As we embark on the journey towards net zero, financial institutions aspire to increase their understanding of Sustainability-related commercial and regulatory developments. We are inviting you to our upcoming webinar on 12 December 2022, which aims to cover global trends and highlight perspectives from Latin America.
Companies around the world have to comply with the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) with respect to personal data of consumers in Virginia. With the VCDPA, Virginia follows the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Consumer Rights Act of 2020, but excludes employee and business representative data from its scope.
On 21 November 2022, the Treasury put out a call for submissions to assist with developing the Federal Government’s regulatory framework for buy now, pay later (BNPL) arrangements. The released options paper seeks to address the purported lack of oversight of the BNPL industry which has so far not been regulated in the same way as other forms of consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. Pending stakeholder review, the paper seeks to strengthen the regulatory framework surrounding BNPL products and depending on the option adopted, may see them subject to the same regulations as credit cards or loan facilities.
Directors of Australian companies face significant personal monetary – and potential criminal and adverse professional – consequences if they allow the company to trade whilst insolvent.
Australian insolvent trading laws are harsher, and more frequently utilized to prosecute directors personally, than in many other jurisdictions including in the US and the UK.
On 25 May 2018, the Council of the European Union adopted a directive on the mandatory disclosure and exchange of cross-border tax arrangements. This is the sixth update of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, therefore referred to as ‘DAC6’ and the disclosure regime is now live.
Under the new rules, intermediaries such as lawyers, tax advisors, and accountants that design, promote or implement certain ‘arrangements’, or that provide advice in relation to such arrangements, are required to report them to tax authorities.
On 14 September 2022, the EU Commission published its proposal for a regulation introducing a ban on the placing and making available on the EU market or export from the EU market of products made using forced labor. Following on from Commission President von der Leyen’s announcement of the proposed ban in her State of the Union Address last year, under the proposed regulation, products found to have been made using forced labor cannot be sold in, exported from or imported into the EU.
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its long-awaited judgment in relation to the case of BTI 2014 LLC (Appellant) v. Sequana SA and others (Respondents) [2022] UKSC 25, concerning the duty of directors of a company registered under the Companies Act 2006 to consider (and act in accordance with) the interests of the company’s creditors.
Current global geopolitical changes have opened up new prospects for Algeria. On the one hand, Algeria is being courted by Europe and redoubling its efforts to increase its energy offering to reap record profit amid high gas prices. On the other hand, additional gas revenues offer opportunities for Algeria to develop the local industry in order to reduce its dependence on imports and fossil energy in the long term, and create jobs and technological partnerships. But can Algeria effectively create a competitive and business-friendly climate to attract foreign investors?
In August 2022, the Swiss Competition Commission launched an investigation against the multinational healthcare company Fresenius Kabi Group.
California recently enacted the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (“Act”) with the stated intention of requiring businesses to consider the best interests of minors under the age of 18 when designing, developing and providing online services. If your business currently offers online services that are likely to be accessed by minors in California, you should consider starting to prepare Data Protection Impact Assessments in accordance with the Act as soon as possible because the law will require covered businesses to undertake such assessments before offering these services to the public, and it will take time to address the risks identified by the assessments before the Act fully takes effect on 1 July 2024.