A recent High Court decision and the re-introduction of proposed legislation to Parliament which will make it easier to prosecute bribery of foreign officials, both emphasize the importance of companies having adequate procedures in place to ensure that their employees and agents are not engaging in conduct which could expose the company to significant fines.
On 2 August 2023, under Resolution No. 122/NQ-CP, the government approved the formulation of a Resolution of the National Assembly as proposed by the Ministry of Finance for implementing Pillar Two. In particular, the proposal of the MOF includes a draft resolution on the Income Inclusion Rule and Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax in addition to other documents such as reports on impact and opinions of other ministries. The government plans to have the proposed legislation discussed and adopted during the October session of the National Assembly.
In response to the “MeToo” movement, Taiwan’s Government amended the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (AGEE) on 31 July 2023. The new AGEE amendments will take effect on 8 March 2024.
We are pleased to announce that Baker McKenzie has published the FY24 edition of Directors Duties in Australia.
Matters covered in the guide include common law and statutory duties, financial reporting, continuous disclosure, insider trading and other topical issues including managing environmental and cyber security risk.
Vietnam currently maintain a drop ship model under which a foreign buyer may purchase goods in Vietnam, and instruct the seller to deliver the goods to another Vietnamese entity, which is called “On The Spot” Export/Import (OTS).
Under this OTS scheme, the seller is still qualified as exporting their goods out of Vietnam to enjoy certain tax and duty incentives (i.e., import duty exemption of imported materials, 0% VAT).Under this new proposal, OTS scheme is to be abolished, and current transactions would be categorized under other existing rules.
Following the re-tabling of the Malaysian Budget 2023 on 24 February 2023, the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board and Royal Malaysian Customs Department have reintroduced the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme 2.0 and the Voluntary Disclosure Programme which apply to direct taxes and indirect taxes respectively. A similar programme was previously implemented in 2022 for indirect taxes and in 2019 for direct taxes, although there are some key differences in respect of the scope and incentives.
The Ministry of Planning and Finance issued the Customs Rules relating to Protection of Trade Mark Rights (Notification No. 50/2023) (“Customs Rules”), which took effect from 14 July 2023.
The Customs Rules set out the requirements and procedure with respect to the recordal of trade mark rights with the Myanmar Customs, as well as the suspension order against the release of counterfeit goods depicting unauthorized marks into free circulation.
In an effort to strengthen the working relationship and collaborative efforts of the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), both regulators have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 3 August 2023 in light of the rising complexity of competition issues that straddles the jurisdictions of both regulators.
On 31 July 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published a Consultation Paper setting out a proposed regulatory framework for Single Family Offices (SFOs) in Singapore. The new measures under this proposed framework allows MAS to enhance its surveillance and defense against money laundering risks within the SFO sector.
On 27 July 2023, the Malaysian Ministry of Economy has published Part 1 of the National Energy Transition Roadmap (“NETR Part 1”) to effectively manage energy transition. Energy transition signifies a shift from a fossil fuel-dominated energy system to a greener system based on clean and renewable energy sources. The NETR Part 1 sets the direction of the Malaysian government in developing future capabilities and shaping demand in the green energy market, by providing ten flagship catalyst projects based on six energy transition levers.