This article provides an overview of the German regime for crypto securities and of the recent and future expansion of the scope of the German Act on Electronic Securities, which will allow for more use cases. The eWpG provides a reliable regime for crypto securities. It entered into force in the summer of 2021, but its scope has recently been expanded. Under even more ambitious plans, the German government intends to expand its scope further.
On 28 December 2022, significant amendments to the ordinance on notifications pursuant to Section 2c of the German Banking Act and Section 17 of the German Insurance Supervision Act, the Ownership Control Ordinance went into force.
With a significant delay, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has issued detailed rules on the new notification requirement regarding proposed outsourcings introduced in the Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act, a law passed on 3 June 2021 in reaction to market failures.
From end-2023, freshly prepared beverages with high sugar and saturated fat content will be required to display ‘Nutri-Grade’ labels. The ‘Nutri-Grade’ labelling requirements that presently apply to retail settings will also be extended to apply to non-retail settings such as workplaces, schools and healthcare institutions.
On 13 February 2023, the Singapore Food Agency published a media release in relation to a licensed food importer’s failure to arrange for the inspection, examination and certification of its imported food consignments. The food importer proceeded to sell the imported food consignments prior to the inspections and was fined SGD 13,500 by the court.
On 30 November 2022, a new law amending the Code of Consumption for the purpose of transposing Directive (EU) 2019/2161 was published in the Luxembourg Official Gazette. The New Law entered into force on 4 December 2022.
The Omnibus Directive amends several existing EU consumer protection legislation, including the Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Price Indications Directive, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and Consumer Rights Directive and widens the customer rights framework to also cover digital goods, content, and services.
On 1 February 2023, State Decree No. 112/20231 was published, establishing the take-back requirements system for packaging in the state of Mato Grosso. The decree is the first specific regulation on the subject in MT, regulating the state policy for solid waste (Law No. 7,862/2002) in this regard.
On 14 December 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed four separate rulemakings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that would create a federally defined best execution standard for broker-dealers and overhaul the US equities market structure. If adopted in their current form, these proposals would meaningfully impact market participants and practices. Given the nearly 1,700 pages of combined rules proposals, firms may need to devote significant resources just to digest their potential impact on particular business models. In a series of Client Alerts, baker McKenzie associates attempt to dissect each of these Market Structure Proposals. This Client Alert provides an overview, insights, and key takeaways for the Order Competition Rule Proposal.
At the 20th working session, which took place from 13 February 2023 – 15 February 2023, the National Assembly Standing Committee of Vietnam considered and decided on a number of important issues, including: the draft Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, the draft Law on Electronic Transactions and the draft Decree on Personal Data Protection.
On 1 February 2023, the Austrian National Council passed the so-called Whistleblower Protection Act (HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz). This law regulates a set of obligations for companies in relation to whistleblowing, with the setup of an internal “whistle-blowing system” a priority. This new law will come into force shortly — following a formal confirmation by the Federal Council of Austria, which is still pending. The Austrian legislator is finally implementing the requirements of the EU Whistleblower Directive, although with a delay of more than a year.