Please join Baker McKenzie and ICPA for a fireside chat with Assistant Secretary Axelrod (U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security) where he will share his insights on what to expect in the year ahead for export enforcement. Assistant Secretary Axelrod will provide his perspectives on Bureau of Industry and Security priorities and the multilateral enforcement framework that is emerging globally.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted amendments to the rules governing beneficial ownership reporting under Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Among other changes, the amendments accelerate the deadlines for initial and amended Schedule 13D and Schedule 13G filings. The amendments will become effective on February 5, 2024. However, compliance with the revised Schedule 13G filing deadlines will not be required until September 30, 2024.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Act is a landmark development in the UK Government’s long-standing efforts to enhance the UK’s economic crime enforcement framework, and the Act introduces a number of important measures designed to improve corporate transparency and tackle economic crime in the UK
and abroad.
The last thirty days in September, the end of the US federal government’s fiscal year, is generally an important time to analyze enforcement activity by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In this short video, Baker McKenzie Partner Peter Chan, a former SEC Assistant Director of Enforcement, provides his insights regarding the importance of the timing of some of these enforcement actions.
On 30 October 2023, President Biden issued a 63-page Executive Order to define the trajectory of artificial intelligence adoption, governance, and usage within the United States government. The Executive Order outlines eight guiding principles and priorities for US federal agencies to adhere to as they adopt, govern, and use AI. While safety and security are predictably high on the list, so too is a desire to make America a leader in the AI industry, including AI development by the federal government.
Artificial Intelligence is a leading technology that is advancing rapidly. Many industries are anticipated to benefit from AI assistance, which may also affect human workforce in certain industries in the near future. Currently, two draft legislations have been introduced in Thailand: (i) The Draft Royal Decree on Business Operations that Use Artificial Intelligence System; and (ii) The Draft Act on the Promotion and Support of AI Innovations in Thailand.
The Companies Registry has announced the adoption of an Unique Business Identifier for all entities under the administration of the Registrar of Companies on 27 December 2023 and revised 117 specified forms to take effect from the same date.
On 28 August 2023, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition published proposed amendments (the Companies Amendment Bill and Companies Second Amendment Bill) to the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008. We have set out a summary of certain of these amendments, which, in our view, are noteworthy, as well as our views on these amendments.
With the new year comes the 1 January 2024 effective date of the Corporate Transparency Act, which will require approximately 32.6 million US entities to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). On 28 September 2023, FinCEN published proposed regulations modifying the BOI Reporting Requirements, which are found in the CTA’s implementing regulations.
On 19 September 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine adopted Regulation No. 1011, introducing a comprehensive methodology to identify the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of legal entities in Ukraine. This significant development aims to enhance transparency and provide detailed guidance on the process of identifying UBOs, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that legal entities in Ukraine are able to correctly identify UBOs within their ownership structure and disclose this information to the competent authorities.