Articles

The ABL Young Lawyer’s Group has published its first Report on ‘National Rules for Long Term Visa Stays’.

The Report draws attention to the process involved for those looking at applying for long term stays of more than 3 months in each of the countries mentioned and the criteria that needs to be met. It is important to note that there are different rules for those that are EU citizens and those that are non-EU citizens.

In his book, The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump tells a story about a particular real estate transaction he negotiated, and one reference highlights a dilemma regarding a lawyer’s role in real estate and business contract negotiation and drafting.  Trump writes “I wasn’t sure who was more eager to break up the deal, my lawyers or theirs?” This begs the question: “Whose deal is it, anyway?”

Indeed, lawyers can be the reason why a good transaction isn’t completed, inserting their personalities, confusing themselves with the real decision maker (you!), identifying problems without offering solutions, and generally getting in the way of the transaction. However, without legal insights applied to the contract, a buyer or seller may go into the deal without understanding what they have committed themselves to.

The Investment Services Act 1994, Cap. 370 of the Laws of Malta, (the “Act”) regulates Investment Services and Collective Investment Schemes in Malta. The Act implements ECD Council Directive 2004/39/EC (MiFID) and certain provisions of EC Council Directive 85/611/EC (UCITS) and provides the opportunity for a Licensed Maltese Investment Services company  to offer its services in other EU member states by means of passporting rights, either through the establishment of a branch or through a services passport, i.e. the offering of cross border services.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be applicable in all EU member states from 25 May 2018.

The Government has decided that it will not repeal this law upon Brexit.

This article touches upon the main changes, requirements and what businesses need to do.

Social media is an intrinsic part of everyday life. What was once just used by teenagers for socialising and sharing music and is now used by almost 2.7 billion individuals and businesses from every corner of the globe. With over 88% of businesses actively using social media, and 3 out of 4 consumers checking a company’s social media before purchasing, if you are not currently using it as a tool for business development then you really should be.

Read the full article.

On the 25th October 2016, the European Commission made public its plans to completely overhaul the system that governs how companies are taxed in the Single Market. The aim of the proposal, which includes a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (“CCTB”), will act as a powerful weapon in the ongoing fight against tax avoidance, whilst making it cheaper and easier for companies to do business in the Single Market.

The concept of this corporate reform package was first developed in 2011 as a response to increasing pressure from governments, the media and members of the public to modernise the current corporate tax framework whilst closing various loopholes that allowed businesses to avoid their tax obligations. Pressure has been mounting from all business spheres to find a solution to ensure that the system becomes fairer, easier and more compatible with economic growth.

Read the full article to find out more.

On October 19th, 2016, the Minister of Finance of Colombia, Mauricio Cárdenas, presented to the Colombian Congress, a Tax Reform Bill, filed under number 178/2016, to be approved and then enacted by the Colombian President, Juan-Manuel Santos.

This tax bill was described as a Structural Tax Reform Bill. Its main goals are to fight aggressive tax planning, tax evasion and seek billions of Colombian Pesos in order to make up for the lack of revenues that Colombia stopped receiving from the oil industry.

It was described as a Structural Tax Reform. The text presented to the Chamber of Representatives of the Colombian Congress includes 16 sections with 311 articles, some modifying current articles and some are new provisions for the Colombian Tax Code (CTC).

Read the full article to find out more about the main provisions.

Investors in a start-up often insist that the founders agree that all or a portion of the founders' shares be subject to reverse vesting
– i.e. that their right to the shares is contingent on their continued service with the start-up.

How does reverse vesting work?

Narda Ben Zvi explains in this article.

Highlight on the new UAE Child Protection Law "Wadeema Law". 

The killing of Wadeema Al Sherawi has changed the UAE’s entire perspective on child abuse situations.

The father responsible for this dreadful act has been sentenced to life imprisonment as well as his girlfriend for taking part in such a ghastly act of child abuse.

As a result, a Federal Law No. [3] of 2016, so called “Child Rights Law” and also known as “Wadeema Law” has been issued by President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, which is a pivotal source to help providing children and youngsters a safer and happier living in the UAE.
The new law which was published in the UAE Official Gazette on 15 March 2016 has entered into effect on 15 June 2016. Its Executive Regulations shall be issued within six (6) months from its publication. 

What you can do to protect EU Employees’ rights now that Britain has voted to leave the EU...

Since the release of the results of the EU referendum on 24 June 2016, EU employees are now anxiously awaiting confirmation that their right to live and work in the UK will be preserved, when Britain finally withdraws from the EU.

This is drawn into sharp relief by a July 2016 Report from Social Market Foundation, an independent British public policy think-tank, that suggests that more than half a million of the 3.6 million EU residents currently living in the UK, may not have qualified for permanent residency by the time of Brexit.

Therefore, protecting EU employees’ rights after Brexit is now a number one business priority for the many UK industries, which rely heavily on workers and staff from Europe.