THE LINDT BUNNY The company Lindt & Sprungli is the maker of the famous Lindt chocolate bunny. The product comprises chocolate in the shape of a squatting bunny, wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon and a small bell. The chocolate bunny is a very big seller around Easter time, with sales in the tens of millions ...
In this article, we’ll discuss three copyright-related stories that have made headlines and contain some interesting lessons. ED SHEERAN (YES, AGAIN) We recently discussed the well-publicised case where Ed Sheeran successfully fought off a UK High Court copyright claim relating to his song Shape of You. When the verdict was announced, Sheeran said that he hoped that there would be no more “baseless” copyright claims ...
Tackling base erosion and profit shifting remains a priority for the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”). It was recently reported that in the 2021 fiscal year, SARS dealt with 345 cases of transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting to the value of almost ZAR12-billion. Yet, only three South African courts have dealt with transfer pricing ...
The most common form of legal practice in Nigeria is the one-man practice this could be in the form of either a sole practitioner or a sole proprietorship arrangement. In the sole practitioner arrangement, there is only one lawyer who is the owner of the firm while all other staff in the office are not lawyers but support staff. In the sole proprietorship arrangement, the lawyer - owner employs other legal practitioners to assist him in his practice ...
There are currently over 4000 (four thousand) cryptocurrencies in circulation and about 51,200,000 (fifty-one million, two hundred thousand) active traders of cryptocurrency around the world. With the proliferation of cryptocurrency and the associated technology that backs it, innovators have begun to take advantage of the multifunctional nature of cryptocurrency and have created products that could change or disrupt traditional banking and finance ...
The exponentially rising hydrogen trend attracted not only hydrogen veterans to the World Hydrogen Congress in Rotterdam, but also the fossil fuel industry. Big oil giants, such as Shell and Total Energies, were major sponsors of the event and eagerly presented their new green ambitions on the showroom and the stage ...
ChatGPT is promising (or threatening) to reinvent the way people work in a multitude of industries. How will this transformation affect the legal industry - are there risks to using it? ChatGPT is an artificially intelligent language model designed to give human-like responses to various questions and prompts. Released by OpenAI in November 2022, the platform quickly gained immense popularity, reaching over one million users within five days of its release ...
The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) recently introduced a new category of fund which complies with sharia principles of investment. The Non-Interest Fund (Fund VI) permits pension contributors and retirees to choose the preferred investment portfolio they would want their pension contributions remitted to ...
Grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) has major implications for countries and companies alike. These implications include reputational damage, economic consequences, and increased compliance costs, which can lead to restricted foreign investment and reduced capital inflows ...
Reliance on performance guarantees in infrastructure projects has gained traction in Uganda in recent years. A performance guarantee is a legal promise made by one party to another, and typically backed by a third-party financial institution, to ensure fulfilment of contractual obligations ...
With an aim of improving the efficiency and competitiveness of Kenya's productive resources, the Privatisation Bill, 2023 aims to replace the current Privatisation Act, 2005. President William Ruto has to privatise six to 10 state corporations to ease the burden on the exchequer and to raise financing for government projects through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) instead of seeking financing from external markets ...
As businesses continue to operate in an increasingly globalised economy, the transfer of personal data across international borders has become a critical aspect of many operations. However, with the latest legislative changes from the EU, it has become more challenging to transfer data lawfully to third countries. By now, you may have had requests to amend your contracts with international counterparts ...
The South African Government's new Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022 (“2022 Regulations”) have created uncertainty about how organs of state will identify "specific goals" in their procurement processes. While the regulations do not specifically require the consideration of B-BBEE, organs of state can still use it as a factor in preference point scoring, along with or instead of other goals like employment equity, green procurement, and local content and production ...
Namibia’s emerging green energy industry has the potential to create thousands of jobs and contribute billions to the country’s GDP. In November 2022, the Namibian Government released the Namibia Green Hydrogen and Derivatives Strategy Report (the “GH2 Strategy Report”) which drew significant attention from locals, who are anticipating the development of legislation for Namibia’s green hydrogen sector ...
The purpose of section 197 of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”) is to protect and maintain employment in circumstances where a transfer of business takes place. In terms of section 197 and section 197B(1)(b), a “transfer” means the transfer of a business by one employer (the old employer) to another employer (the new employer) as a going concern ...
Ensuring the safety and security of funds is a top priority for financial institutions worldwide. To this end, the South African Government has put in place various regulations to guide the operations of financial institutions. We have written several articles on the recent changes to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) and the regulations promulgated under FICA ...
Cyber criminals have developed new ransomware techniques to improve the efficiency and profitability of their attacks. These include targeting large and high-value entities such as governments and the health care sector (also known as “big game hunting”), and the selling of user-friendly ransomware software kits (also known as ransomware as a service) ...
The Metaverse, retail and brand protection When first confronted with concepts such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs, it took most of us quite some time before we felt it was “safe enough” to make our first online purchase. For some, it was a case of calling a friend to find out if their experience was legitimate before taking that leap! Well, safe to say this is no longer the case ...
“If climate change is a shark, then water is its teeth”. This quote from James P. Bruce, a Canadian hydrogeologist, has never seemed more relevant to the South African context than today in light of recent extreme flooding and drought events. A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapour and when that water is released it can have devastating effects, as parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal experienced in 2022 ...
With cloud technology becoming increasingly important, data centres provide services critical to many businesses. Given the strategic value of data center to digital transformation, it is essential that data center vendors have a clear plan to manage the risks they face. What are some of the key risks for data center vendors Security Digital and physical security risks have been listed as the top 5 data center security risks for 2023 ...
On 10 May 2023, theInformation Regulator(the “Regulator”), an independent body established to monitor and enforce compliance by public and private bodies with the provisions of the promotion of access to information act, 2000 and the protection of personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) announced that it had issued anEnforcement Noticeto the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (“theDepartment”) in terms of POPIA on 9 May 2023 ...
The South African banking and finance landscape is continually evolving, driven by changing regulations as well as emerging trends. Recent amendments to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (“FICA”) have brought about new obligations that trustees operating within the sector must be aware of ...
