2018 ExpertBriefing
Increasing regulations amplify pressure on banks to revamp compliance framework
December 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
EXL
Earlier this year, the UK’s banks and financial institutions were encouraged by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to achieve better standards of operational resilience. The need to boost operational resilience has intensified against...
EU parliament versus FATCA
December 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
WH Partners
Following the worldwide implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – a reporting regime that obliges financial institutions to disclose certain financial information on their US customers – thousands of law-abiding EU...
The Netherlands’ preferential IP regime for software companies
December 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
NovioTax
The Netherlands government is promoting engagement in research and development (R&D) activities through a preferential corporate income tax regime, as well as specific R&D tax incentives granted to employers with regard to salaries paid to...
Fundamental rights as an alternative to restrain the reach of aggressive general anti-avoidance rules
December 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
SMPS Legal
During the second half of the 20th century, drawing the line between legitimate and illegitimate tax avoidance was a priority for many, including legal and accounting firms that built an important part of their budgets around the business of tax planning...
Overview of Argentina’s federal tax reform
December 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
Effective since 1 January 2018, the comprehensive tax reforms enacted by the Argentine federal government have resulted in the amendment of many fiscal regulations, including the Income Tax Law (ITL), the Value Added Tax Law (VAT)...
Tax authority monitoring and enforcement in Indonesia
December 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
ABNR
This article provides an update on tax authority monitoring and enforcement in Indonesia, covering field audits to test the compliance of a taxpayer with tax obligations, as well as planning, strategising and measuring audit performance and audit policy...
Indonesia’s National Payment Gateway: impact on operations of licensed principals
November 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Makarim & Taira S.
As the world moves closer to a cashless economy, the role of cashless payment instruments (such as credit and debit cards and electronic money) becomes even more important in today’s modern society. Along with the rapid growth of technology...
Digital transformation of the financial system in Spain
November 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Osborne Clarke
The FinTech sector – in its broadest sense, also encompassing InsurTech – has become more prominent in recent years in the framework of the digital economy. As startups aim to innovate and change the way we understand financial services...
Bribery in the mining and energy sectors
November 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Rahman Ravelli
With mining giant Glencore the subject of a US corruption investigation into its business in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria, the effect on the company has already been notable. When the Swiss-based company announced...
D&O coverage in Brazil
November 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Chalfin, Goldberg, Vainboim & Fichtner
A discussion on directors and officers (D&O) insurance coverage arose surprisingly and unexpectedly during a recent judgment of the 1st Private Commercial Chamber of Sao Paulo’s State Court of Appeals. The actual matter under analysis was whether...
Guidelines for anti-bribery and corruption compliance programmes under Argentine law
November 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
Argentina is undergoing a significant overhaul in its fight against bribery and corruption. In late 2016, Congress passed a law allowing defendants in certain corruption cases to seek a reduction in penalties in exchange for cooperating with investigations...
The California Consumer Privacy Act and the GDPR: two of a kind?
November 2018 | DATA PRIVACY
time.lex
While the dust of the entry into force of the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has hardly settled, a new, somewhat similar privacy law has been introduced overseas. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)...
Increasingly mandatory disclosure of third-party funding in arbitration
November 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP
There is an ever-increasing focus on third-party funding (TPF), especially in the context of international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration. Still arguably in its infancy, at least with respect to international arbitration...
Politics and plug-ins: planning for an electric vehicle future
November 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Fieldfisher
Developing technologies around electric vehicles (EVs) are colliding more and more with UK energy regulatory and planning laws. Lawyers are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from utility providers, technology companies and regulatory bodies...
Mexico’s newly-elected president: potential implications
October 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
González Calvillo
The leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential elections on 1 July despite scepticism across the financial markets and a rocky relationship between Mr López Obrador and local businessmen. Based on his discourse throughout...
Nullity of loans in Croatia
October 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Vidan Law Office
Fifteen years ago, when foreign creditors were offering loans to Croatian borrowers, they were unlikely to believe that more than a decade later the repayment of loans would be jeopardised by a controversial law passed in the Croatian parliament...
Cyber security developments in Portugal
October 2018 | RISK MANAGEMENT
Caiado Guerreiro, Soc. De Advogados, SP RL
When it comes to new sets of regulations and a demand for the law to catch up with reality, cyber security is a hot topic. The technological revolution brought by the worldwide web has transformed people’s lives in many ways. There has certainly been a...
Insights into a research-based legitimate interest risk assessment
October 2018 | DATA PRIVACY
fastmap
Before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, each European Union (EU) Member State had its own legislation based on an EU directive. This legislation dated back to the 1990s and thus preceded social media and the rise of e-commerce...
