To facilitate and support Thai residents’ offshore investments through local licensed intermediaries, the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new notification to amend requirements on the existing Collaboration Scheme between Thai Intermediaries and offshore financial institutions in offering investments in offshore securities and derivatives denominated in foreign currencies to investors based in Thailand, effective from 16 February 2024.
On 2 January 2024, the President of the Republic of Indonesia signed Law No. 1 of 2024 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (“EIT Law”) (“Amendment Law”). The Amendment Law was enacted and became effective on the same day. The Amendment Law covers some new provisions that seem to push for localization and domestic protection, such as the requirement for e-certification service providers to be domiciled in Indonesia and the requirement for international electronic contracts to be governed by Indonesian Law. The Amendment Law also elaborates on the prohibited acts under the EIT Law, and contains new provisions on government intervention.
Investigations are an essential tool for ensuring a company’s ethical standards are being followed by employees, business partners, and any others with whom the company interacts. However, investigations are also an essential tool for demonstrating and maintaining strong corporate governance – an integral part of a company’s ESG commitments and strategy. It is also a good time to set yourself some goals and resolutions. To help you on your way, we are pleased to share our top 5 Lunar New Year Resolutions for handling Internal or Government Investigations
The UK government has published its long-awaited response to the AI White Paper, “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation” published in March 2023. In this article, we distill the essential information you need to know.
Hot on the heels of the unanimous vote by Ambassadors for the EU Member States approving the EU AI Act on 2 February, on 13 February, lawmakers from the EU Parliament have also overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Act as it continues on its legislative journey. The joint internal market and civil liberties committee of the Parliament voted 71 to 8 to approve the Act, with 7 abstentions. This now leaves the path to bringing the Act into force only requiring a final vote by the European Parliament and national ministers, likely to be in April, which is now seen very much as a rubber-stamping exercise, given the votes that have taken place.
On 7 February 2024, the European Parliament voted on the proposed Directive amending the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU) (AIFMD) and the UCITS Directive (2009/65/EC) relating to delegation arrangements, liquidity risk management, supervisory reporting, provision of depositary and custody services, and loan origination by alternative investment funds.
The text of the directive will now be voted by the European Council. Once fully voted upon, the directive will enter into force on the 20th day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
EU member states will have two years from the directive’s entry into force to transpose it within their national law.
Although often viewed as one of the most open economies in Europe, the broader European policy push for more foreign direct investment (FDI) screening has also given momentum to the Dutch legislature to design and implement the very first Dutch cross-sector FDI screening regime. On 1 June 2023, the Act on Security Screening of Investments, Mergers, and Acquisitions (“Vifo Act”) entered into force.
A key step towards the adoption of the EU AI Act was reached on 2 February 2024 as the draft text received unanimous approval from the European Council’s main preparatory body. There are further votes to follow before the Act is adopted, but it’s looking likely that the final vote will take place in April and some substantive provisions of the Act could be in force soon after that, possibly by the end of the year.
Baker McKenzie’s newly updated Global Private M&A Guide is a comprehensive resource examining the impact of new and existing laws affecting deal structuring and private M&A generally in nearly 40 jurisdictions.
On 29 January 2024, through Resolution No. 51/2024 (Resolution), the Secretariat of Commerce repealed a series of provisions and resolutions, with the purpose of reducing bureaucracy and simplifying the processes of the entire production and consumption chain. Within the framework of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 70/2023 and the bill of “Bases and Starting Points for the freedom of Argentines”, which were recently promoted by the Executive Branch of the Nation, the Secretariat by means of the Resolution repealed more than 50 provisions and resolutions issued under its competence. This is in order to reduce bureaucracy and simplify the production processes in relation to consumer and to promote the elimination of certain obstacles and barriers within the trade industry.