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In brief The assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones addressed the annual Responsible Lending & Borrowing Summit in Sydney. His speech is available here. His speech announced that Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment arrangements will be regulated as credit and enforced by the Australian Securities and…

The Securities and Futures Commission recently released the Consultation Conclusions on the Proposed Regulatory Regime for Depositaries of SFC-authorised Collective Investment Schemes and the Further Consultation on Proposed Amendments to Subsidiary Legislation and SFC Codes and Guidelines to Implement the Regulatory Regime for Depositaries of SFC-authorised Collective Investment Schemes. Whilst many of the proposals from the 2019 original consultation will be adopted without change, the SFC has refined its approach in several key areas to provide greater clarity to the industry. We summarise the key requirements that will be applicable to RA 13 licensees, the Consultation Conclusions and the new proposals for consultation in the Further Consultation.

There has been a rise in cases in which The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited suspends trading in issuers’ shares because they have failed to comply with Rule 13.24 of the Main Board Listing Rules. Rule 13.24 requires an issuer to maintain a sufficient level of operations and assets of sufficient value to support its operations to warrant the continued listing of the issuer’s securities. The Court of Appeal in China Trends Holdings Limited v The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited [2021] HKCA 980 again upheld the Stock Exchange’s decision to suspend trading in an issuer’s shares pursuant to the equivalent of Rule 13.24 under the GEM Listing Rules. The Court of Appeal highlighted the court’s reluctance to interfere with the market regulators’ application of Rule 13.24 and clarified the application of this rule.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is one of the largest trading blocs in the world with the majority of African countries now operating under its preferential trade framework. Pomy Ketema, Counsel at Baker McKenzie in New York, discusses the agreement’s latest developments, and how businesses in Africa can benefit from AfCFTA, noting that the profitability of any endeavor depends on many factors, commercial and otherwise.

The current climate surrounding the COVID-19 crisis requires a significant level of flexibility in contractual relationships to provide flexibility regarding public procurement regulations for directly purchasing procedures for goods and services. Guidelines for directly executing contracts and a range of options available to contracting authorities.

The first package of tax measures for supporting the Italian economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak has finally been approved. Indeed, Law Decree No. 18 17 March 2020 (“Cura Italia Decree”) was converted into Law No. 27 on 29 April 2020, with some amendments with respect to the prior version, which are highlighted in ‘bold.’