Page 25 - Law Developments News Today

The new General Import and Export Duties Law (LIGIE) recently entered into force, updating the General Import and Export Tariff Code by removing more than 4,000 obsolete tariff items, consolidating the existing tariff items and introducing new tariff items for newly created goods. The new LIGIE also implements the Sixth Amendment to the Harmonised System established by the World Customs Organisation and introduces a commercial identification number.

Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 recently came into force after having been adopted in 2018. Malta, as a signatory to the MLC, implemented the changes into domestic law on 18 December 2020, with said changes having effect as of 26 December 2020. As one of the largest ship registries in the world, these changes will have a significant impact on the worlds shipping workforce. Maltese law The MLC was transposed into Maltese national law and introduced as the Merchant Shippin...

Pursuant to Paragraph 266 of the new Budget Law 2021, several duties relating to the mandatory coverage of company losses borne in 2020 have been postponed for five financial years, up until 2025. The new rules ease companies' financial commitments. Similarly, Article 44 of Law 120/2020 has postponed the requirement for a two-thirds qualified majority of stock capital quorum to pass resolutions of extraordinary shareholders' meetings until 30 April 2021.

Technological innovation continues to disrupt the status quo in established industries. While new technologies offer many opportunities within the mining industry, the corresponding risks and potential disputes are not far off. Parties must ensure that they incorporate appropriate contractual protections but also effective and enforceable mechanisms for enforcing their contracts and resolving disputes. A robust and broad arbitration agreement remains one important part of risk mitigation.

Introduction Israel – known as the start-up nation – has encouraged and attracted inbound foreign investments for many years. Investors looking to invest in Israeli companies may do so by: investing directly; establishing a private investment fund. Recent years have shown an increased interest and investment activity in Israeli companies by foreign investors, several of which have formed an Israeli corporate venture capital (CVC) fund for this purpose. Among the primary tools for encouragin...

The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) is investigating whether Pharmacy Janković has beached the obligation to notify the acquisition of control over a pharmacy chain in the town of Zrenjanin. Zrenjanin granted a concession to Pharmacy Janković to finance, revitalise, manage and run pharmaceutical operations for 15 years. Through this public-private partnership, Pharmacy Janković will control pharmacies in 32 locations owned by the town of Zrenjanin. The CPC will assess whether ...

Introduction The Film Act is under revision, with major implications for online film providers. Embedded in the Swiss cultural policy for 2021 to 2024, the current Swiss film policy is aimed at boosting the diversity and quality of film offers while strengthening Swiss film culture and preserving Swiss film heritage. As such, the Federal Council has proposed a revision of the Film Act, which is currently under discussion in Parliament. The proposed revision is groundbreaking for its inclusion o...

Introduction On 16 June 2020 the legislature passed draft modifications of Swiss corporate law, which would amend, among other things, substantial parts of the Code of Obligations. This marked the end of what is generally known as the large corporate law reform which officially started in 2007. Since then, numerous parts of the reform project have been buried, changed, introduced to or removed from the main part of the project to be dealt with separately. As part of the final modifications date...

From 1 January 2021, the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) will be available for pre-notification discussions. To this end, the CPC has published rules for such contact. The CPC's rules on pre-notification contact are a step in the right direction in implementing best European practices on merger control. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how practical they will be for the notifying parties.

The Supreme Court recently had to decide whether internet ads for consumer loans which stated a monthly rate in the main advertising text and a debit interest rate "from... % p.a." depending on creditworthiness, together with an example in the footnote text, complied with the Consumer Credit Act (VKrG).(1) The VKrG implemented the EU Consumer Credit Directive (2008/48/EC), which provides strict requirements as regards the information to be given and the presentation of such information in ads f...