On 23 February 2022, the EU Commission published its proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence obligations, which aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains.
On 10 December 2021, Japan announced its 2022 tax reform proposal, which contains a number of changes to the existing tax rules that may impact companies doing business in Japan, including changes that may provide some companies with a chance to reduce their Japanese tax burden, as well as changes that may result in potential pitfalls (e.g., disallowance of certain incentives, etc.) for failure to comply with the new provisions. Additionally, amendments were made to the Japanese Companies Act in 2021 introducing a share delivery regime.
Singapore Budget 2022 makes significant strides in charting Singapore’s path into the future. As the nation faces an ageing population and seeks to recover from a prolonged pandemic amidst an increasingly volatile global landscape, Budget 2022 aims to prepare Singapore to meet these challenges while securing the opportunities of the future. What is of particular note in Budget 2022 is the announcement of changes to the tax system that are broadly aimed at building a fairer and more resilient revenue structure for Singapore. Importantly, Singapore is exploring the possible introduction of a minimum effective tax rate for multinational enterprise groups.
Christopher Hanna discusses Republican lawmakers’ concerns regarding whether the OECD’s Pillar Two Model Rules are good for American businesses.
As part of the Malaysian Budget 2022 speech last year, the Minister of Finance announced that it will introduce a special voluntary disclosure program for indirect taxes as part of concerted measures to increase tax revenue for the Malaysian Government. The guidelines underpinning the foregoing program was recently published by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department with a notable inclusion of an amnesty element within the framework of the rebranded Voluntary Disclosure and Amnesty Program for indirect taxes.
Companies undertaking capital raisings can approach the world’s capital markets in various ways. Through an initial public offering, listing either in its home jurisdiction or cross-border, a company can access major global finance hubs and capital from a deep pool of investors around the world.
In addition, an IPO can help a company raise its profile with customers, suppliers and the media as well as providing it with an opportunity to improve internal systems and controls, and increase the general operating efficiency for the business to conform with the regulatory scheme for public companies.
We are delighted to have joined this ground-breaking initiative supporting The Payments Association and other private industry stakeholders in the creation of the Green Paper report examining the potential for Central Bank Digital Currencies, ‘A New Era for Money’. The paper advocates for closer public-private collaboration to advance exploration of a digital currency in the UK, before a real-world pilot of ‘digital pound’ (dSterling).
On 23 February 2022, the Belgian Royal Decree of 8 February 2022 on the status and supervision of service providers for the exchange of virtual currency and fiat currency and custodian wallet providers (“Virtual Currency Royal Decree”) was published in the Belgian State Gazette. The Virtual Currency Royal Decree introduces registration requirements and operating conditions for virtual currency service providers into Belgian law. The Virtual Currency Royal Decree will enter into force on 1 May 2022, with a grandfathering regime for existing service providers.
The amended Automotive Production Development Programme was recently released by the South African Revenue Service with the aim of growing the automotive industry. In recent years, the automotive industry has been proactive in its approach to the new regulations, with substantial investments being made in the sector.
A significant new rulemaking proposal from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would fundamentally alter how private investment funds negotiate and communicate with their investors. The proposal (“Proposal”) would prohibit indemnification of managers for many types of mistakes, restrict some common side letter terms, require auditors to report certain events to the SEC and mandate quarterly reporting for private fund investors. Crucially, some of the Proposal’s prohibitions would, for the first time, substantively regulate unregistered and exempt investment advisers, both inside and outside of the United States.