In this recording of our introductory workshop, Baker McKenzie FinTech Legal Accelerator: Cracking the Legal Code, held as part of the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2020, our lawyers across Asia Pacific give an overview of key fintech issues that start-ups or scale-ups need to know as they grow and expand…
A series of briefings that take a “bite-size” look at international trends in different jurisdictions, drawing on Baker McKenzie’s expert financial services practitioners.
The NSW State budget for 2020/21 was handed down on 17 November 2020 (“Budget”). The Budget contains measures that:
provide payroll tax relief and a program to encourage domestic and international businesses to relocate their head office, or expand their jobs footprint in NSW
allow land tax discounts
give transfer duty concessions for first home buyers and bush fire relief.
The Treasurer has also released a consultation paper setting out a significant proposal for tax reform, effectively replacing stamp duty over time with a property tax levied at higher rates than the current land tax.
ACCC enters multilateral framework to strengthen cross-border enforcement
Guilty plea in first criminal charge for obstructing ACCC investigation
Merger review round up; non-publication of post merger investigations
Digital Platforms Inquiry update: draft bargaining code; platforms respond
The new framework will facilitate coordination between the ACCC and competition agencies in the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand on cross-border competition investigations. For the first time, an individual plead guilty to a criminal charge of obstructing an ACCC investigation by inciting fellow employees to give false evidence to the ACCC. The ACCC remains active in assessing merger matters, while announcing that they will no longer place post-completion investigations on the public merger register. The ACCC also published a draft bargaining code-covering payment for news content; digital platforms have heavily criticized the code.
The Australian Government has released comprehensive terms of reference and an issues paper (“Issues Paper”) as part of its long-awaited review of the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”). The review forms part of the government’s response in December 2019 to recommendations in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry (“DPI Report”) to strengthen privacy laws in Australia. It marks the first of two papers seeking public input on the Privacy Act.
In brief On 9 November 2020, the Federal Government published a Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Decision RIS), recommending…
Read publication Welcome to the 20th edition of the Asia Pacific Insurance Newsletter. This edition covers insights, pertinent insurance-specific legal issues and significant regulatory developments in Australia, China/Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. If you missed earlier editions of this newsletter, you can access our newsletter…
The Fair Work Commission has found that an employer’s decision to not provide an employee with an at-home desk did not mean that the employee had no option but to resign from his job. The employee alleged that he was constructively dismissed when, as part of Victoria’s stage 3 coronavirus restrictions, his employer directed him to work from home but refused to provide him with or pay for a desk at his home. The Commission held that the employee could have purchased a desk himself or borrowed one from a friend.
This decision demonstrates that while employers should provide adequate equipment to allow employees to work from home, there will be a limit on what needs to be provided. Employers should assess what is reasonable and necessary on a case by case basis when requiring an employee to work from home.
Regulators around the world are responding quickly to the rapidly evolving financial technology, or fintech, landscape. As new…
The Australian Government has proposed welcome changes to the R&D tax incentive with effect from 1 July 2021, although without entirely retreating from its hotly debated proposed reforms (which the Senate Economics Legislation Committee is due to report on by 12 October).