The federal government has enacted Federal Decree no. 10,946/2022, which establishes and regulates the guidelines for energy generation in offshore projects, particularly about the use of maritime space and the exploitation of natural resources. With the publication of the Decree and according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, certain gaps are expected to be filled, in addition to a greater regulatory assurance involving the development of offshore power generation projects.
The Baker McKenzie Asia Pacific Employment & Compensation Team is pleased to provide you with our fourth quarterly update for 2021 highlighting key employment law changes across the Asia Pacific region.
US Senate Democrats, with support from the White House, have introduced the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022. This bill seeks to deter a Russian “escalation” of hostilities in or against Ukraine through the threat of imposing sanctions against Russian officials and companies, as well as individuals and entities involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
On 28 January 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the representative office of the European Union about the expansion of the list of representatives of EU member states and institutions prohibited from entering the territory of the Russian Federation. The names of the banned persons did not become public. No economic sanctions have been imposed against them.
The Australian government has been consulting on potential additional sanctions measures to target Russian individuals and entities if considered by the government as being implicated in aggression towards Ukraine. At this point it is unclear what regulatory path the government would take in imposing any new measures. The government could impose measures using the new US Magnitsky-style thematic sanctions that took effect in December 2021. Alternatively, the government may decide to take the path already well-trodden and add to the existing list of designated parties for Russia, Crimea and Sevastopol.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published an update to the monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions guidance on 28 January 2022. The guidance sets out how OFSI will decide when to use its civil enforcement powers to impose monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions, and how such penalties will be calculated.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a final rule amending and reissuing the Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations, to further implement two existing Executive Orders related to transnational criminal organizations: “Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations,” and “Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
The UK Government announced, on 31 January 2022, a planned expansion of the UK’s sanctions regime against Russia in relation to developments concerning Ukraine. Limited detail has been published, so far, on the scope of the proposed changes. The new sanctions will be introduced as part of new legislation due to be implemented by 10 February 2022.
Baker McKenzie is pleased to launch the second in our Biden Supply Chain Policy video series focused on the semiconductor and advanced packaging supply chain. This is one of four critical supply chains that has been a particular focus of the Biden Administration’s supply chain policies. In this video, Baker McKenzie associates discuss the legal and compliance considerations for companies operating in this sector with a specific focus on tax, trade and foreign investment review implications.
This post in the Baker McKenzie Import and Trade Remedies Blog outlines recent customs developments in Turkey. The developments include: the amendment to the Customs Regulations on 30 December 2021, the ratification of the Decision of the EU-Common Transit Countries (CTC) Joint Committee amending the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure, the amendment of the Turkish Import Regime Decision and the Decision Regarding the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports, amendment to the Decision Regarding the Application of Additional Customs Duty on Imports, and new communiqués published for 2022.