Updated AIFMD Q&As The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an updated version of its Q&A paper on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). This publication was released on...
Morocco - New opportunities for investments of companies based in Morocco By Jawad Fassi-Fehri In Morocco, measures aiming to make Casa Finance City (CFC) a financial continental platform are progressing. After the announcement by the African Develo...
Changes to The Child Trust Fund Regulations and ISA Regulations have been proposed. Both sets of amended regulations, which are currently in draft form, are expected to be finalised later this month and come into force on 6 April 2015. The changes ...
Interview with Maris VainovskisBilances Juridiskie Padomi No.8 (14) August 2014Foreign capital is more and more active in acquisition of Latvian companies. Will there be any large local companies left in the future at all?There is such a tendency in...
In the same week that the Recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID 2) and its companion Regulation (MiFIR) were ...
The European Commission (Commission) has contacted the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and, more recently, the European Banking Authority...
The European Commission (Commission), Parliament and the Council have now reached agreement on the texts for the Recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (...
In our previous briefing we reported on HMRC’s recent briefing on the tax treatment of payments of trail commission rebated to...
On 25 March, HMRC published a briefing on the tax treatment of payments of trail commission which is rebated to investors in collective investment schemes and other investment products such as life insurance policies. The briefing relates to any reb...
On 19 March, the Financial Services Authority published its much anticipated second consultation on AIFMD: “Implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive” – CP 13/9. The FSA paper came hot on the heels of HM ...
FSA survey on AIFMD – aiming to provide support to AIFMs On 11 March 2013, the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) published new web-pages on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), including an o...
In late 2008, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) reviewed how firms had implemented key aspects of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). It has now published the results of that review. Generally the FSA has been encouraged by ...
Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in the US, filed for bankruptcy this morning. If you have funds which have entered into OTC derivatives contracts with Lehmans under an ISDA Master Agreement you may be considering your posi...
From 1 October 2008, all directors of UK companies have a duty under the Companies Act 2006 to avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest. The new law places a positive onus on the director to avoid these conflict situations; it is not sufficie...
Introduction The Institutional Limited Partners Association (“ILPA”) has released Version 3.0 of its Principles aimed at fostering transparency, governance and alignment of interests for general partners (“GPs”) and limited p...
On 12 February 2016, the Government gazetted the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2016 (the “Bill”). The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first and second readings on 2 March 2016 but it is not clear when it may come i...
Global unions renew pressure on labour conditions in supply chainsGlobal trade unions are continuing to work with pressure groups and human rights activists to hold companies to account for labour conditions in their supply chains. Their activities ...
More flexibility for group companies to enforce proprietary rights and restrictions against employees? The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance (Cap. 623) (the “Ordinance”) came into force in Hong Kong on 1 January 2016. The Ord...
Compulsory provision of health insurance by employers in FranceThe safeguarding of employees’ wellbeing is a key focus of French employment legislation. From biannual consultations with employees to evaluate the psychological impacts of their ...
New legislation on occupational accidents and diseasesThe Act on occupational accidents and occupational diseases (459/2015) came into force on 1 January 2016. By combining the earlier three Acts on occupational accidents and diseases into one, the ...
Prescription (the lapse of arbitration awards) in employment There have been a number of conflicting judgments dealing with the prescription of arbitration awards and how the term “debt” should be defined in the employment arena. ...
Supreme Court rulings on fixed term and overtime work In its recent rulings, the Supreme Court of Estonia has clarified appropriate compensation for the early termination of a fixed term employment contract and also how to determine overtime work wh...
A number of employment law changes have taken effect at the start of 2016… Increased fines for unfulfilled employment quotas Employers with more than 25 employees must employ at least one employee with a disability for every 25 employees in t...
Private sector wage increasesAn increase of 6% has been agreed for private sector pay, following a negotiation between the UGTT and UTICA. This agreement provides for an increase of 6% on basic salary, plus an increase in the transport allowance by ...
Increase in parental leave days Swedish parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted. In principle, each parent is entitled to 240 days’ leave, some of which is available exclusively for that parent&...
2016 – A new year and a new employment claims system in Ireland 2015 brought a number of changes to the Irish employment law landscape. The most significant change was the introduction of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 (the “Act”...
Latest developments in temporary employment (agency or leased workers) In Germany, the provision of temporary personnel is strictly regulated by the German Law on Labour Leasing Act (AÜG). The principle is straightforward: the agency is the emp...
