formerly known as Huobi) and its status on the Seychelles corporate register of crypto exchanges. Let's take a closer look at these significant events ...