Uruguay is the seat: enactment of international commercial arbitration law inspired by the UNCITRAL Model Law
October 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Guyer & Regules
On 3 July 2018, the Uruguayan House of Senators passed a bill on international commercial arbitration, which had been previously approved by the House of Representatives on 16 May 2018. The law, the International Commercial Arbitration Law, was duly...
Agreeing an arbitration clause with a Russian party – tips to bear in mind
October 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Norton Rose Fulbright (Central Europe) LLP
Arbitration has become a preferred method for dispute resolution in Russia, particularly when it comes to contracts involving parties from countries with courts that may not necessarily have the best reputation abroad. However, to ensure that a dispute...
Foreign investment in equitised SOEs in Vietnam: opportunities and challenges
August 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Vilaf
Vietnam has been an attractive destination for foreign investors, particularly from Japan, Korea and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, with the GDP growth expected to accelerate from 6.81 percent in 2017 to 7.1 percent...
Hiring top-tier strategy consultants: what is important for financial services firms?
August 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Charles Aris Inc.
In the world of financial services, things are changing every day. From regulatory reforms to accelerating innovation to the rise of new competitors, it is increasingly difficult to keep up with the ever-changing tides – especially as the global war for talent...
Gender equality at the C-level – how women can help themselves to a seat at the table
August 2018 | BOARDROOM INTELLIGENCE
Morgan Samuels
There have been changes in attitudes toward women in the C-suite and increased opportunities for gender parity at the highest levels of organisations across industries in recent years. Not only has there been a spotlight on this issue in terms of fairness...
Development of third-party litigation funding in Asia
August 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
WongPartnership LLP
The use of third-party funding (TPF) is well-established in jurisdictions such as the US, UK and Australia. TPF in these jurisdictions has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, significant growth. In a 2015 market analysis of the TPF market in the UK...
A new era for eHealth in the EU
August 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Jones Day
On 20 April 2018, Andrus Ansip, the current vice president of the European Commission for the Digital Single Market (DSM), stated in a blog post: “Digital technology can help: to increase efficiency, bring innovation, improve people’s quality...
Due diligence – to have or have not?
July 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Kocián Šolc Balaštík, advokátní kancelář, s.r.o.
Due diligence is a common component of any transaction, be it an acquisition of shares, a business or an asset deal. It is also an important part of IPOs and plays a role in intragroup transformations, such as mergers, with the scope of the due diligence...
Russian arbitration reform: impact on arbitration clauses in agreements with Russian target companies
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Norton Rose Fulbright (Central Europe) LLP
Russia updated its arbitration legislation in 2016, with various provisions entering into force throughout 2017. One of the most relevant changes so far appears to be the new treatment of the arbitrability of ‘corporate disputes’...
Provisional measures for the enforcement of shareholders’ agreements under Brazilian Law
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro & Gomide Advogados
Brazilian law develops in pursuit of effectiveness. Establishing an adequate legal framework to ensure parties perform their obligations was, for the last two decades, essential for Brazilian and foreign investors to increase their trust in the country’s...
Arbitration and the renewable energy sector
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
CMS Hasche Sigle
Not only after the US announced its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the renewable energy sector has been confronted with new challenges. Already before the industry, which had been accustomed to broad financial support and...
Cartel investigations: recent challenges to Colombia’s leniency programme
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Holland & Knight
Over the last few years, cartel investigations in Colombia have become an increasingly important issue, one which is frequently discussed in the media and between governmental authorities. With the implementation of Law 1340 of 2009, the...
Enforcing investment treaty awards
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Volterra Fietta
In the last 30 years, foreign investors have increasingly relied on investment treaty arbitration for settling disputes with host states. Driven by practical considerations, foreign investors presumably realised that investment treaty arbitration offered...
Pre-action disclosure
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Stewarts
Asymmetry of information is a perennial problem for individuals and businesses who think they may have a claim against one of the major banks. Often it is only the bank that has the full picture. And it is a fair assumption that the bank is unlikely to admit...
Enforcing international commercial arbitral awards
July 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP
Advocates of arbitration often cite the alleged ease and simplicity of recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards, as compared with the patchwork of rules applying to the enforcement of foreign court judgments, as one of arbitration’s...
The currency of capitalism with a social conscience
June 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Berman Tabacco
When attendees of the World Economic Forum gathered in Davos, Switzerland for its annual meeting, the topic of conversation was ‘Larry’s letter’. The week before the Forum, Larry Fink, founder and chief executive of the $6.3 trillion...
