Sell-side reluctance to accept delegation of reporting under the Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (“SFTR”) is causing a headache for buy-side firms.  If buy-side firms are unable to establish delegation arrangements they ...

On Friday 14 February 2020, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) published the ISDA Collateral Agreement Interest Rate Definitions (the “Collateral Rate Definitions”). The Collateral Rate Definit...

The Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) sent a letter to all UK regulated asset managers on 27 February 2020 (the “Dear CEO Letter”), to encourage the sector to prepare for the cessation of the sterling London interbank o...

Cross-border fund marketing arrangements into the UK are poised to be significantly amended when the current post-Brexit ‘transition or implementation period’ (“TIP”) comes to an end on 31 December 2020.  Retail funds&rs...

In addition to the FCA’s recent guidance (see our note summarising the main points here) on payment holidays and repossession actions addressed to mortgage lenders, mortgage administrators, home purchase providers and home purc...

Summary of the communication from the EU commissionInterpretative Guidelines on EU Regulation 261/2004 on passenger rights in the context of the developing situation with Covid-19 - 18 March 2020 Right to choose between reimbursement and rerouting ...

The Government's proposed changes to the licensing regime established under the Licensing Act 2003 ('the Act') are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill ('the Bill'). The amendments which are expected to be implemented will imp...

The 25th April 2012 marked the implementation of the first  phase of amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 (‘the Licensing Act’) ...

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On 15 March 2020, following the announcement by President Ramaphosa regarding South Africa’s precautionary measures that must be put in place to prevent the contraction and spread of COVID-19, South Africans came face to face with the stark re...

Site waste management plans will be necessary for construction and demolition work with effect from 6 April 2008. The Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 require site waste management plans for all construction and engineering projects in ...

Rights granted by side letters will not necessarily be eligible for inclusion in new business leases. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 confers security of tenure on business tenants. It empowers the courts to order a new tenancy of the property com...

A guidance note for clients Empty rates As part of its policy to encourage the use and occupation of empty buildings, the Government has introduced the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act). Under the 2007 Act, with effect from 1 April ...

Residential developers need to take great care that they do not jeopardise their recovery of VAT by granting a short–term tenancy. The current downturn is leading developers to let out new properties instead of selling them. Great care is nee...

How important is public procurement to the public sector? Many contracting bodies incur more expenditure each year on externally provided works, services and supplies than they do on their own workforce, but focus typicall...

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High value residential property New Tax Rates The 2012 Budget introduced a new charge to stamp duty land tax (“SD...

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The Carbon Tax Act No. 15 of 2019 | Effective as of 1 June 2019 “Reducing the impacts of climate change through facilitating a viable and fair transition to a low-carbon economy is essential to ensure an environmentally sustainable economic gr...

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Introduction A circular economy is an economic system characterised by the trading of products and services in closed loops or cycles. The system is designed to be regenerative insofar as it aims to retain as much value as possible from used product...

Introduction There has been significant debate amongst key stakeholders including government, mining companies, and environmental lobbyists regarding how mining companies should not only be held accountable for mine closure but also how the often va...

Sixteen patients receiving treatment for Coronavirus in Kano State have been discharged after recovering from the disease.

This brings the total number of discharged patients in the state to 22.

Mallam Muhammad Garba, Commissioner for Information in the state, made this known in a statement on Thursday. 

Garba said among those discharged were Prof Abdulrazak Garba Habeeb of the Department of Medicine, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Bayero University, who is also the Co-chair of the state’s Prevention Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, the state’s Commissioner for Health among others.

The commissioner pointed out that all the patients have tested negative for the disease after the two follow up tests and have therefore reached full recovery.

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has ordered visiting officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to go into isolation at a quarantine centre for 14 days.

Bello gave the directive on Thursday night when the NCDC officials led by Dr Andrew Noah showed up at the Government House, in Lokoja, the state capital.

The agency had sent a delegation of rapid response team to ascertain the true status of Kogi as a COVID-19-free state. 

The governor said that the step was to ensure that the laid down procedure of checkmating the scourge by NCDC was strictly followed.

Presenting a letter titled: “Deployment of Rapid Response Squad to help in fighting COVID-19,” Dr Noah explained that the mission of the NCDC was to provide logistics to all states of the federation of which Kogi could not be left out.

He said two members of the team would be left behind to help the state and support efforts already in place.

Speaking shortly after receiving the letter, Bello outlined steps taken so far by the state to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then asked that the NCDC officials be subjected to testing and isolated in the state quarantine centre or leave the state immediately if they refused.

Reconsidered employment related Government measures The Government modified the previously introduced wage subsidies: wage subsidies for researcher and developer employees and short-time allowance can be applied for on more favourable terms, the app...

Whilst each case will ultimately need to be assessed on its merits, we have set out below what we consider to be the key factors for all UAE creditors to take into account when deciding whether to start the enforcement process in India. These factor...

