Articles

The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 is the single most important legislation coming out of the United States aimed at preventing bribery. This Act makes it unlawful to offer payments to foreign government officials either to assist in obtaining or retaining business. It is also the first law to introduce corporate liability; or in other words responsibility for third parties and extra-territoriality for corruption offenses. 

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The ABL Young Lawyer’s Group has published its 8th Report on ‘Process of Setting Up a Company”. The Report provides a brief overview of the most important legal considerations for individuals or organisations wishing to establish business operations in each of the countries mentioned.

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In the United States, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines is the manual most often used to punish people convicted of federal crimes.

Judges use the US States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines" or "USSG") to figure out the length of a sentence. The basic idea behind these Guidelines is that similar crimes committed under similar circumstances should be punished comparably regardless of in which State it was committed.

These guidelines are not mandatory but federal judges that want to apply a sentence that deviates from them must explain their decision in writing.

Blaise Krähenbühl, Lawyer at the ABL member firm DGM Avocats in Geneva, has written an article on Personal Data Protection Rights within the Framework of International Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information. 

The introduction of international automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) represents a significant leap forward in combatting tax fraud and avoidance. Meanwhile, data protection legislation is developing rapidly to take into account the latest progress in information technology and more rights are being granted to data subjects. The aim of this article is to determine the extent to which data protection provisions may impact the AEOI and identify a minimum common standard of taxpayer rights from a data protection perspective.

The article was published by IBFD.

Due diligence is a vital process that you need to go through to check the financial position and viability of a business you are proposing to buy. It is also something that should be done when awarding contracts or agreeing to extend credit facilities.

This article explains the due diligence process and what to do if you identify a problem.

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Thanks to Compliance, institutions are able to conduct their operations and activities ethically, with the highest level of integrity, whilst at the same time fulfilling all of the legal and regulatory requirements (known as external requirements) and all of the industry regulations, policies and procedures adopted by firms (known as internal requirements).

Nowadays, there is no question that putting in place an efficient and effective Compliance Management System (CMS) within institutions can diminish or even nullify the risk of penalties, lawsuits or the definitive closure of businesses.

If we focus on Compliance Management Systems (CMS), the IDW AssS 980 is the standard used by German Public Auditors. Any deviation of these standards may count against them  in respect of claims to damages and legal claims brought before criminal proceedings or their professional supervisory body. 

This article describes the IDW AssS 980 and its basic CMS elements.

Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in the case titled Oriental Insurance Company Vs M/S Narbheram Power & Steel Ltd., adjudicated upon the interpretation of arbitration clauses under Insurance agreements/contracts. In the present case the Respondent entered into an Insurance Policy pertaining to “Fire Industrial All Risk Policy” with the Appellant in respect of the factory situated in Odisha.

In October 2013, a cyclone affected large parts of the state including the Respondent's factory. Respondent suffered damages estimated at INR 39,336,224. Accordingly, the appellant being the Insurer was informed and a surveyor was appointed. Based on the report of the surveyor, Respondent requested the Insurer to settle its claim. As the claim was not settled, Respondent invoked the arbitration agreement.

Read the full article and find out how Court interpreted clause 13 of the policy.

Thanks to Compliance, institutions are able to conduct their operations and activities ethically, with the highest level of integrity, whilst at the same time fulfilling all of the legal and regulatory requirements (known as external requirements) and all of the industry regulations, policies and procedures adopted by firms (known as internal requirements).

Nowadays, there is no question that putting in place an efficient and effective Compliance Management System (CMS) within institutions can diminish or even nullify the risk of penalties, lawsuits or the definitive closure of businesses.

In a few words, a CMS is a comprehensive program (consisting of processes, documents, controls, tools and functions) that helps an organisation to fulfill the legal requirements and therefore minimize or even eliminate harm due to legal infringements.

This article describes the current existing Compliance Models and explains about the UK Bribery Act 2010.

The ABL Young Lawyer’s Group has published its 7th Report on ‘Capital Gains Taxation”. The Report provides a brief overview of the principles governing capital gains taxation; focusing specifically on the sale of shares in a company and the sale of real estate in each of the countries mentioned.

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When we die someone needs to take responsibility for dealing with our affairs, including organising our funeral, settling our debts and passing on gifts of money, property or possessions in accordance with the terms of our will or the rules of intestacy when no will has been made. This is known as probate.

In this article, Gail Hall, wills and probate expert at Warners Solicitors in Kent explains how the first step in this process usually involves applying for a grant of probate once the value of the estate has been established.

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