Ukrainian banking sector reform process promotes transparency and greater accountability. The ongoing geopolitical and economic turmoil in Ukraine, which started back in 2013, has revealed the multiple drawbacks of Ukrainian banks and the vulnerability of the country's banking system as a whole. This exposure has led to a major reform effort across the banking sector that remains ongoing, with one of the key focuses being efforts to increase the transparency of Ukrainian bank ownership ...
On 28 July 2015 the newly enacted “Law on Conversion” (the “Law”) which sets out the procedure for converting the right of use into ownership rights over construction land for a fee (the “Conversion”), will come in force. The Law outlines the rules for the Conversion procedure and specifies the particular list of entities that are eligible to file for the Conversion ...
Attractive Real Estate Business in the Czech Republic The Czech property market has developed considerably in recent decades and this optimistic trend continues. According to statistical figures, the volume of commercial investment during the last twelve months to Q1 2015 in the Czech Republic reached EUR 2.6 billion, representing 90.8 % increase ...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has issued Proposed Rules (the “Proposed Rules”) to implement Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, addressing what has been commonly referred to as “pay-versus-performance ...
On June 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a rule bringing non-bank automobile finance companies under its supervisory authority. Auto finance companies were already subject to the enforcement and regulatory authority of the CFPB, but under the new rule, certain auto finance companies are also subject to routine and cause-based examinations by the CFPB. The rule goes into effect on August 31 of this year ...
Standard real estate brokerage contracts generally stipulate the obligation for the seller to pay a commission to the broker in the event that an agreement for the sale of the property occurs during the term of the brokerage contract or where the seller voluntarily prevents the free performance of the contract. It is not unusual, even in the absence of an actual sale, that real estate brokers claim the payment of the commission stipulated in the brokerage contract ...
For those of us who commonly represent lenders, there is nothing more unsettling than hearing the words “course and pattern of conduct” or “dominion and control” or some variation of the same. Any suit where someone seeks to impose liability on a bank for something above and beyond the amounts loaned and repaid is a scary one for lenders (and ultimately should be a scary one for anyone who may need to borrow money in the future) ...
1. Introduction In recent years, the Belgian Parliament hascodified substantial parts of Belgian economic legislation into a new Code ofEconomic Law (“Wetboek van economischrecht” / “Codedu droit economique”). The Code of Economic Law consists of 18Books, including one on payment and credit services (“Boek VII. – Betalings- enkredietdiensten” / “LivreVII. – Services de paiement et de crédit”, “Book VII”) ...
The Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a federal securities fraud class action on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead facts establishing that the defendants, the executives of a failed bank, were severely reckless in their overvaluation of the bank’s portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.See Owens v. Jastrow, No. 13–10928, 2015 WL 3649823 (5th Cir ...
Domestic legislation1. Domestic law.Identify your jurisdiction’s money laundering and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations. Describe the main elements of these laws. Law 25,246, enacted in 2000, was the first to regulate both criminal money laundering (by means of inclusions of specific money laundering and terrorism financing offences in the Argentine Criminal Code (ACC) and antimoney laundering provisions ...
The amendments to Chapter III.J.3 of the Compendium of Financial Regulations of the Central Bank introduced a new regulation on prepaid cards (Payment Cards with the Provision of Funds), which seeks to achieve greater financial inclusion by strengthening and promoting this payment method, which has not yet achieved the expected market penetration. The first draft of this regulation is from June of last year, which received many comments from both banks and regulators ...
Last June 10, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that the floor amount for obtaining a public contract dealing with services without its prior authorization would be reduced to $1 million ...
Following the regulatory workshop in Shenzhen on 5 June 2015 hosted by the SFC and CSRC/SAFE on mutual recognition of funds (MRF) between Hong Kong and the PRC, Hong Kong’s SFC has issued FAQs on the topics that were discussed.In the FAQs, the SFC offered guidance on some of the requirements for authorisation in Hong Kong of PRC funds. In summary:One-year track record: Numerous Cayman unit trusts have re-domiciled to Hong Kong ...
The recent soap opera surrounding Kevin Pietersen and his off-on-off relationship with the England cricket team has dominated the sports media over recent months.There is no doubting that Pietersen is the most talented batsman available to England but, that said, for many well-rehearsed reasons (and various misdemeanours) he will not be selected ...
Over the last 10 years, considerable legislative efforts have been made towards creating a favourable framework for financing agribusiness and agricultural production in Serbia. The latest piece of legislation in that sector is a law on secured pre-harvest financing. Looking back, in 2005 Serbia introduced the national strategy on agricultural development (the Strategy), which outlined obstacles and set goals with regard to financing agribusiness and agricultural production ...
The possibility of buying real estate rests normally on the capacity of an individual or company to acquire debt, reason why credit entities play an essential role in the success of the real estate market. Lately, we have noticed that in addition to the traditional loan guaranteed by a mortgage, there is an offer for loans guaranteed by a security trust ...
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has held that bank enforcement titles are contrary to the Polish Constitution because they violate the constitutional principle of equality. Pursuant to this judgment, the relevant provisions of the Banking Law—Art. 96(1) and Art. 97(1)—will cease to be in force on 1 August 2016. The ruling is fundamentally important for the entire banking sector and for bank customers ...
The September 2014 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article by then SyCipLaw senior associate and now partner Jose Florante M. Pamfilo entitled "Foreign banks gain full entry." The Philippines recently enacted a law that allows the full entry of foreign banks into the Philippines ...
The Lavery GO inc. Program team is happy to inform you that theAutorité des marchés financiers(AMF) announced yesterday the implementation of an equity crowdfunding exemption which allows startups to raise up to $500,000 in capital per year ...
To allow for adequate planning, the Quebec government phased in the coming into force of certain regulatory amendments on building safety that were adopted in the past few years. These new standards were previously discussed in bulletin Nos. 6 and 9, issued in April 2013 and June 2014 respectively, of our Lavery Real Estate and Construction series. This newsletter serves as a brief reminder of the most imminent deadlines ...
Growth of the real estate industry in Panama is evident everywhere. Skyscrapers that could very well be found in large cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong or Miami, rise proud in former residential and colonial areas of Panama city. Panama’s architectural identity is driven by important local and international architects, and symbolic buildings such as the Biodiversity Museum and the F&F Tower, also known as ‘the Screw’ ...
The Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) have announced that, on several fronts, they are implementing amendments to the disclosure requirements for venture issuers, including those listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. These amendments primarily address continuous disclosure and governance obligations, while also implementing changes to disclosure obligations for prospectuses and information circulars ...
I have spent the last few days in Paris with our colleagues from our international network – World Services Group. With professionals from more than 30 countries worldwide, it was a great opportunity to take the temperature of global M&A. Whilst Paris in spring is never to be sniffed at, a number of very positive themes emerged ...
Indonesia’s Currency Law came into effect on 28 June 2011 as Law No. 7 of 2011 on Currency (“Currency Law”). The Currency Law is the implementation of Article 23B of the 1945 Constitution which states that the types and value of the currency are to be further regulated under a law. Bank Indonesia issued on 31 March 2015 as an implementing regulation for the Currency Law, Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 17/3/PBI/2015 on the Obligation to Use Rupiah in the Indonesian Territory (“PBI 17/3/2015”) ...
The April issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Anthony W. Dee and associate Ma. Patricia B. Paz entitled “Philippines: Complaints mechanism concerns.”Download a PDF copy of the article or read the article online at the IFLR website ...
