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.
The Resolution ACC/747/2023, of 6 March 2023, was published in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (the Official Gazette of the Catalan Government). Said Resolution declared the state of exceptionality due to hydrological drought in the exploitation units of the Llobregat Reservoirs, Ter Reservoirs and Ter-Llobregat Reservoirs and modified the states of hydrological and pluviometric drought of other exploitation units in Catalonia (Spain)
In a time of recession, competition law regulations do not change in their content or enforcement. On the contrary, it is vital for companies to remain compliant with applicable antitrust laws and continue their commercially independent behavior. We provided an overview perspective on key antitrust and competition trends for emerging markets including, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa and Saudi Arabia in 2023.
The UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has updated its guidance on enforcement and monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions, to include a number of paragraphs setting out OFSI’s expectations around the nature and type of due diligence that companies should undertake when assessing whether an entity is owned or controlled by one or more designated persons, for sanctions purposes.
On 15 March 2023, the Government announced its Spring Budget 2023, which included some long awaited changes to the current Customs regime. Broadly, the announcements capture improvements following the Government’s 2022 Call for Evidence on an independent Customs regime.
On 15 March the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, released his Spring Budget 2023. With the Autumn Statement 2022 having to focus on the need to restore economic stability, in light of the UK political turmoil at that time, this was billed as a Budget for growth, encouraging business investment in the UK. The Government’s stated aim is to create a competitive, pro-business tax regime and the headline announcement – certainly going some way to achieving this – was on capital allowances.
The new Act on Screening of Foreign Investments – revamping the foreign direct investment screening mechanism in Slovakia – entered into force on 1 March 2023. Drawing from the EU FDI Regulation, the new FIR Act will have significant impact on inbound investments meeting specific legal criteria into Slovakia by non-EU investors.
Clean hydrogen plays a critical role in net zero strategies of the world’s leading economies. The US and the EU have already taken significant steps to position themselves at the forefront of the global race to net zero by launching state support packages on an unprecedented scale. Please join Baker McKenzie’s experts on 19 April 2023 at 3:00 pm GMT for a compare and contrast discussion of the US Inflation Reduction Act and the Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age with a focus on hydrogen.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Canada Imposes Additional Sanctions Against Russia: Prohibition on Steel and Aluminum Imports on 14 March 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.