Cross-border tax avoidance arrangement disclosure rules implementing OECD Model Mandatory Disclosure Rules referred to as “UK MDR” have come into force in the UK on 28 March 2023. In-scope arrangements entered into on or after this date must be reported to HMRC.
On 18 March 2023, Legislative Decree No. 26 of 2023 implementing EU Directive 2019/2161 was published in the Italian Official Journal.
After a long implementation process, the legislative decree will enter into force on 2 April 2023, amending and integrating the text of Legislative Decree no. 206 of 2005.
The new rules are intended to strengthen consumer protection when contracting, especially online, with traders. The new rules are also intended to fully harmonize consumer protection rules at European level by introducing greater transparency and more effective sanctions with regard to unfair commercial practices, unfair terms and distance contracts.
On 20 March 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO letter to benchmark administrators setting out the findings of its preliminary review into ESG benchmarks. The review covered: (i) the quality of disclosures made by a sample of UK benchmark administrators; and (ii) the robustness and reliability of ESG benchmarks themselves. The FCA’s key finding was that the overall quality of ESG-related disclosures made by benchmark administrators is currently “poor”.
Royal Decree 192/2023 on Medical Devices, which adapts Spanish national regulations to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2017/745, was published on 22 March 2023. The new Royal Decree identifies the competent authority in Spain for medical devices, expands the scope of some of the provisions to new kind of products and introduces provisions regarding the manufacture of in-house products and the reprocessing of single-use products, among other significant changes.
On 22 March 2023, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims.
The proposal aims to harmonize the evaluation and monitoring of voluntary environmental claims – often referred to as “green claims” – towards EU consumers and control the proliferation of public and private environmental labels. Complementing the March 2022 proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition as a lex specialis by providing more specific requirements on the substantiation, communication and verification of green claims, it contributes to the fight against “greenwashing”.
In an article for Compliance and Risk Journal, John Bracken considers the ever-changing employment law environment, highlighting recent and upcoming court decisions and legislative developments.
The Financial Conduct Authority has recently reiterated that its new Consumer Duty represents a significant shift in its expectations of affected firms. Good customer outcomes must be at the heart of firms’ business strategy and objectives. In an article for Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, Annabel Mackay and Kimberly Everitt provide an overview of the employment law implications of the Consumer Duty and lists next steps firms should take to ensure compliance.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Ukraine introduces a new set of sanctions against Russian, Iranian, Syrian and UAE persons on 21 March 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority has introduced stricter rules for commercializing virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin or Ether, among consumers in Belgium. Among others, advertisements must contain the disclaimer “Virtual currencies, real risks. The only guarantee in crypto is risk.” In addition, mass advertising campaigns to more than 25,000 people must be notified to the regulator 10 days in advance.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Blog Series: Sanctions Enforcement Around the G7, the German Perspective on 22 March 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.