Shareholder activism is here to stay
June 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
When the German utility groups E.ON and RWE recently announced an asset swap, a whole series of transactions with a total value of approximately €43bn that would change the European utilities landscape, many observers were stunned...
The road to project finance in Colombia
June 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Gómez-Pinzón Zuleta Abogados S.A.S.
Over the last eight years there has been a considerable rise in the number of infrastructure projects in Colombia. Most of these projects have been developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) structure and involve state-granted concessions...
Cyber insurance mistakes that have cost risk managers their job
June 2018 | RISK MANAGEMENT
Holland & Knight, LLP
In the last few years, an alarming number of risk managers have lost their job because of mistakes they have made related to their cyber insurance programmes. The unfortunate thing is that, unlike a company’s ability to stop a breach, avoiding costly...
Data privacy and cyber security: the importance of a proactive approach
June 2018 | RISK MANAGEMENT
Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.
New laws are taking effect across the globe to regulate the collection, use, retention, disclosure and disposal of personal information. At the same time, the rate of cyber attacks, data breaches and unauthorised use of personal data is growing...
Performance bonds in Brazilian public works
June 2018 | RISK MANAGEMENT
Chalfin, Goldberg, Vainboim & Fichtner
The performance bond is a relatively new phenomenon in the Brazilian legal landscape, particularly when compared to the other types of insurance available, as well as to the other more traditional guarantees, like bank guarantees...
Compliance management in light of the EU General Data Protection Regulation
June 2018 | DATA PRIVACY
Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
From 25 May 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the national data protection law in force until then. As a consequence, private companies (as well as public authorities) will have to comply with comprehensive...
Will law be artificial?
June 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
PLMJ Intellectual Property
We are entering an era where knowledge of the law will no longer be limited to flesh-and-blood lawyers. Machines are becoming increasingly familiar with our statutes and case law. This trend will only expand as artificial intelligence (AI) and...
America’s trade war with the Middle Kingdom
June 2018 | GLOBAL TRADE
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
President Trump’s administration, borne from his protectionist views espoused prior to his presidency, has set its sights on repairing what it deems major trade imbalances between the US and its trading partners. As such, the administration...
Recent developments in Indonesian oil and gas governance
June 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Mochtar Karuwin Komar Law
It has been more than five years since Indonesia’s Supreme Court declared that certain articles in the law pertaining to the oil and gas industry were unconstitutional. This declaration was followed by dissolution of the Implementing Body for Upstream...
Validity in Croatia of terminating the employment of a pregnant employee during her probation period
June 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Vidan Law Office
One of the ways employers may protect themselves against an inefficient employee is by agreeing to a system of probation work. Its purpose is to enable an employer to evaluate the skills and progress of a new employee and be able to terminate any...
The role of representations and warranties insurance coverage in M&A activity
May 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Reed Smith
Representations and warranties insurance (RWI) remains a hot trend, and because it is a category of insurance that is highly competitive and flexible as to its terms, purchasers benefit from careful negotiation of RWI policies. The number of M&As...
Distressed M&A in the Polish market
May 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
WKB Wierciński Kwieciński Baehr
Legal developments in recent years have created new opportunities for investment in Polish distressed businesses. On 1 January 2016, the new Polish Restructuring Law entered into force and the Polish Bankruptcy Law was substantially amended...
M&A in the Canadian cannabis industry
May 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Minden Gross LLP
On 13 April 2017, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-45, the proposed Cannabis Act, into the House of Commons. To date, the proposed Act has moved through the House of Commons and has successfully passed its second reading at the...
Private acquisitions: procedures, issues and current trends in Indonesia
May 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Ali Budiardjo, Nugroho, Reksodiputro
In Indonesia, there are many types of acquisitions, including asset acquisition and shares acquisition. The latter is further divided into direct acquisition and indirect acquisition. Direct acquisition occurs when the acquisition is conducted through the sale of shares...
New ‘piggy back’ scheme introduced for the development of electric power infrastructure
May 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Makarim & Taira S.
In Indonesia, the provision of electric power is the responsibility of the government, delegated to a state-owned entity, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) (PLN). Under the current applicable law, PLN is responsible for the provision of electric power...
Croatia: validity of restrictive post-employment non-compete covenants
May 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Vidan Law Office
There are many ways employers may protect themselves and their legitimate business interests against employees leaving. This issue becomes more important when it comes to key employees who were entrusted with confidential information...
