President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11659 or “An Act Amending Commonwealth Act No. 146,” otherwise known as the Public Service Act, as amended on 21 March 2022. The amendment aims to liberalize previously restricted service industries to encourage private enterprise and foreign investment. While the law provides an exclusive list of sectors that are to be classified as ‘public utilities’ that remain subject to foreign ownership restrictions, the amendment also removes the 40% foreign ownership investment cap on certain public service sectors, including telecommunications.
In March 2022, Australian Securities & Investments Commission published a response to submissions received to its consultation on review of the ePayments Code. In its response, ASIC proposed various revisions to the current voluntary code, including that scam payments will no longer be regarded as “mistaken internet payments” and reporting requirements for unauthorized transactions will change.
Changes to the Franchising Code commencing 1 April 2022 will introduce an online public Register of franchises in Australia from later this year. Anticipated for some time, the Register and will add to the annual compliance requirements for most franchisors. However, the information required to be filed is significantly reduced from that suggested in the Government’s 2021 Exposure Draft legislation.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Japan introduces further sanctions against Russia on 29 March 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On March 24, Canada amended its sanctions measures imposed on Myanmar by designating an additional 4 individuals and 2 entities. The Canadian Government indicated that these new sanctions are intended to target arms flows, individuals and entities who procure and supply arms and military equipment to Myanmar. These new measures were developed in coordination with the United Kingdom and United States.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Australian Government makes first designated party listings under Magnitsky-style thematic sanctions regime on 30 March 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The Singapore government has released White Paper On Singapore Women’s Development on 28 March 2021, the first whole-of-society review of women’s development. Acting on data collected and analysis of feedback on areas where women still face barriers and challenges, the White Paper sets out 25 collective action plans in five main areas to advance women’s development. Employers should note that the first of these areas concerns providing equal opportunities in the workplace, and will involve: strengthening laws to address unfair and discriminatory employment practices, and developing advisories and guidelines to encourage adoption of flexible work arrangements.
In brief
• New parental and elder care leave requirements implemented throughout China
• New regulations allow employers to request criminal record searches of certain candidates and employees
• Regulations on vocational school interns undergo major revisions
• Latest amendments to Labor Union Law emphasize party leadership
• Guangzhou city further clarifies procedures for implementing mass redundancies
• Guangdong province implements new regulations concerning the human resources services market
• Supreme People’s Court holds ex-employees liable for infringement of former employer’s trade secrets
• Beijing court rejects employee’s claim that “proof of termination” affected his future employment prospects
The Hong Kong Judiciary continued to further expand the scope of remote hearings and issued various guidance notes and guidelines to facilitate the operation of remote hearings since its first initiative during the General Adjournment Period (GAP) in 2020. In response to the fifth wave of COVID-19 in early 2022, the Judiciary implemented the second GAP on 7 March 2022 and issued its latest guidance note dated 25 March 2022 on hearing outside court rooms , which took effect on 28 March 2022. This alert provides an update on the development of remote hearings in Hong Kong.
The president of the Philippines has signed into law Republic Act No. 11659 (“RA 11659”), which: (a) removes foreign equity restrictions on most public service companies, except those considered as ‘public utility’ and ‘critical infrastructure’; (b) limits the scope of ‘public utility’ to public service companies involved in distribution and transmission of electricity, petroleum and petroleum products pipeline transmission systems, water pipeline distribution systems, wastewater and sewerage pipeline systems, seaports, and public utility vehicles (PUVs); and (c) limits the scope of ‘critical infrastructure’ to public service companies that own, use or operate systems and assets that are “vital to the Republic of the Philippines that the incapacity or destruction of such systems or assets would have a detrimental impact on national security, including telecommunications and other such vital services as may be declared by the President of the Philippines”.