On 18 December 2020, the EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) released a communication recommending insurance undertakings to maintain extreme caution in dividend distributions, share buy-backs or variable remunerations. These operations should not exceed thresholds of prudency and institutions should ensure that the resulting reduction in the quantity or quality of their own funds remains at levels appropriate to the current levels of risk.
Baker McKenzie’s Government Enforcement Practice Group would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We have all taken some time off for the holidays, and a lot has happened in the interim. Perhaps most significantly, Congress passed, over President Trump’s veto, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA). The most ballyhooed aspect of the NDAA, from a white-collar criminal law standpoint, has been the de facto elimination of anonymous shell companies — The Corporate Transparency Act, which is discussed below. However, the NDAA also included a number of other key provisions buried in the text, which are certain to assist the Government in its prosecution of white collar crime as well as increase compliance obligations on businesses. We have put together this note to clients and friends for the purpose of quickly updating you on these developments in a single document.
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This weekly briefing is available on demand and will cover hot topics and current enforcement actions related to white collar crime and criminal investigations in the US and abroad to arm you with the information you need to start your business week.
As one of the largest global law firms, we will call upon our exceptionally deep and broad bench of white collar experts throughout the world and particularly in the commercial hubs of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to join our weekly discussion series.
In brief In the World Energy Outlook 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) focused its analysis on the next 10-year period starting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2020, global energy demand is expected to decrease by 5%, energy-related CO2 emissions by 7% and energy investments by 18%.…
1) Recommendations on dividend distribution.
2) Extension of the deadline for the fulfillment of the ongoing education requirements for insurance intermediaries.
In collaboration with the World Economic Forum, Baker McKenzie has launched a new whitepaper entitled, “The Future of…
Digital transformation is not only about technology, it is about bringing together the power of technology with a culture that embraces the change and demands placed on the organizations by its customers. It enables the organization to continually transform and innovate to simultaneously drive and respond to the shifting demands…
Our multidisciplinary practitioners discuss the importance of the need for consumer goods and retail (CG&R) businesses to be aware of their “extended enterprise” – the complex network of third parties they depend on to develop, market and sell their products and services.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a number of developments to its open-ended fund companies (OFC) regime in the last few weeks of 2020. On 23 December 2020, the SFC released both its conclusions (“Conclusions”) on the customer due diligence (CDD) requirements for OFC consultations and updated frequently asked questions (FAQ) relating to OFCs to clarify custodial requirements.
The Conclusions represent the culmination of the SFC’s further consultation on the CDD requirements to be imposed on OFCs, as released in September 2020 in its consultation conclusions related to further enhancements to the OFC regime (“September Conclusions”).1 The new CDD requirements will come into effect after a six-month transition period following the completion of the legislative process to amend the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO). The September Conclusions contained, amongst other things, liberalisation of the types of entities that can act as custodian and the updated FAQ provide clarification of the requirements for an OFC’s custodial arrangements. We discuss the Conclusions and updated FAQ in more depth in this Alert.
On 7 January 2021, the City of Buenos Aires published Law No. 6,394 (“Law”) in the Official Gazette, through which it adhered to the Regime for the Promotion of the Knowledge Economy (“Regime”), created by national Law No. 27,506.
The Law establishes different reductions for the applicable Gross Receipt Tax (GRT) rates, depending on the commitments assumed by the beneficiaries of the Regime.