Reflections on the Martin Shkreli case
May 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Stewarts
Martin Shkreli made global news in late 2015 as the man behind the 5000 percent increase in the price of the HIV drug Daraprim. Despite an initially passionate defence, he was publicly pilloried, earning himself the dubious title of ‘most hated man...
How to increase the efficiency of your M&A deal
April 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
EthosData
Deals are complicated and the life of a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) professional is not simple. A typical transaction involves multiple global parties accessing confidential data from multiple locations, as well as significant time pressure...
Restructuring and insolvency in India – in a phase of evolution
April 2018 | BANKRUPTCY & RESTRUCTURING
DSK Legal
India is a growing economy, with funds deployed across various sectors, including heavy industry, infrastructure and energy. The equity market has also been on an upswing in terms of investment in listed and unlisted companies. Private equity...
Outlining the five trends in the use and management of customer data
April 2018 | DATA PRIVACY
Royal Mail Data Services (RMDS)
According to our recent survey, 29 percent of UK businesses are worried about complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), illustrating their struggles to make their data compliant by the fast-approaching 25 May 2018...
Traps and tips for serving effective legal notices
April 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Walker Morris
Corporate counsel and contract managers might be aware that in the past couple of years the UK courts have repeatedly focused on the importance of clarity and accuracy when notifying breach of warranty claims. The issue has recently come...
Concerted practices in the pharmaceutical sector
April 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
De Berti Jacchia Franchini Forlani
On 23 January 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) published its judgment in F. Hoffmann-La Roche e and Others, on the interpretation of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in...
Russian tax benefits for research & development engineers
April 2018 | CORPORATE TAX
Gorodissky & Partners
Considerable attention is currently being paid to stimulating scientific developments in Russia, with extensive fiscal incentives offered to research & development (R&D) engineers. According to Russian tax legislation, the costs of creating new or improved...
Portugal’s Golden Visa programme
April 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Caiado Guerreiro
At a time when the notion of ‘a job for life’ no longer seems applicable, the same sentiment is starting to apply to countries of residence, citizenship and passports. The US, Canada and Australia are countries...
Consultation processes and bargaining culture within French companies
April 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Fromont Briens
President Macron’s executive orders created a new employee representative body called the social and economic committee (CSE). The CSE merges three formers bodies: the employee delegates, the works council and the health and safety committee...
Legalisation of cannabis in Canada – a brief history
April 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Goodmans LLP
Canada will soon become only the second nation in the world to legalise cannabis recreationally, and the first advanced industrialised one to do so. Legal access to dried cannabis was first allowed in Canada in 1999 through discretionary exemptions...
Chinese ODI and M&A in Latin America: new features of a current trend
March 2018 | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Carey
Before 2010, Latin America was seen as a very remote region for most Chinese companies, simply the source of the many commodities that were exported to China. Trade and diplomatic ties were probably the only link between the two. However...
An analysis of the judicial approach to disputed debts in winding-up proceedings in Nigeria
March 2018 | BANKRUPTCY & RESTRUCTURING
Fidelis Oditah & Co.
A company may be wound up for its inability to pay its debts according to section 408(d) of Nigeria’s Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990 (CAMA). Under section 409(a), a company shall be deemed to be unable to pay its debt if it owes a sum exceeding...
Outlook for FinTech investment and valuations in Brazil and the Americas
March 2018 | FINANCE & INVESTMENT
Legacy Partners
Over the last few years, FinTech has been the ‘it’ sector in global startup ecosystems and venture capital. The investing play is based on the promise of future disruption, momentum and the potential of continued valuation exit highs...
The new Italian law on corporate whistleblowing: an examination from the GDPR perspective
March 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Martini Manna Avvocati
On 29 December 2017, Italy’s new law on the “Protection of individuals reporting crimes or irregularities learnt in the context of a public or private employment relationship” – already rechristened the ‘whistleblowing law’ – came into force...
Cooperation resulting in waiver
March 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP
Just days before a potentially landscape-altering hearing in a Miami federal courtroom at which lawyers were going to be forced to testify about the legal advice they had given their clients during the course of an internal investigation, the parties quietly...
Litigation finance: where have we reached and where are we going?
March 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Stewarts
To say that litigation finance is experiencing a growth phase would be a bit like saying cryptocurrencies can be a bit up and down. From its roots in the early years of this century in insolvency proceedings and in facilitating access...
Review of EU export controls of dual use items
March 2018 | GLOBAL TRADE
Jones Day
2018 may witness an important overhaul of the EU’s export control regime on dual use items. This regime aims to control exports of items that could be used for purposes other than their legitimate civilian applications. On 17 January 2018, the European...
