Mexican newspaper “El Financiero” reported on 13 May 2014 that there has been a significant drop of luxury car sales in Mexico since September 2013 when the new Mexican anti-money laundering law (Ley Federal para la Prevención e Identificación de Operaciones con Recursos de Procedencia Ilícita) came into force. The…
On May 8, 2014, the United States Department of the Treasury and the Government of Gibraltar signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). This agreement will facilitate international tax compliance under the over-arching framework of the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA is designed to impede tax evasion from…
On May 7, 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that US SEC expanded its investigation into large banks‘ hiring practices in Asia. The SEC contacted at least five U.S. and European banks according to WSJ. None of the banks involved has been accused of wrongdoing. What the SEC is trying to investigate…
On April 4, 2014, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the first successfully litigated extradition on an antitrust charge. The DOJ extradited an Italian national to the United States from Germany on a charge of participating in a criminal bid rigging, price fixing, and market allocation…
On 17 April 2014, the European Parliament voted in favor of a proposal for a Directive which aims at strengthening legal redress for victims of infringements of EU antitrust law. In particular, victims of cartels and the abuse of dominant market positions will be able to claim damages compensation more…
Dow Jones recently published the results of its fourth online survey on anti-corruption programs. Compliance officers of 383 companies worldwide (80 in North America, 145 in Western Europe, 119 in Asia-Pacific, 39 in other countries) participated in the survey and evaluated their anti-corruption compliance program. Currently 82 % of the…
The European Parliament propelled legislative steps in order to change Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large companies and groups on 15 April 2014. Once in force, provisions on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information will require the companies concerned to…
On 29 January 2014, new Brazilian anti-corruption legislation came into force. It introduced a mechanism of direct corporate liability for fraud, bid rigging and bribery of both domestic and foreign public officials. In particular, the Brazilian Clean Companies Law prohibits “to promote, offer, or give, directly or indirectly, an improper…
As effective from 1 April 2014, a broad reform of the UK Competition Law substantially increases regulatory risks to businesses. In particular, the UK’s new laws on competition comprise the introduction of a unified regulator, changes to antitrust-enforcement rules, the widening of powers in market investigations and strengthened powers to…