The President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, announced today the Implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, DR-CAFTA, with respect to the Dominican Republic. See press release from The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070301.html#).The implementation of this free trade treaty opens a new era of commercial opportunities between the member countries to the DR-CAFTA ...
Much has been made of the e-communication provisions set out in the new Companies Act 2006. However, less is known of a piece of legislation which came into force on 1 January 2007, the Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006, which affect the electronic communications of every company and limited liability partnership in the UK ...
Immediate access to the latest data is essential for business. The Internet and other networks ensure that data are readily accessible. But easy access to data carries with it certain risks, including the risk of unauthorised access. According to research by Gartner in 2006, 80 percent of companies will have suffered an application security incident by 2009 ...
On November 9, 2006, the Minister of Justice, Yvon Marcoux, introduced Bill 48, entitled An Act to amend the Consumer Protection Act and the Act respecting the collection of certain debts (hereinafter, the “Bill”).The Bill is based on the Internet Sales Contract Harmonization Template agreed on by the provinces further to the Agreement on Internal Trade ...
In M&A transactions, the principal terms negotiated by the parties are usually the structure, price, representations, warranties and undertakings and indemnities. Whereas in most jurisdictions parties are at liberty to agree on these terms, in China the outcome of the negotiations between Chinese and foreign parties may not be as final as hoped for ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Regulations Regarding the Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors on 8 August 2006 ...
The Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Hong Kong”) jointly issued the Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion on 21 August 2006 ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) promulgated the Supplementary Regulations Regarding the Establishment of Holding Companies by Foreign Investors on 26 May 2006. The Supplementary Regulations amend and supplement the Regulations on the Investment in and Establishment of Holding Companies by Foreign Business Entities, which became effective on 17 December 2004 (the “Holding Company Regulations”) (as discussed in the 2004.4 issue of China Legal Update) ...
The Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Hong Kong”) reached a further understanding regarding the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong (“CEPA”) (as discussed in the July 2003 issue of China Legal Update) on 27 June 2006. This supplement, referred to as CEPA IV, further liberalises PRC market access for qualified Hong Kong service suppliers ...
The Government of Hong Kong and the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) signed An Arrangement on Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pursuant to Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned on 14 July 2006 ...
The Ministry of Commerce issued the Notice on Further Improving the Work of Attracting Foreign Investment into the Logistics Sector on 20 April 2006. The Notice, which became effective on 31 March 2006, is the first major liberalisation in the PRC logistics sector since the 2002 Notice on Relevant Issues in the Work of Launching Pilot Projects for the Establishment of Logistics Enterprises with Foreign Investment (“Pilot Notice”) ...
The Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Opinions on Regulating the Entry into and the Administration of Foreign Investment in the Real Estate Market on 11 July 2006 ...
The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Notice on Adjustment of the Scope of the Tax Refund Policies for the Purchase of Domestically Manufactured Equipment by Foreign Investment Projects on 10 May 2006. The Notice revises the value-added tax (“VAT”) refund policy for the purchase of domestically manufactured equipment (“domestic equipment”), which is available to certain foreign investment projects ...
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange ("SAFE") issued the Notice on Adjusting the Policies on Foreign Exchange Control for Current Account Items on 14 April 2006. The Notice, which became effective on 1 May 2006, further relaxes foreign exchange control over current account items ...
The Ministry of Finance and State Intellectual Property Office jointly issued the Notice of on Several Issues Concerning Strengthening the Administration on Asset Valuation in Connection with Intellectual Property Rights on 19 April 2006. Mandatory valuation The Notice clarifies the circumstances in which an assets valuation of intellectual property rights (“IP rights”) is to be conducted ...
On May 19, 2006, Act No. 214/2006, Coll. was announced in the Collection of Laws, which amends Act No. 455/1991, Coll., the Trade Licensing Act, as amended, and certain other acts; this act became effective on August 1, 2006 ...
So-called black collective investmentThe legal regulation of collective investment was based on the fact the Collective Investment Act, similar to its predecessor, the Act on Investment Funds and Investment Companies, exclusively regulated the activities of investment funds and investment companies. The new amendment brings fundamental changes in this respect ...
Within the European Union the issue of taking evidence in another member state has been regulated uniformly by the Council regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil or commercial matters. However some general rules relating to the procedure of taking evidence abroad were developed and established long before the adoption of the regulation ...
Section 15(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) provides that “it shall be unlawful for any broker or dealer which is . . . a person other than a natural person . . . to make use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce to effect any transactions in, or to induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security… unless such broker or dealer is registered [with the SEC] ...
The IT outsourcing market has matured in the past years. Many IT outsourcing relationships are fruitful and long lasting. Nevertheless international surveys continue to show that numerous outsourcing deals are untimely terminated in the first two to four years. This paper highlights the key risk factors for failure of IT outsourcing relationships. These key risk factors will be underlined by various failed outsourcing case law. Such case law probably only represents the top of the iceberg ...
Open source software ("OSS") is quickly entering the mainstream and becoming increasingly widely used. In fact International Data Group analysts have predicted that the OSS marketplace will be worth £35 billion by 2008. OSS is software that is freely available (without discrimination) and can be copied, modified and redistributed ...
Before 1978, China's economic policies were mainly aimed at self-reliance. As a result, the country was virtually shut off from world economic developments. In 1978, China opened its doors to foreign investment with the goal of modernising its economy and raising the living standard of its people. The country has since established the necessary legislative basis for foreign investment and has actively sought to acquire modern foreign management and technical skills ...
Procuring and implementing an ICT system within an organisation can be a stressful task. High profile failures in both the public and private sectors hit the headlines all too often. The National Audit Office's report last month on the £6.2bn NHS IT upgrade in England put many of the challenges firmly in the spotlight. In the heat of the procurement process it is easy to forget some basic procurement principles ...