Coronavirus restrictions are causing significant ongoing disruption and difficulties for employers, pension trustees, administrators and providers. To assist our clients during these unprecedented times, we are introducing a weekly pensions clinic. ...

The pandemic has significantly hindered conducting stationary sale of goods and services. Many companies decide to change their business models and transfer their activities to the Internet, establishing new e-shops or developing the current ones. I...

The Electronic Transactions Law No. 15 of 2015 (“Law”) essentially defines electronic signatures as “data in the form of letters, numbers, codes, or symbols and which is electronically, or in any other similar mean, included in, af...

Eversheds Sutherland advises Glennmont on the sale of a minority stake in 211MW Finnish wind project Eversheds Sutherland has advised Glennmont Partners on its agreed sale of a 15% minority stake in Project Piiparinmäki, a 211.4MW wind farm, to...

On 28 April 2020, the Russian President issued Decree No. 294 On Prolonging Measures To Ensure Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing of the Population in the Russian Federation due to the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The following da...

The UK has suffered widespread damage as a result of recent flooding over the winter of 2019/20, with anticipated losses in excess of £400m. If flood-related interruption to a business is significant, property and business interruption (“BI”) polici...

By Marcus Noland HONOLULU (August 23, 2019)—For three generations, the United States championed a rules-based multilateral trading system. That stance was overturned by the election of an avowed protectionist, Donald Trump, as president. It would be understandable for Asians to wonder if this shift amounts to a permanent change in U.S. trade policy, and if so, how to proceed. Trump’s presidential campaign was notable in that it emphasized two issues—immigration and trade—that had seldom been in the forefront of U.S. presidential campaigns. But public opinion polls revealed that these issues were of growing importance to a sizeable number of voters whose preferences mirrored Trump’s protectionist positions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Tim Brown and Wiwat Peerapatanapokin HONOLULU (September 17, 2019)—In 2018, roughly 6 million people were living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific, and 310,000 were newly infected, according to UNAIDS estimates. Despite these troubling numbers, financial support for the fight against AIDS is stagnant, and international resources for HIV programs in the region are declining. Given the continued HIV infection levels and limited funds for halting the epidemic, it is more important than ever for prevention efforts to achieve maximum impact with the resources available. This means that programs need to target the key populations most at risk of contracting HIV. In Asia, these key populations are female sex workers and their clients, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men....

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By East-West Center HONOLULU (March 27, 2020)—Population aging is affecting countries all across Asia. This ongoing demographic transition will leave many of the region’s economies increasingly dependent on an aging, and eventually a shrinking, workforce. Economists disagree, however, on whether population aging will necessarily lead to a slowdown in economic growth.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By James H. Spencer, Sumeet Saksena, and Jefferson Fox HONOLULU (1 April 2020)—The current COVID-19 pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China, underscores what the public health community has warned about for more than two decades—the risk of viral diseases capable of spreading from animal to human hosts. The first outbreaks of “bird flu” (highly pathogenic avian influenza―HPAI, subtype H5N1) raised similar concerns 20 years ago―concerns that have persisted with the outbreak of SARS in 2002–2004 and COVID-19 today. New outbreaks of avian influenza are also still occurring in poultry and humans, primarily in Asia but also in other parts of the world.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Lora Saalman HONOLULU (14 April 2020)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important component of weapons systems, with both positive and negative implications for nuclear deterrence. Integration of AI into military platforms has the potential to allow weaker nuclear-armed states to reset the imbalance of power, but at the same time it exacerbates fears that stronger states may further solidify their dominance and engage in more provocative actions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Andrew Mason, Sang-Hyop Lee, and Donghyun Park HONOLULU (8 May 2020)—Elderly populations in Asia are expanding more quickly than other age groups. Low fertility rates result in fewer children and eventually fewer working-age adults, while elderly populations are living longer.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

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With the delivery of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement on 30 October 2019, updated and amended draft tax bills have been released highlighting the latest proposed amendments to the relevant tax acts.  The amended bills contain the le...

  Summary On 1 November HMRC published its much anticipated guidance on the taxation of cryptoassets for businesses. The guidance sets out HMRC’s view on the taxation of transactions involving cryptoasset exchange tokens (such as Bitcoin)...

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  What’s new? On 20 December 2019, HMRC published an updated version of its guidance on the taxation of cryptoassets for individuals. The guidance was updated to include a new section in respect of the location (situs) of exchange tokens ...

The UK government announced at the March Budget that they intend to introduce a requirement for large businesses to notify HMRC where they adopt an “uncertain tax treatment”.  The proposal is designed to improve HMRC’s ability...

  On 26 March 2020, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak proposed a package of tax measures relevant to UK businesses, large and small to help ease the pressures we face from the impact of COVID-19.  One of the measures in force, is the deferral of ...