In this edition of In the Know, we will provide a “primer” in respect of the developments in the digital bond space, using the European Investment Bank bond as a potential bellwether event for future development in our markets and then try and address some fundamental questions — what does all this mean for our market? Where are we headed now?
In the early hours of 17 June 2022, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization adopted a package of decisions after five days and nights of intense negotiations that appeared to be teetering on the brink of collapse. With the WTO’s credibility on the line, trade ministers were able to compromise and reach consensus at the last minute, reaffirming the WTO’s capacity to deliver multilateral trade rules and provide trade-related responses to some of the most pressing global issues. The “Geneva Package” includes decisions on: (i) fisheries subsidies; (ii) a partial waiver of patent protections under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in relation to COVID-19 vaccines; (iii) a moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions; and (iv) WTO reform.
On 11 January 2022, the Personal Data Protection Authority (“Authority”) published the Draft Guideline on Use of Cookies and on 20 June 2022, it published the Guideline on Use of Cookies (“Guideline”). With the Guideline, the Authority aims to bring forward recommendations to ensure compliance of cookie usage procedures followed by data controllers with the Personal Data Protection Law.
Mirroring earlier proposals by the European Commission, in a move anticipated by the industry, HM Treasury has confirmed that it will implement a regime whereby third-party firms designated as “critical” will be subject to direct regulatory oversight by the financial regulators. The Treasury published a policy statement on 8 June 2022, setting out its framework for mitigating the risks caused by financial services firms outsourcing important functions to third-party service providers.
On 25 May 2022, the Federal Council passed an amendment to the Price Disclosure Ordinance. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure clarity and comparability of prices and to prevent the use of misleading prices. This latest amendment was precipitated by federal court ruling 4A_235/2020, which caused uncertainty on the question of the timing of price disclosure in online trade.
In recent years, a considerable number of examples of successfully monetized smart city businesses have emerged, particularly in Europe and the US. In Japan, however, very few examples of monetized, sustainable smart city businesses exist. The failure to find a business model that can be monetized would be a major problem for both companies and local governments.
In order to help tackle this issue, Baker McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) lawyers Yaeko Hodaka and Keisuke Misuda, together with the World Economic Forum (WEF), prepared a video titled “Smart City Business Models: Factors Hindering Sustainable Commercialization and How They Can Be Overcome.”
Until recently, there was no clear deadline for the registration obligation imposed on offshore or foreign private electronic system operators (ESOs) under Minister of Communication and Informatics (MOCI) Regulation No. 5 of 2020 on Private Electronic System Operators, as lastly amended by MOCI Regulation No. 10 of 2021 (“MOCI Regulation 5”).
When MOCI Regulation 5 was first enacted, there was a six-month transitional period for private ESOs to conduct ESO Registration after the regulation became effective on 24 November 2020. However, in practice, the Indonesian Online Single Submission (OSS) system was not yet able to accommodate registration applications by offshore private ESOs. As a result, the timeline for ESO Registration was further extended to become six months after the OSS system became effective.
On 22 June 2022, the MOCI held a press conference to announce that the six-month period was counted from 21 January 2022 (deemed as the date on which the OSS system became effective), and that therefore the deadline for ESO Registration would be 20 July 2022.
At UK FinTech Week 2022 in April, the Treasury announced a host of new and forthcoming initiatives to build on the UK’s “FinTech success stories” and support its push to become the loading global hub for crypto businesses. The initiatives range from incubators (like the Financial Market Infrastructure Sandbox and the FCA’s CryptoSprint events), to industry engagement partnerships through a Cryptoasset Engagement Group, to reviews of the tax treatment of crypto and the legal status of Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. Most significant among the announcements is the Treasury’s confirmation that it will bring activities that issue or facilitate the use of stablecoins used as a means of payment into the UK regulatory perimeter.
It is well known that online booking platforms often contractually restrict the freedom of accommodation providers to set their own prices for the accommodation offered (so-called “price-fixing clauses”). A newly adopted amendment to the Swiss Act against Unfair Competition (UCA) now limits these as well as other practices of online booking platforms
On 9 June 2022, Joint General Resolution No. 5205/2022 of the Federal Tax Authority and the National Mining Secretariat was published in the Official Gazette. Such resolution repeals Joint General Resolution 4428/2019 and sets the new regulatory framework applicable to subjects that have borne, in a fiscal year and in national jurisdiction, a total tax and/or tariff burden higher than what would have corresponded for being beneficiaries of the tax stability provided in Article 8 of the Mining Investment Law, and wish to request the refund or crediting of the amounts paid in excess according to the provisions of paragraph c) of Article 4° of Annex I of Decree No. 1,089 of 7 May 2003.