The construction sector is one of the economic sectors that is permitted to operate during the second Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0). As such, on 14 January 2021 the Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia s website published the standard operating procedure (SOP) that companies with permission to operate during MCO 2.0 must comply with when carrying out construction works (Construction SOP). This article discusses the key points of the Construction SOP.
Only critical construction works allowed
The Construction SOP stipulates that only critical construction works as specified in the Ministry of Works press statement of 12 January 2021 may be carried out during MCO 2.0 (for further details please see MCO 2.0: critical construction works allowed ).
One of the welcome measures of the Swiss corporate law reform is the so-called 'capital band', which provides companies with more flexibility regarding changes to their capital structure. Since Swiss-listed companies could have used the capital band in an abusive manner to generate tax advantages for certain types of shareholder, the respective tax legislation had to be adapted. All Swiss companies which are considering introducing a capital band should carefully plan ahead.
For the first time the Court of Appeal has considered the duties of an expert concurrently engaged in two potentially conflicting disputes. While
Secretariat Consulting Pte Ltd v A Company involved an unusual set of circumstances, it provides an interesting review of the duties owed by expert witnesses to their clients and the court and highlights important considerations for those engaging expert witnesses and drafting engagement letters.(1)
Facts
Secretariat Consulting Pte Ltd (SCL) provides expert litigation and arbitration support services to the construction industry. Based in Singapore, it is an entity within a larger group. SCL was approached by the solicitors of an organisation involved in a dispute to provide arbitration support and expert services in an arbitration (Arbitration 1) on delay and disruption. SCL ran a conflict check across all entities in the group and confirmed that it was clear. A confidentiality agreement was signed.
potential claims by exclusive distributors against importers of grey market goods.
Other major developments included:
the Trademark Office s issue of new limits on extensions of time for responding to an office action; and
the availability of expedited examination for trademark applications where the goods or services are for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
This article revisits these notable cases and developments and considers their implications for 2021.
Case law developments in 2020
Comparative advertising
In one of the first notable decisions of 2020, the Federal Court considered the legal limits to comparative advertising under the Competition Act and the Trademarks Act in
Introduction
In November 2020 the limitation fund established following the grounding of the Full City near Langesund in 2009 was finally distributed. The limitation fund proceedings, which ran parallel to the proceedings concerning the limitation fund established following the Server casualty in 2007, have helped to clarify several procedural aspects of limitation funds.
The Full City grounding caused a major oil spill, which led to:
a state-led clean-up operation;
civil claims for damages against the owners.(1)
This article examines the key takeaways from the limitation fund proceedings now that they have come to an end.
Club letters from International Group of P&I Clubs accepted as security