Local Insights

After ratification of the first sustainable investment facilitation agreement, between the EU and Angola, Carla Gonçalves Borges, Mariana França Gouveia, and Assunção Cristas of Vieira de Almeida analyse ESG considerations in African states’ investment treaties

ESG considerations are becoming an increasingly important factor in investment decisions in Ghana. Lady-Ann Essuman, Ewurama Osam Tawiah, and Verissa Odame-Koranteng of VINT & Aletheia, Attorneys and Consultants explain why, and how, the new reality should be embraced

As the financial services ecosystem in Nigeria continues its rapid development, DealHQ Partners provides a guide to the latest regulatory initiative regarding contactless payments

Atsumi & Sakai partners Yuri Suzuki, Takafumi Ochiai, Ryosuke Oue, Naoki Kanehisa and Kenichi Tanizaki examine Japan’s regulatory repositioning on fintech in the wake of crypto- thefts

On November 30 2018, partial amendments to the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Notary Act (Amended Ordinance) came into force. The Amended Ordinance aims to identify the beneficial owners of companies and improve transparency in order to prevent money laundering or terrorism financing activities. According to the Amended Ordinance, when making an application to a notary for the authentication of articles of association to incorporate new joint-stock companies (kabushiki-kaisha), general incorporated associations (ippan-shadan-houjin) or general incorporated foundations (ippan-zaidan-houjin), applicants must declare to the notary: (i) the beneficial owner of the company; and, (ii) that the beneficial owner is neither a member of criminal organisations nor an international terrorist, and where there is any reasonable doubt the notary will request the applicant to provide explanations.

For the first time in Vietnam, a unified governmental regulation on internal audit has been promulgated through Decree 05/2019/ND-CP dated January 22 2019 (Decree 05) which came into effect on April 1 2019. Previously, only a few entities, such as credit institutions and the State Bank of Vietnam, were required to conduct an internal audit under different legal regulations. Decree 05 has added new types of entities which are required to conduct an internal audit by April 1 2021 at the latest.

Marcus Peter and Kate Yu Rao of GSK Stockmann analyse the latest regulatory, tax, and market developments influencing how Chinese investors structure and deploy capital through Luxembourg

Enhanced foreign investment scrutiny has not diminished France’s appeal to Chinese investors seeking a European base, say Raphaël Chantelot, Ran Hu, and Hubert Bazin of LPA Law

Bernhard Lauterburg of Prager Dreifuss examines how Swiss private competition law litigation will be affected by changes such as expanding standing to sue and suspending limitation periods during Competition Commission investigations

Decreased availability and increased costs of funding have altered the behaviour of borrowers and lenders in the Peruvian leveraged finance market. Thomas Thorndike of Garrigues highlights the main themes and considers the outlook

Rita de la Guardia and Patricia Cordero, Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee

Jaime Trujillo Caicedo, Alexandra Montealegre and María Camila Vargas, Baker McKenzie

Simone Del Nevo, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners

Ezekiel Tuma, John Cunha, and Luis Cunha, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners

Hossam Gramon, Karima Seyam, and Nour El Kholy of ADSERO – Ragy Soliman & Partners report that Egypt’s capital markets are undergoing structural reform and product diversification, reshaping the debt, ESG, and fintech sectors

Robert Katz and Charles Ruck, Latham & Watkins

Robert Katz and Charles Ruck, Latham & Watkins

Robert M Katz and Charles Ruck, Latham & Watkins