Following the fifth trilogue on 28 February 2023, the European Council and European Parliament each confirmed that a provisional agreement on the new standard to fight greenwashing in the bonds market, the “European Green Bonds Standard”, has now been reached.
Despite initially divergent views on several contentious points, with the Parliament pushing for substantive amendments to the Council’s proposal of 13 April 2022 intended further to heighten regulation, supervision, transparency and accountability across the entire green bond market, this provisional agreement marks a significant step towards creating the first ‘best in class’ standard for issuing green bonds.
On 15 February 2023, the European Parliament adopted the regulatory reform of the European long-term investments funds (ELTIFs) regulation to make these ELTIFs more attractive to asset managers and retail investors by facilitating their investments in the real economy and encouraging private capital flows toward more environmentally sustainable investments.
Since coming into force in 2015, the existing ELTIF regulation has offered long-term investment opportunities for professional and retail investors across Europe.
However, due to significant constraints on the distribution process and stringent rules on portfolio composition, only a limited number of ELTIFs have been launched to date.
FeMale Leaders by Baker McKenzie is an innovative and unique initiative. Our goal is to steadily increase the proportion of female leaders. To achieve this, we want to bring great women together for a high-level exchange and in a relaxed atmosphere.
With our new type of format, we will also include male supporters of our goal at FeMale Leaders for future panel discussions. Be excited about our future ideas and events!
On 24 February 2023, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim re-tabled the Malaysian Budget 2023 themed “Building Malaysia Madani.” The MADANI Budget is focused on addressing the current economic challenges, inspiring confidence with institutional and governance reforms and facilitating social justice by reducing inequality.
In an article for PLC Magazine, Kim Sartin, Zelander Gray and Sam Rayner look at how employers that are considering venturing into the metaverse will need to address new challenges that arise out of employees working in a virtual environment.
In an article written to coincide with International Women’s Day 2023, Baker McKenzie’s Monica Kurnatowska looks at law firm diversity and the importance of an evidence-based approach to inclusion and diversity.
A series of briefings that take a bite-size look at international trends in different jurisdictions, drawing on Baker McKenzie’s expert financial services practitioners with local market knowledge. This edition takes a bite-size look at the latest environment, social and governance developments in Brazil, the European Union, Belgium, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Download Baker McKenzie’s latest “Doing Business in Mexico” publication, which looks at foreign investment law, competition law, IMMEX, the Maquiladora Program, company law, taxes, international trade, labor law, the environment, intellectual property, and real estate.
Indonesia has been in the headlines with its 2022 G-20 presidency from December 2021 through November 2022. During its presidency, Indonesia was supportive of international community tax initiatives such as carbon tax policies and the global minimum tax. Domestically, the Indonesian government introduced tax reforms to update its tax systems and align its tax policies with international standards. In an article published in Tax Notes International, Baker McKenzie’s Ria Muhariastuti and Harizka Rizal discuss the Indonesian government’s efforts to reform its tax policies to meet international standards.
On 7 March 2023, the Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, announced the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2023/24 and the market studies and advocacy work that the ACCC would continue this year. Ms. Cass-Gottlieb identified a range of industry sectors, as well as specific competition and consumer law issues that will be the focus of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement activities for 2023/24. Many of these areas continue from last year.