New requirement to issue itemised payslips and key employment terms With effect from 1 April 2016, all Singapore employers will be required to issue itemised payslips and key employment terms to employees covered under the Singapore Employment Act. ...
Ministry of Labour makes numerous labour law changes The Ministry of Labour made a number of changes to labour law with effect from 18 October 2015. Amongst other things, the amendments cover disciplinary procedures, training, Saudization privileges...
UAE employers be aware - new UAE employment requirementsThree new Ministerial Decrees came into effect on 1 January 2016. These Decrees, issued by the Ministry of Labour (“MOL”), impact upon the way job offers are made and have implicati...
Important EU data protection changes are a step nearerAfter years in the offing, the EU Parliament, Council and Commission representatives have reached political agreement on the drafting of the new EU data protection framework. Although minor modif...
Major new anti-slavery law affecting global organisations doing business in the UK in force The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial organisations with a turnover of £36 million and above and supplying goods or services to publicly repo...
Swiss working time regulations simplified for higher ranked employees On 1 January 2016, new articles 73a and 73b of the Swiss Ordinance relating to the Labour Law Act (OLLA1) entered into force. Reflecting the reality of today’s work life, th...
Amendment to the Labour Code and the Employment Act On 1 October 2015, amendments to the Czech Labour Code and the Employment Act came into effect and brought about substantial changes to Czech labour law, affecting most employers in the Czech Repub...
Court extends flexible working rights under the Spanish Constitution?In a recent case involving a request for flexible working, the court found in favor of the employee by granting his request for a flexible starting time, relying on Article 39 of t...
Changes to fixed term (definite term) employment contracts On 22 February 2016, an amendment to the Labour Code on definite period employment contracts will come into force. This amendment will introduce new rules allowing an employer to conclude no...
Working after pensionable age – new legislation takes effect Over the coming years the Dutch pensionable age (currently 65) is set to increase gradually, in order to offset the costs associated with an ageing population. By 2021 the pension ag...
Reform of section 2103 of the Italian civil code, concerning modification of work duties Section. 3 of law decree no. 81 of 2015 significantly amended section 2103 of Italian civil code. In its original form the rule set out that “an employee ...
A digital age of evidence in employment disputes In China, when an employer wishes to terminate an employee’s employment, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show that the statutory grounds for justifying the termination have been met...
EU consultation on changing collective consultation lawOver the summer, the EU Commission’s consultation on strengthening existing EU legislation on worker information and consultation closed and the outcome is currently awaited. Three Directi...
Working hours in Hong Kong Some employers are surprised to learn that (save for rules regarding children, young persons in industrial undertakings, statutory holidays and rest days) there is no regulatory framework restricting or monitoring standard...
Labour Brokers and Clients: The Assigned roles of Employers In recent years South Africa has experienced progressively stricter regulation on the use of labour brokers (also known as employment agencies in some other jurisdictions - placing workers ...
Introduction to Abu Dhabi Global Market – Employment Regulations In 2013 the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) was established as a financial free zone in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Since then, the ADGM has implemented its own rules and regul...
Court expands discrimination lawThe CJEU has ruled that EU law covers indirect discrimination by association - a decision which expands the reach of discrimination law. It decided that an individual may claim indirect discrimination under the EU Rac...
Determining exempted employment categoriesAustrian employment law exempts certain part-time employment from payment of health, pension and unemployment insurance contributions. In 2015 the maximum monthly salary is EUR 405.98 per month or EUR ...
The Supreme Court judgment in the Alstom case In the ALSTOM case, the judgment of the Supreme Court (No 3-2-1-80-15) dated 21 September 2015 deals with how to make a claim for employment litigation costs. In addition, the judgment explains the damag...
Government plans significant changes to labour legislation For some time the government and labour market organisations have been trying, without success, to agree on reforms to employment rights in Finland. Now, in an attempt to break the deadlock,...
New provisions relating to staff representatives OverviewFrom 17 August 2015 new provision, referred to as the “Rebsamen Law” (the “Law”), was introduced. It is aimed at modernising and strengthening relationships with staff ...
Minimum wage: Further relaxation of the documentation obligations Since the statutory minimum wage of EUR 8.50 per hour was introduced, the administrative obligations in respect of the minimum wage continue to frustrate employers. Companies wit...