The Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed its intention to table the Health Information Bill (Bill) in the second half of 2023. Through the Bill, the MOH seeks to enable the collection of patients’ selected health data from healthcare providers and to allow healthcare providers to share patient information with one another in a safe and secure manner.
Following the implementation of the Healthcare Services Act in phases since January 2020, the Ministry of Health announced the first and second reading of the Healthcare Services (Amendment) Bill (Bill) on 6 February 2023 and 6 March 2023 respectively. If passed, most of the amendments as set out in the Bill will be implemented together with the second phase of implementation of the Healthcare Services Act in mid-2023.
The Carbon Pricing (Amendment) Act 2022 (“Act”), which came into force on 7 March 2023 and amends the Carbon Pricing Act 2018, seeks to advance Singapore’s transition towards net-zero.
The Act aims to encourage emitters of greenhouse gases to proactively reduce emissions by:
(a) progressively increasing carbon tax rates;
(b) introducing an industry transition framework to provide transitory allowances to companies in Emissions-Intensive Trade-Exposed sectors;
(c) setting up an International Carbon Credits framework; and
(d) revising the list of greenhouse gases and their Global Warming Potential Values.
On 21 March 2023, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) under the Ministry of Information and Communications released a white list specifying local service providers whose online websites and/or social networks are verified and suitable for online advertisements (“White List”). This is part of ABEI’s initiative to encourage brands and advertisers to prioritize displaying advertisements on non-violating websites.
At its 21st session (from 15 March to 20 March 2023), the National Assembly Standing Committee of Vietnam (NASC) considered and gave remarks on a number of essential draft legislation to be passed this year.
To help you stay informed about employment law developments in Asia Pacific, Baker McKenzie has launched its latest podcast series, Need to Know: The Asia Pacific Employment Law Podcast. In this series, we will be discussing recent legislative changes, notable cases and other employment law hot topics. In our first episode, partner Trishelea Sandosam (Kuala Lumpur) and legal assistant Han Yang Quek (Kuala Lumpur) explain the key changes to Malaysia’s Employment Act that came into effect on 1 January 2023, and what employers should be doing in response to these changes.
The Australian Federal Government is consulting on a new financial reporting requirement for public companies (listed and unlisted) to disclose information about their consolidated entities, including their country of tax domicile. The change will apply in relation to financial years commencing from 1 July 2023. Submissions can be made until 13 April 2023.
On 17 March 2023, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a Frequently Asked Question relating to the disclosure of interests in PRC issuers under Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance, Cap. 571. Practice Note 25 was published on the same date to provide guidance on the application of the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs to PRC issuers in light of the New PRC Regulations.
The public consultation round for the draft Law on Citizen Identification has recently ended. Among other objectives, the Draft Law aims at supplementing and integrating more citizen data into the National Database on Population so that Citizen ID Cards and the National e-Identification Application can be utilized more in both public services and private transactions, gradually cutting red tape.
This second video is part of a series about sustainable business models for smart cities. In this second part, Baker McKenzie’s Yaeko Hodaka and Tsugihiro Okada together with specialists Mr. Yasunori Mochizuki (NEC Fellow), Mr. Akihito Karasawa, (Manager of the Digital Planning Section, Smart City Promotion Department, Digital Strategy & Promotion Bureau of Sapporo City) and Mr. Tadashi Kaji (Senior Chief Researcher of Hitachi, Ltd.’s Research and Development Group) discuss legal issues that need to be taken into account.