The growth of the serviced office
March 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Travers Smith LLP
A change in the way we work, ever-improving technology and a shift in workplace culture are just some of the key drivers in changing the way we do business faster than ever before. This has been reflected in the real estate market by a rise in demand...
Improving Nigeria’s insurance penetration: legal, regulatory and market considerations
March 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
LeLaw Barristers and Solicitors
According to industry statistics, Nigeria’s insurance penetration rate (IPR) in 2013 was 0.39 percent, down from 0.48 percent in 2010. However, Nigeria’s IPR worsened to 0.06 percent in 2016 – by comparison, South Africa’s IPR reached 13.2 percent...
Blockchain, trade finance and sanctions issues
February 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Clifford Chance
Blockchain is the technology that underpins digital currencies such as Bitcoin, but it has far wider applications and is being used in a growing number of areas. The blockchain has the potential to drastically alter the global financial system. Trade...
AI, blockchain, augmented reality: what technology does 2018 really hold for banks?
February 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
World Wide Technology
With Bitcoin becoming more established, regulatory deadlines around data usage, such as Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the horizon, and artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented...
Brexit’s unlikely headline-grabber: contracts
February 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
Axiom
Corporate restructuring, job relocations… contract remediation? In testimony before lawmakers in December 2017, Barclay’s chief executive John McFarlane revealed that renegotiation of “hundreds of thousands” of contracts is one of his chief Brexit...
Banks can improve debt collections with tailored communications
February 2018 | BANKING & FINANCE
FICO
Consumer debts are a growing problem in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sounded the alarm in July 2017 when it revealed that approximately one in six people with consumer credit debt are in moderate to severe ‘financial distress’...
Ascent to CFO – charting today’s finance talent career path to the top table
February 2018 | BOARDROOM INTELLIGENCE
EOH International
At some point in their careers, most finance professionals will have dreamed of becoming a chief financial officer (CFO). But while becoming CFO remains a popular aspiration, it is not easy to achieve and the role itself is changing rapidly...
The new EU framework for ‘related party transactions’ and its implementation in Germany
February 2018 | CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz Rechtsanwalts AG
On 20 May 2017, the Amending Directive to the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II) was published in the Official Journal of the EU. SRD II follows the general goal of improving corporate governance in companies which have their registered office...
Arbitration of domestic disputes in Russia
February 2018 | LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Khrenov & Partners
Traditionally, the Russian legislator has established different legal regimes for arbitration tribunals dealing with disputes which are related to foreign jurisdictions (international arbitration) and purely domestic disputes (domestic arbitration)...
Argentina’s labour and tax reforms
February 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
One of the most important topics on Argentina’s economic agenda has been the need for fiscal and labour reform. The Draft Bill of the Labour Amendment (Labour Draft) sets out to pursue objectives which include human development, economic...
Understanding international sanctions
February 2018 | GLOBAL TRADE
The Risk Advisory Group
Keeping abreast of new regulations is a challenge for compliance professionals. It has featured as a top priority every year that our Compliance Horizon survey has been running. It is especially difficult in the field of sanctions, and in 2017, close to...
Surging discounts for Canadian oil reignite talk of the bitumen bubble
February 2018 | SECTOR ANALYSIS
Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, LLP
The bearish sentiment that plagued global oil prices for years was pushed aside as 2017 came to a close. Primary crude oil benchmark prices enjoyed meaningful gains during this time, including West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the most commonly...
Understanding the limitations of data solutions
January 2018 | RISK MANAGEMENT
Klink & Co., Inc.
We are awash in data ‘solutions’ relating to everything imaginable. Data providers claim that all risks now can be readily identified and mitigated with easy-to-use data solutions. Need to perform due diligence on a vendor for Foreign Corrupt Practices...
New Argentine law on corporate liability and compliance programmes for certain corruption cases
January 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
Several proposals for new anti-corruption regulations have been made by president Macri’s administration since he took office in December 2015. Some of these have been enacted into law including, for example, the law on access to public...
Corporate social responsibility: the capitalist’s dilemma
January 2018 | FRAUD & CORRUPTION
Olaniwun Ajayi LP
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has fast become an evolutionary concept with different writers positing varying theories regarding the interface between CSR and businesses. For context, there exists a school of thought which believes that...
Brexit and the future of immigration in the UK and EU
January 2018 | LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT
Berry Appleman & Leiden
Immigration played a central role in the Brexit movement – the recent rise in immigration was one of the defining arguments that united anti-globalists, eurosceptics and nationalists to vote the UK out of the EU. One of the goals of Brexit was to...